Jump to content

Foreign Consulates


jt16

Recommended Posts

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories...tml?jst=b_ln_hl

Swedes chose Houston over Austin

Austin's efforts to attract a Swedish consulate office have been dashed.

Austin and Houston were both in the running for the career consulate general office, which is one step down the governmental ladder from an embassy.

But the Swedish government announced on Friday it chose Houston over the capital city because of Houston's role as a major international city.

In a phone call to Houston mayor Bill White, Swedish Ambassador Jan Eliasson said Houston is the center of a very "dynamic region."

The United States is Sweden's largest export market and is continuing to grow. The Houston consulate will be Sweden's third in the U.S. The other two are located in New York and Los Angeles.

"The southern part of the United States is a vibrant and dynamic area with strong links to Sweden," says Minister for Industry and Trade Thomas

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think they have different powers. Embassies have full ambassadors, and can do a lot more diplomatic and important paperwork things. Consulates are more like representative outposts of a particular country -- a notch above tourist information office.

Anyone have a better clarification?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

an embassy, i believe, is the actual representation of a country where as the consulates are satellite offices in cities tied to that particular country in some way.

examples for houston...

russia - space, oil

mexico - from what i heard, there are a few mexicans here in houston

china - big chinese population and the houston falun dafa needs a place to protest.

sweden - we just opened a big ole ikea

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think they have different powers.  Embassies have full ambassadors, and can do a lot more diplomatic and important paperwork things.  Consulates are more like representative outposts of a particular country -- a notch above tourist information office.

Anyone have a better clarification?

They're more than just a notch about a tourist information office. Consulates really serve as satellite offices for embassies, handling such affairs as issuing visas for their countries, allowing expatriates living in the US to vote in their home country's elections, and assisting their citizens living in the US with legal issues. Generally consulates serve an assigned region, so many of the ones in Houston also serve the rest of Texas and/or other nearby states. Much of the reason Houston is home to so many is that there is so a large international population here, and the city has so many economic ties to the rest of the world.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Here's a list.

All phone numbers are area code 713 unless otherwise noted.

Albania - 281-354-0789

Angola - 212-3840

Argentina - 871-8935

Australia - 782-6009

Austria - 723-9979

Barbados - 281-392-9794

Belgium - 426-3933

Belize - 999-4484

Bolivia - 977-2344

Botswana - 680-1155

Brazil - 961-3063

Cameroon - 936-336-6401

Chile - 963-9066

China - 524-0780

Columbia - 527-9093

Costa Rica - 266-0484

Cyprus - 928-2264

Denmark - 622-9018

Dominican Republic - 266-0165

Ecuador - 572-8731

Egypt - 961-4915

El Salvador - 270-6239

Ethiopia - 271-7628

Finland - 552-1722

France - 572-2799

Germany - 627-7770

Ghana - 960-8806

Greece - 840-7522

Guatemala - 953-9531

Guyana - 281-497-4466

Haiti - 661-8275

Honduras - 622-4572

Hungary - 529-2727

Iceland - 281-367-2440

India - 626-2148

Indonesia - 785-1691

Ireland - 961-5263

Israel - 627-3780

Italy - 850-7520

Japan - 652-2977

Jordan - 224-2911

Korea - 961-0186

Kyrgyzstan - 281-920-1841

Latvia - 888-0404

Lebanon - 268-1640

Malta - 654-7900

Mexico - 271-6800

Mongolia - 759-1922

Morocco - 521-7607

Netherlands - 622-8000

New Zealand - 973-8680

Nicaragua - 789-2762

Norway - 521-2900

Panama - 622-4451

Paraguay - 558-9878

Peru - 355-9517

Philippines - 877-6700

Poland - 281-565-8900

Portugal - 759-1188

Qatar - 355-8221

Romania - 629-1551

Saudi Arabia - 785-5577

Slovenia - 430-7350

Spain - 783-6200

Sweden - 953-1417

Switzerland - 650-0000

Syria - 622-8860

Thailand - 229-8733

Trinidad & Tobago - 465-4660

Tunisia - 782-9021

Turkey - 622-5849

Ukraine - 281-242-2842

United Kingdom - 659-6270

Venezuela - 974-0028

Link

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think he was looking for a real answer, as in maybe a website with an address listing & other information. But since you obviously know they're in the phone book, maybe you could share with the rest of us where at in the 4 different 3 inch thick phone books to find all 80+ consolates.  :huh:

