Consul General of India, New York Vinay Pradhan inaugurates the Indian Consular Application Centre in Edison, New Jersey, joined by VFS Global’s Amit Sharma, Edison Mayor Sam Joshi, and Dr Sudhir Parikh during the ribbon-cutting ceremony on August 1, 2025.

  —Photo credit: VFS Global

Yoshita Singh New York / Edison

India has opened 8 new consular centres across the US, significantly expanding the delivery footprint for visa, passport and other services and streamlining them to make them more accessible and efficient for the Indian diaspora in the country.  

India’s Ambassador to the US Vinay Kwatra on Friday virtually inaugurated the new Indian Consular Application Centres (ICAC) in Boston, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Edison, Orlando, Raleigh and San Jose. An additional ICAC will soon open in Los Angeles. Starting August 1, 2025, all consular services, including passport, visa, OCI, surrender certificate, life certificate, birth/marriage certificate, police clearance, attestations, and more, will be provided exclusively through VFS Global Centres.

The expansion brings the total number of ICACs across the US to 17, making consular services more accessible to Indian and American citizens. Kwatra described this as a “very significant” expansion of the consular services delivery footprint offered by the Embassy of India across the US, home to a 5 million-strong Indian diaspora.

Kwatra said the expansion underscores Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s deep regard for the Indian diaspora, which the Indian leader has described as the “strongest brand ambassador of India” and is at the heart of a strong India-US partnership that is manifested through people-to-people ties between the two societies. “We are confident the centres will play a crucial role in fostering and continuing a strong relationship with our diaspora, but at the same time also empower our diaspora to engage more deeply between our countries,” Kwatra said.