Consulate general

See also: consulate (disambiguation).

A consulate (or consular office) headed by a consul is a typical part of a diplomatic mission in charge of issues related to individual people and companies, in other words issues outside inter-governmental diplomacy. A country may open multiple consulates in major economic centers to support their economic interests: the senior consul from one country to another is usually titled the consul general based at the consulate general.

Activities include issuing passports and offering legal assistance to citizens of the sending country; and issuing visas to foreigners. They may also have a role in assisting individual companies to invest and to import and export goods and services.

In many countries the embassy and consulate general are combined in one office or structure; however, an embassy implies official diplomatic relations between two countries while a consulate general does not. Between countries in the Commonwealth of Nations, both activities may be undertaken by a High Commission. The larger Commonwealth nations generally have consulates and consulates general between one another as is the case elsewhere, however, the senior envoys in these missions are known as Commissioners instead of consuls (general).

The consulate general need not be in the capital, but instead in the most appropriate city: for example many countries base their US consul general in New York City.

Consulate staff do not enjoy full diplomatic immunity at all times. Their immunity is limited to times when they are actively carrying out their duties.

Some consuls are not diplomats; in smaller cities, or in cities that are very distant from full-time diplomatic missions, a foreign government may decide that some form of representation is nevertheless desirable, and may appoint a person who has not hitherto been part of their diplomatic service to fulfill this role. This person may well combine the job with their own (often commercial) private activities, in which case they are usually given the title of honorary consul. Many members of the public are not aware that honorary consuls are not full-time diplomats. Graham Greene used this position as the title of his 1973 novel The Honorary Consul.