New Delhi: The United States has no difficulty in accepting India's decision to grant dual citizenship to its people, American Ambassador Robert Blackwill said on January 11.

"There is no complication from the United States side. The US has accepted dual citizenship," he told a group of reporters in New Delhi.

The US is one of the seven countries from where people of Indian origin (PIO) will be eligible to apply for dual citizenship once the requisite amendments to existing laws are passed.

Seeking to allay misgivings that the US has restricted entry of foreign nationals into that country post September 11, 2001 when terrorists struck in New York and Washington, he said "the acceptance rate of visas is same as before" that date.

He said the Indian students now number more than 66,000 in the US and have become the number one source of foreign students for American colleges and universities, overtaking the Chinese.

He admitted that there could be some delay in visa processing. It has been seen that the terrorists behind the September 11 attack had false documents to show that they were going to American universities.

In the past, visas were given to students who had secured admission in American universities and colleges. But now, this is verified, he said. "Otherwise, there is no change," he said.

"Grandmothers wishing to go to the US to look up their kith and kin will not be turned back," he said.

PTI