Staff Reporter
Lahore
Consul General, United States Consulate in Lahore, Catherine Rodriguez said on Sunday the Lahore consulate had planned to start visa service from Lahore to ease visa processing for the people of Punjab.
“It is only possible if the Lahore consulate is moved in a new building as the current building housing the US consulate was built in 1933 and too cramped to start new services, adding that 25,000 people from Punjab travel to Islamabad or Karachi for US visas annually”, she said in an interview with APP.
To a query, CG Catherine Rodriguez said a piece of land had been identified in the provincial metropolis and the work would start on it shortly after the land was acquired from the provincial government.
She said the new compound would allow better administration, more space and improved facilitation services to the public.
Rodriguez further said the new building would mean that the consulate could depute more staff to work for better agriculture services, commercial services, cultural exchange programs, besides special focus on enriching business ties with businesses in America, adding that the consulate had fantastic ideas for the 20th century building like starting visa service in Lahore.