You're right 27. Sorry that sounded flip. Mea Culpa.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All of the consulates I know about, except for one, are located in office buildings, mostly downtown or in the Galleria area. The exception is the Chinese consulate on Montrose, which is in a midrise, former apartment building. The Chinese who work there live in their own compound (I call it a chancellery but maybe that's wrong) located in Del Oro on Hepburn Street between Cambridge and Almeda. It is a large compound and surrounded by an expensive brick wall. They fly the red flag of China inside and it's visible from the street. The Falun Gong frequently protest outside the front gate like they do occasionally on Montrose. The only consulate I've been personally involved with is the Brazilian which is located in one of the office buildings along the West Loop, just north of where Post Oak passes under it. I had to get a visa in person as residents of the Houston metropolitan area are forbidden to apply by mail. The lines are frequently very long (you have to go there multiple times to drop off and pick up) and the times I was there, there were many Mexican nationals, Brazilians, Houstonians, Europeans, and impatient Dallasites who had flown in to get their business done. Brazilians get a separate line.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Mexican Consular Office is located in midtown close to the Spur.

I believe the French Consulate is located in a home on River Oaks (corner of Kirby and San Felipe?).

The Brazilian policies crack me up! They are basically making Americans put up with the same crap they have to put up with to travel from Brazil to the states. It didn't bother me one bit when I traveled down there last winter (Rio, Sao, and Floripa) but there was a story about an American Airlines pilot getting himself in quite a bit of a jam...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had to get a Brazilian work visa a few years ago. No fun jumping through those hoops. Customs was a bear too. Although they were tougher on my european counterparts.

Mexico was actually the worst of my trips abroad when it came to customs though. They wanted us to fully disassemble the vessel I was on because our new corporate policy was not to grease the gears the way we used to. Our manager no longer had a slush fund to feed them with and they were gonna make us pay. The boat ended up sailing from port in the dead of night hoping that it was all a bluff and the navy wasnt gonna come blow it out of the water. No bueno.

ps. I jumped ship and took a plane. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Does anyone know where we rank in Foreign consulates. I'm sure we are behind New York and possibly D.C, then again D.C. has mostly embassy's and not consulates. If anyone knows where we rank then what cities ae in front of us and their number and what city is directly behind us. I know Houston has 83 at least.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.wordofmouthbbq.com/houston.htm

Check out the link above. This might help you h-townrep. Houston ranks the 3rd largest city in consulates.

Thanks emp, but the site is relatively old, it states that their are 76 and I know for a fact there are 83 but more than likely we are behind NY and DC. Just wasn't sure where Chi and Mia were.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

While dining at Charley's 517 today, the table next to me was mostly Scottish and U.K. folks. Last week, it was a Capetown, South African contingent. There is always an international table somewhere at lunch at Charley's. This reminded me to check to see how many foreign consulates we have in Houston. 83 was the number I found. Houston is Texas' most international city, and one of the most international cities in the world. Perhaps it is the energy sector that brings the most to the table, but Houston's diversity is the magnet that attracts thousands of people every year to this semi-tropical mega-city. A co-worker informed me that there are over 90 languages spoken in Houston. I can only speak one: Texan. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

List of consulates in Houston

All phone numbers are area code (713) unless otherwise noted:

