India’s Ministry of External Affairs has quietly added a new gateway for its growing diaspora on the U.S. West Coast. Inaugurated on 28 January at the Federal Reserve Building in downtown Seattle, the Indian Consular Application Centre (ICAC) brings passport, visa, Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI), renunciation and police-clearance services under one roof for the first time in the Pacific Northwest.
Until now, applicants in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and neighbouring states mailed documents to San Francisco or relied on periodic consular camps. The co-located centre—jointly run by VFS Global and the Consulate General of India—promises same-day biometrics capture, on-site form-filling help, Saturday openings and prepaid courier return built into the standard fee. Officials said more than 300 community members attended the ribbon-cutting, underscoring pent-up demand among the region’s estimated 250,000 Indian nationals and PIOs.
For businesses, the move eliminates costly travel to California for employment-related visas and shortens turnaround times for mission-critical passports. VFS Global executives told INDIA New England News that the Seattle launch is part of a 17-city U.S. rollout aimed at processing more than 400,000 Indian visa applications annually while shifting to paper-less workflows.
![Indian Consulate Opens One-Stop Application Centre in Seattle]()
For applicants elsewhere who still need a reliable, online-first option, VisaHQ can help by pre-screening documents, scheduling consular appointments and arranging secure courier services. Its dedicated India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) guides users through every visa type, issues real-time status alerts and can complement newly opened facilities like Seattle’s ICAC for those seeking maximum convenience.
Immigration lawyers note that the centre also offers Global Entry enrolment verification for Indian citizens—valuable for executives who transit U.S. airports frequently. The Consulate says demand spikes are expected around H-1B cap lottery season (March) and the summer travel rush, and advises corporate mobility teams to secure bulk appointments early via the VFS portal.
The Seattle hub follows recent consular upgrades in Chicago and Houston and is viewed as a template for future public-private collaborations that deliver ‘citizen-centric’ services without adding new diplomatic posts.
Until now, applicants in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and neighbouring states mailed documents to San Francisco or relied on periodic consular camps. The co-located centre—jointly run by VFS Global and the Consulate General of India—promises same-day biometrics capture, on-site form-filling help, Saturday openings and prepaid courier return built into the standard fee. Officials said more than 300 community members attended the ribbon-cutting, underscoring pent-up demand among the region’s estimated 250,000 Indian nationals and PIOs.
For businesses, the move eliminates costly travel to California for employment-related visas and shortens turnaround times for mission-critical passports. VFS Global executives told INDIA New England News that the Seattle launch is part of a 17-city U.S. rollout aimed at processing more than 400,000 Indian visa applications annually while shifting to paper-less workflows.
For applicants elsewhere who still need a reliable, online-first option, VisaHQ can help by pre-screening documents, scheduling consular appointments and arranging secure courier services. Its dedicated India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) guides users through every visa type, issues real-time status alerts and can complement newly opened facilities like Seattle’s ICAC for those seeking maximum convenience.
Immigration lawyers note that the centre also offers Global Entry enrolment verification for Indian citizens—valuable for executives who transit U.S. airports frequently. The Consulate says demand spikes are expected around H-1B cap lottery season (March) and the summer travel rush, and advises corporate mobility teams to secure bulk appointments early via the VFS portal.
The Seattle hub follows recent consular upgrades in Chicago and Houston and is viewed as a template for future public-private collaborations that deliver ‘citizen-centric’ services without adding new diplomatic posts.
