Kolkatta US Consulate serves the visa applicants from States of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya, Orissa, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam and the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Kolkata holds a significant position in the annals of American diplomacy, being recognized as one of the oldest American Consulates worldwide and the oldest in India.
In the pages of history, it was President George Washington who, on November 19, 1792, put forth the nomination of Benjamin Joy from Newbury Port as the inaugural American Consul to Kolkata. Following the counsel of Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who would later assume the role of the United States’ third President, and with the Senate’s consent, President Washington bestowed upon Joy the official commission for the position on November 21, 1792.
Regrettably, it took some time for Joy to set foot in Kolkata, with his arrival occurring in April 1794. While the British East India Company refused to acknowledge him as Consul, they granted him permission to “reside here as a Commercial Agent, subject to the Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction of this Country.”
Despite these rather inauspicious circumstances, Benjamin Joy’s arrival marked the initiation of a longstanding formal relationship between the United States and Kolkata, and indeed, the entirety of India.
US Consulate Kolkatta Address
U.S.A Consulate General
5/1 Ho Chi Minh Sarani,
Kolkata 700071
Tel: 91-033-3984-2400
FAX: 91-033-2282-2335
US Consulate Kolkatta Website
