The US Consulate would be established in Hyderabad in 2008. This was disclosed by the chief minister YS Rajashekara Reddy in Hyderabad on Tuesday. The CM disclosed this after meeting the American under Secretary for Management Henrietta H. Four yesterday. With this, it has now become clear hat the consulate will start functioning from 2008.

Applicants for visas will no longer need to go to Chennai or other places. The consulate ill screen all visa applications in Hyderabad and also grant visas. A separate help desk would also be established to enable people not comfortable with the English language. Staff well versed in Telugu would assist people from rural areas in filling up the forms and completing other formalities.