WHAT CONSULATES DO

WITH NOTES ON CONSULAR PROTOCOL

By Dr. Dallas Browne, Honorary Consul for Tanzania, provided by Emeritus Japanese Consul General in
St. Louis Bruce Buckland
There are two classes of official international government representatives accepted by U.S. law
and covered by two separate international treaties the Vienna Conventions. They are diplomats and
consular officers. Diplomats are posted to embassies in the capital of a country a(or to the United
Nations), not normally to other cities. Diplomatic missions deal with official relations between nations
such as war, peace, alliances, treaties. Etc. Diplomats and their families enjoy inviolability and are
entitled to extensive privileges and immunities under U. S. law.
Consular officers are either members of a countrys foreign service or local residents who are
appointed by foreign governments to perform consular duties. All consuls must then be formally
accepted by the U.S. Department of State which issues a exequatur allowing them to act in their official
capacity in the United States.
Consular officers have two primary responsibilities:
1) To officially develop economic, commercial, scientific and cultural relations between the
country they represent and the area in which they serve. Increasingly this means promoting
commerce trade, technology transfer and investment both ways. Consulates facilitate
scientific, academic, cultural, business and professional exchange. They make arrangements for
official visits in both directions. Consulates are a source of information on the country they
represent: the economy, the society, culture, and tourism.
2) To safeguard the interests of the sending country and its citizens traveling or resident in their
consular district. Traditionally these include issuing passports and other official documents (and
visas for others to visit their country), helping travelers in distress, signing death certificates,
legalizing or delivering official documents, and assisting travelers who have trouble with local
law enforcement of immigration authorities. Some consulates have considerable
responsibilities for supervising their national flag shipping. Specific services with be listed
below.

TYPICAL CONSULAR SERVICES

Issue passports and other documents to citizens of their countries. Assist with citizenship
matters.
Issue tourist visas to others visiting the country.
Issue work or residence permits for the country.
Assist visitors in distress: illness, accident, disaster, or criminal acts by others.
Assist citizens who are arrested by police or immigration authorities. Arrange legal
representation if appropriate.
Arrange for the repatriation of citizens.

Legalize or certify certain documents.

Issue report of death or accidents.
Safeguard citizens interest in pension, estate and inheritance matters.
Tracing missing persons.
Facilitate collection of debts to their government.
Locate interpreters and translators.
Facilitate expatriate voting.
Supervise and inspect national flag vessels, aircraft and their crew.
Promote commercial relations and scientific exchange.
Promote exchanges in the arts. Arrange for visiting cultural exhibits and events.
Provide information about their country.
Promote academic and professional exchanges.

WHAT CONSULATES DO NOT DO

Consular functions vary greatly from post to post. Each government has very different policies as to the
duties and responsibilities it will assign to each individual post. The work of a post depends on its
location, on the countries interests, on local requirements (tourism vs. trade promotion vs. registration
of shipping vs. assistance to citizens vs. promotion of culture) and sometimes on the individual assigned
as Head of Post. Nevertheless, the local consular post is a good place to start.
RELATIONMS WITH LOCAL AUTHORITIES
To carry out their duties consular officers establish official contact on behalf of their governments with
State and local government officials and U.S. Federal officials within their consular district. State, county
and municipal authorities and other local leaders utilize consulates as a convenient and direct link with
foreign governments for purposes of trade, technology, investment and cultural exchange, and for other
negotiations.
Although consulates are primarily concerned with protecting and assisting their own citizens, they can
often be of considerable help to local authorities, and individuals, in the resolution of specific problems.
See my separate publication titled, How Consulates Can Assist Local Authorities.
The Vienna Convention requires that foreigners be allowed access to their consular officials. State or
local law may require authorities to notify the consulate of the arrest of a foreign citizen whether or not
the citizen wants the consulate informed.
Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations consular officers enjoy immunity from local law
with regard to their official acts. However, outside their job they are in general fully subject to U.S. law,
except as provided by individual treaties between the U.S. and their countries.
HOW TO FIND A CONSULATE
Consulates are normally listed in any public telephone directory and may have online websites. Try both
the countrys name and the Consulate of . The official list Foreign Consular Offices in the United

