US Consulate to start issuing general tourists visas from March

The Consulate General of United States of America (USA) here in Karachi will start issuing general tourist visas from March this year to people in Sindh and Balochistan, tripling the numbers from the current volume. "The opening of this full scale visa section in Karachi will eliminate the trip of visa seekers to Islamabad and save their time", said US Consul General William Martin, along with the head of visa section and Consul Ms Meghan Moore in an interview here on Wednesday.
"This new building will become a 'focal point' for all the US assistance- and development-related activities of United States in Sindh and Balochistan", he added while referring to the opening of the new building of the US Consulate in Karachi.
He said that the revamping of visa services in a large way is a very concrete example of the type of long-term committed interest the USA has here in Karachi for the residents of Sindh and Balochistan. Meghan said that the visa section at Karachi Consulate would be fully functional from March 2011, taking 40 percent of the visa load for non-immigrants in Pakistan, which means people who are getting green cards. "We will triple interviews and visa from the current level of 30 a day", she added. She said that these numbers are going to increase dramatically from February 1.
"We are currently doing renewals of tourist visas (B1/B2) that have expired within the past year, issuing business travel visas (B1), tourist visas for senior citizens over the age of 65 (B2), journalists (I), crew members of PIA (C1/D), student and exchange visitors (F,J,M), and petition-based visas", she said. "People who are applying for work visa will be eligible to apply from 1st of February. We have already updated all the categories on our website for the preview."