Albania - (281)-354-0789

Angola - 212-3840

Argentina - 871-8935

Australia - 782-6009

Austria - 723-9979

Barbados - 281-392-9794

Belgium - 426-3933

Belize - 999-4484

Bolivia - 977-2344

Botswana - 680-1155

Brazil - 961-3063 http://www.brazilhouston.org/

Cameroon - 936-336-6401

Canada - 821-1440 http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/can-am/houston/

Chile - 963-9066

China - 524-0780 http://www.chinahouston.org/

Columbia - 527-9093 http://www.colhouston.org/

Costa Rica - 266-0484

Cyprus - 928-2264

Denmark - 622-9018

Dominican Republic - 266-0165

Ecuador - 572-8731

Egypt - 961-4915

El Salvador - 270-6239

Ethiopia - 271-7628

Finland - 552-1722

France - 572-2799 http://www.consulfrance-houston.org/

Germany - 627-7770 http://www.germanconsulatehouston.org/

Ghana - 960-8806

Greece - 840-7522

Guatemala - 953-9531

Guyana - (281)-497-4466

Haiti - 661-8275

Honduras - 622-4572

Hungary - 529-2727

Iceland - 281-367-2440

India - 626-2148 http://www.cgihouston.org/

Indonesia - 785-1691 http://www.indonesiahouston.org/

Ireland - 961-5263

Israel - 627-3780 http://www.israelemb.org/tx/

Italy - 850-7520 http://www.italconshouston.org/

Japan - 652-2977 http://www.houston.us.emb-japan.go.jp/

Jordan - 224-2911

South Korea - 961-0186

Kyrgyzstan - (281)-920-1841

Latvia - 888-0404

Lebanon - 268-1640

Malta - 654-7900

Mexico - 271-6800

Mongolia - 759-1922

Morocco - 521-7607

Netherlands - 622-8000 http://www.nlconsulatehouston.org/

New Zealand - 973-8680

Nicaragua - 789-2762

Norway - 521-2900 http://www.norway.org/houston/

Pakistan - 281-890-2223 http://www.embassyofpakistan.org/houston.php

Panama - 622-4451 http://www.conpahouston.com/

Paraguay - 558-9878

Peru - 355-9517

Philippines - 877-6700

Poland - (281)-565-8900

Portugal - 759-1188

Qatar - 355-8221

Romania - 629-1551

Russia - 337-3300

Saudi Arabia - 785-5577

Slovenia - 430-7350

South Korea - 961-0186 http://www.koreahouston.org/

Spain - 783-6200

Sweden - 953-1417 (located in Bellaire, Texas)

Switzerland - 650-0000 http://www.eda.admin.ch/washington_emb/e/h...ul/houston.html

Syria - 622-8860

Taiwan - 626-7445 http://www.teco-us.org/houston.cfm

Thailand - 229-8733

Trinidad & Tobago - 465-4660

Tunisia - 782-9021

Turkey - 622-5849

Ukraine - (281)-242-2842

United Kingdom - 659-6270 http://www.britainusa.com/houston/

Venezuela - 974-0028

There are several missing from that list. Will try to find a more updated list.

Edited by Houston1stWordOnTheMoon
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought it was cool when the World Trade Center was built, and all +40 consulates Houston had at the time were located there.

Christ, that was back in the old days. You are right. The World Trade Ctr. :lol:

Anyhow, we have evolved as the premier international city of the United States of America. Our competition in Texas? Dallas at 30 consulates. :lol::lol::lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...
I thought it was cool when the World Trade Center was built, and all +40 consulates Houston had at the time were located there.

I don't think that is true. (all of Houston's consulates being in the World Trade Center Building). The Directory of Tenants when the building opened in 1962 shows only three consulates in the building: Great Britain, Belgium, and Mexico.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

VNA 22/08/2009 - A Vietnamese mission, led by Le Dung, former spokesman of the Foreign Ministry, has arrived in Houston city of Texas state, the US, to prepare for the opening of another Vietnamese general consulate in the country. Dung, who has been appointed as the head of the Vietnamese General Consulate in Houston city, met with the US Department of State representative in Houston, Betty Mc Cutchan, shortly after his arrival to ask for the representative’s coordination in the preparations.