States is maintained by the Office of Protocol, US Department of State, and is published twice yearly by
the U.S. Government Printing Office.
LOCAL PROTOCOL
National precedence lists and most books on diplomatic protocol are written primarily for use in the
countrys capital. They offer little guidance to the precedence of local officials. Local precedence must
be established by local authorities, with due regard to U.S. and international custom, and to the
importance and sensitivities of the officials involved (the whole point of protocol). Using the
national Order of Precedence as a guide, State and municipal officials should draw parallels appropriate
to the local situation. One source of help is the book Practical Protocol for Floridians, available from the
Florida House of Representatives in Tallahassee at (904) 488-1157.
CONSULAR PROTOCOL
As can be seen in he precedence list below, consular officers rank well below diplomats. Although
consular officers may sometimes be assigned quasi-diplomatic tasks, their primary functions are those
shown here and they retain their consular status.
Consular Heads of Post are usually the highest ranking foreign dignitaries officially representing their
countries outside of Washington D.C. and New York. Precedence follows the position not the
individual. A diplomat assigned to a consular post carries the rank of the consular position, even though
the diplomat may hold a higher rank within his own foreign service (e.g. Ambassador). A countrys
Trade Commissioners, Information Officers, Science and Technology Attaches, and Cultural Attaches are
also often given the rank of Consul to secure their immunities and official status.
Within the same rank (Consul General, Consul, Vice Consul, etc.) consuls are ranked by their date of
exequatur (the date on which they were officially recognized by the receiving country).
HEADS OF POST
As senior representatives of their governments in each territory, Consular Heads of Post are accorded a
special position by the Vienna Convention, regardless of their rank or career status. (The position is like
that of the captain of a ship or aircraft). Article 16 of the Vienna Convention gives all Heads of Post
precedence over all consular officers not having that status. The special status is reflected in local
protocol.
For example, a non-career Vice Consul, Head of Post, has precedence over a career Consul, not Head of
Post. However, non-career Vice Consul would rank after a career Vice Consul, Head of Post.
CONSULAR TITLES
Under the Vienna Convention the Heads of Consular Posts are four ranks, whether they be career or
non-career officials:
Consul General
Consul
Vice Consul

Consular Agent*
The Convention does not restrict the right of any nation to create other titles Counselor, Chancellor,
Deputy Consul General, Consular Attach, etc. so long as they are nor used to refer to Heads of
Consular Posts.
*Consular agents are part time consular officials used mostly by Italy, France, and the United States.
To supplement the consular work of its Foreign Service officers overseas, the United States pays local
consular agents instead of appointing non-career consuls of higher ranking.
For normal business correspondence the phrase the Honorable is usually omitted. Consul John Doe
or Consul General Jane Doe are quite sufficient (and quite important in the case of non-career consuls
who, unlike career officials, have legally separate private identities).
Consul General Jane Doe

or

Ms/Miss?Mars. Jane Doe

Consulate of Roxania

Consul General of Roxania

Address

(Often seen in the U.S.)

If more formal usage is required for social or official occasions, the accepted form is:

The Honorable John Doe

or

The Honorable John Doe

Consul of Roxania

Consul General of Roxnia

Address

(Sometimes used to indicate Head of Post)

Following the European custom, the word used in the Vienna Convention to designate non-career
consular officials is honorary. The word has antique but precise meaning under the convention and
is not part of a consuls title. Nor does it correspond to the popular usage of the word, in name only
or without power or authority, as both career and non-career officials are accorded equal powers
under the Vienna Convention. An equivalent to this is the military where no distinction is made
between titles of regular and reserve officers. (A US Army Reserve colonels title is Colonel)

CONSULAR CORPS
Whenever more than one consuls are posted to a location there is a body known as consular corps. It is
a body sui generis without legal standing to act collectively. (Each government must act for itself). For
convenience most consular corps organize themselves to exchange information and meet with local
leaders. The senior consul (by rank/ or longevity) is called a dean and usually represents the corps for
protocol purposes.
PRECEDENCE LIST
The President
The Vice President

Governor of your State

Speaker of the House
Former U.S .Presidents
Secretary of State
Ambassadors of Foreign Countries
Supreme Court Justices
`

Cabinet Secretaries
Former Governors
Senators
Governors of States (outside state)
Acting Cabinet Secretaries
Former U.S. Vice Presidents
Congressmen
Foreign Charges dAffaires
Former Secretaries of State
Deputy and Under Secretaries
Secretaries of the Army, Navy, Airforce, etc.
Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
Five Star Generals and Admirals
Director of the CIA
Commandant of the Coast Guard
U.S. Ambassadors, in U.S.
Four Star Generals and Admirals
`Assistant Secretaries of the Army, Navy, etc.
Assistants to the Secretary of Defense
General Counsels of Army, etc.
Deputy Under Secretary of Defense
Three Star Military
Former Foreign Ambassadors

Former US Ambassadors
Deputy Assistant Secretaries
Deputy Under Secretaries of Army, etc.
Counselors of Foreign Embassies
Foreign Consuls General
GS-18
One Star Military
Heads of Offices, Army, etc.
Foreign Consuls
GS-16
Captains and Colonels
GS-15
Vice Consuls and below are not ranked nationally

For even more detail consult books on diplomatic protocol. An excellent book on protocol is Mary
Jane McCaffree and Pauline Innis book Protocol: The Complete Handbook of Diplomatic, Official and
Social Usage. Devon Publishing 1997.