The US has announced that it has ceased domestic visa re-issuance service for certain categories of people, who will now have to go back to their countries to get their visas renewed at the American consulates.

This move would affect a number of foreigners, including Indian journalists and high-tech workers.

The categories of visas which the State Department will not renew are E, H, I, L, O and P. Foreign journalists, including Indians, need 'I' visas while half of the H visa holders - hi-tech workers - and half of the L visa holders - namely those brought by foreign companies to man their US operations – are Indians.

"H, O, L and P are temporary worker visas. Category E are the treaty traders and investors and category I is for journalists who come to work in the United States," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

Those under these categories can continue in the US if their visas are extended. There is no time limit for how long they can stay so long as the visas are renewed.

"These used to be renewed in the US. Now, they will have to go home and get them renewed at the US consulates," Boucher said.

"Overall, we received applications from nationals of more than 60 countries. In recent years, the workload has been rising steadily with more than 50,000 cases processed (in the United States) last year.

"Primary beneficiaries of the service in the United States have been foreign workers in computer and technology industries. Almost 50 per cent of the applicants were Indian nationals; citizens of Japan, China, the UK and Korea round out the top five."

Asked how many people are there now in the US in these six categories, Boucher said, "I don't know. I really don't. I guess really those kind of numbers would be in the hands of Homeland Security because they would know how many people in those categories had actually entered the United States."