Dung said the Vietnamese General Consulate in Houston is likely to be inaugurated no later than September.

The new general consulate in Houston, Vietnam second after another in San Francisco in California, will mark a new step forward in Vietnam-US relations. It is expected to boost the economic, trade, investment, cultural and education relations between Vietnamese and US partners.

The opening of a general consulate in the biggest city of Texas, home to many Vietnamese-American people, will also create a direct link between the overseas Vietnamese community in the US with the homeland, as well as provide more favourable conditions for dealing with issues related to overseas Vietnamese in Texas and the US./.

http://www.mofa.gov.vn/en/nr040807104143/nr040807105001/ns090824095639

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can bet there will be protests wherever they put this consulate. Most, if not all, Vietnamese in Houston fled from the current government of Vietnam. I suspect, though, that the reason this is coming here isn't the large Vietnamese population but to establish closer ties with oil firms exploring in the South China Sea off Vietnam's coast.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think I remember someone saying that Houston has the second-most consulates in the US after Washington D.C. Seems like we might be behind NYC as well, though. I can think of many here, Mexico and China being the two most prominent noticeable ones. Sometimes when I'm riding my bike down Montrose I'll go step on the porch of the Chinese consulate and "invade" China. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think I remember someone saying that Houston has the second-most consulates in the US after Washington D.C. Seems like we might be behind NYC as well, though. I can think of many here, Mexico and China being the two most prominent noticeable ones. Sometimes when I'm riding my bike down Montrose I'll go step on the porch of the Chinese consulate and "invade" China. ;)

DC would have the embassies and other cities consulates. I thought Houston was second in consulates but I could be wrong.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

DC would have the embassies and other cities consulates. I thought Houston was second in consulates but I could be wrong.

Third, behind New York and LA. According to the Greater Houston Partnership, we have 90 (and their list does not include Viet Nam, so I guess we now have 91.

FWIW, it looks like LA has 98.

Edited by Houston19514
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a list of foreign embassies and consulates in the U.S. and in which cities:

http://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-in/UnitedStates

It only shows the Mexican embassy in Washington D.C. and a consulate in Phoenix, but I know that there's a Mexican consulate in Houston located adjacent to US 59 in the Museum District. Perhaps it isn't a complete list.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember years ago, we got a call from a building manager (in the Galleria area). He stated that a sewer line must be broken and that we should come take a look around and fix it. Tenants were complaining, he said. We assumed it to be a plumbing vent that someone had apparently forgot to cap, so up into the building we went. We traced the smell to an asian consulate's office (I won't tell you the country). The stench was so bad that my apprentice almost hurled. It appeared that the consulate was harboring some family and the members were cooking up dinner at night and heating it up again for breakfast. When the building air handlers kicked on each morning it would take the smell to all floors. What these people were cooking was eye watering to say the least.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember years ago, we got a call from a building manager (in the Galleria area). He stated that a sewer line must be broken and that we should come take a look around and fix it. Tenants were complaining, he said. We assumed it to be a plumbing vent that someone had apparently forgot to cap, so up into the building we went. We traced the smell to an asian consulate's office (I won't tell you the country). The stench was so bad that my apprentice almost hurled. It appeared that the consulate was harboring some family and the members were cooking up dinner at night and heating it up again for breakfast. When the building air handlers kicked on each morning it would take the smell to all floors. What these people were cooking was eye watering to say the least.

If it smelled like a broken sewer line then they might have been eating a popular southeast asian fruit called durian. My wife and her family love the stuff, but to me it smells like roadkill in mid-July. :o

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 years later...
  • 2 months later...
  • The title was changed to Foreign Consulates

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...