Staff of consulates may be career diplomats, but they have limited forms of
diplomatic immunity unless they are also accredited as such. Immunities and privileges for consuls and accredited staff of consulates (
consular immunity) are generally limited to actions undertaken in their official capacity and, with respect to the consulate itself, to those required for official duties. In practice, the extension and application of consular privileges and immunities can differ widely from country to country. Consulates are more numerous than other diplomatic missions, such as
embassies. Ambassadors are posted only in a foreign nation's capital (but exceptionally outside the country, as in the case of a multiple mandate; e.g., a minor power may accredit a single ambassador with several neighbouring states of modest relative importance that are not considered important allies). Consuls are posted in a nation's capital, and in other cities throughout that country, especially centres of economic activity and cities where large populations of citizens from the consul's home country reside (
expatriates). In the United States, for example, embassies are located in
Washington D.C. and most countries have a consulate-general in
New York City (the site of the
headquarters of the United Nations), and some have consulates-general in several major cities, such as
Atlanta,
Boston,
Chicago,
Dallas,
Houston,
Los Angeles,
Miami, or
San Francisco. Many countries have multiple consular offices in nations such as Germany, Russia, Canada, Brazil, and Australia. Consulates are subordinate posts of their home country's diplomatic mission (typically an
embassy, in the capital city of the host country). Diplomatic missions are established in
international law under the
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, while consulates-general and consulates are established in international law under the
Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Formally, at least within the US system, the consular career (ranking in descending order: consul-general, consul, vice-consul, honorary consul) forms a different hierarchy from the diplomats in the strict sense. However, it is common for individuals to be transferred from one hierarchy to the other, and for consular officials to serve in a capital carrying out strictly consular duties within the
consular section of a diplomatic post; e.g., within an embassy. Between
Commonwealth countries, both diplomatic and consular activities may be undertaken by a
High Commission in the capital, although larger Commonwealth nations generally also have consulates and consulates-general in major cities. For example,
Toronto in
Canada,
Sydney in Australia and
Auckland, New Zealand, are of greater economic importance than their respective national capitals, hence the need for consulates there.
Hong Kong When
Hong Kong was under
British administration,
diplomatic missions of
Commonwealth countries, such as Canada, Australia,
New Zealand, India,
Malaysia, and
Singapore were known as
commissions. After the
transfer of sovereignty to
China in 1997, they were renamed
consulates-general, with the last commissioner becoming consul-general. However, the Australian commission had been renamed the consulate-general in 1986. Owing to Hong Kong's status as a
special administrative region of
China, some countries' consulates-general in Hong Kong report directly to their respective
foreign ministries, rather than to their embassies in
Beijing, such as those of
Canada, the
United Kingdom and
United States. == References ==