A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes an embassy or high commission, which is the main office of a country's diplomatic representatives to another country; it is usually, but not necessarily, based in the receiving state's capital city. Consulates, on the other hand, are smaller diplomatic missions that are normally located in major cities of the receiving state. As well as being a diplomatic mission to the country in which it is situated, an embassy may also be a nonresident permanent mission to one or more other countries.
A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries.
A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country, usually an embassy. The term "consulate" may refer not only to the office of a consul, but also to the building occupied by the consul and the consul's staff. The consulate may share premises with the embassy itself.
The Consulate General of the United States in Jerusalem was a diplomatic mission of the United States of America that provided consular services to Palestinian residents in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. It was not accredited to any government. In May 2018, the United States relocated its Tel Aviv embassy to Jerusalem, and in mid-October 2018, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the consulate general would be merged with the new US Embassy in Jerusalem and that relations with the Palestinians would be conducted through a special Palestinian Affairs Unit inside the embassy. On 4 March 2019, the consulate general was merged into the US Embassy and formally ceased operations. In May 2021, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that Washington will reopen the consulate, without specifying a date. In September 2021, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called on the US administration to speed up the reopening of the consulate general in Jerusalem to handle direct contacts with the Palestinians.
The Consulate General of the United States of America in Chennai represents the interests of the United States government in Chennai, India and surrounding regions. The consulate reports to the ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. The current Consul General, the 27th, is Christopher W. Hodges, incumbent since July 2023. He was preceded by Judith Ravin.
The Embassy of the United States in Beijing is the diplomatic mission of the United States in China. It serves as the administrative office of the United States Ambassador to China. The embassy complex is in Chaoyang, Beijing.
The Consulate General of the United States in Shanghai is one of the five American diplomatic and consular posts in the People's Republic of China.
The Consulate General of the United States, Shenyang is one of seven American diplomatic and consular posts in the People's Republic of China. It is located in Heping District, Shenyang, Liaoning.
The Consulate General of the United States, Chengdu, was a diplomatic mission in Wuhou District, Chengdu, China from 1985 to 2020.
The Consulate General of United States, Guangzhou is one of seven American diplomatic and consular posts in China. It is one of America's earliest diplomatic posts in the Far East. The consulate serves the South China region, covering the provinces of Guangdong, Hainan and Fujian, and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, an area which, according to the latest census in 2020, has a resident population of over 220 million. The consulate general is also the only U.S. mission in mainland China to process American adoptions and immigrant visas, making it one of the U.S. Department of State’s busiest consular-related posts.
The Consular Agency of the United States in Bremen, also referred to as Consular Agency Bremen, was one of the American diplomatic missions to Germany until 2018. The unit offered limited services for U.S. citizens in areas including Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, and Lower Saxony. Despite that, services such as the issuing of visas or emergency passports were not provided, but can be obtained only from the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, the Consulate General in Frankfurt or Munich.
