Consulate General of the United States, Wuhan

Last updated

Consulate General of the United States, Wuhan
Seal of the United States Department of State.svg
Seal of the United States Department of State
Consulate General of the United States, Wuhan
Location Wuhan, Hubei, China
Address396 Xinhua Road
Wuhan Minsheng Bank Building
Jiang’an District, Wuhan 430015
Inaugurated2008
Jurisdiction Henan
Hubei
Hunan
Jiangxi
Consul General Melissa Lan
Website Official website

The Consulate General of the United States in Wuhan is one of the five American diplomatic and consular posts in mainland of the People's Republic of China.

Contents

First established in 1861, the U.S. Consulate General in Wuhan reopened in 2008 at 568 Jianshe Avenue in New World International Trade Tower I. It is the smallest consulate of the United States in China, providing emergency services to U.S. citizens in the region and promoting economic and cultural exchanges. On June 8, 2012, Gary Locke, then-U.S. ambassador to China, announced that the Consulate-General in Wuhan would be expanded to include full consular and visa services. [1]

History of the consulate

The former US Consulate General house in Hankou Yuan Mei Guo Ling Shi Guan .jpg
The former US Consulate General house in Hankou
Area in violet colour denotes the consular district of Consulate General Wuhan U.S. Embassy and Consular Districts in China.png
Area in violet colour denotes the consular district of Consulate General Wuhan

Beginning

The first American Consulate in Wuhan was opened in April 1861, one month after Hankow became one of China's treaty ports.

The old consulate built in 1905 was previously JK Panoff's Residence, located on the corner of the Bund with Station Road in the Hankow Russian Concession. It is a red baroque-style keep in brick and concrete structure. The consulate closed in 1949, after the end of Chinese Civil War. [2] Now, the building has been transformed into the Wuhan Career Fair Building.

Reopening

The U.S. Consulate General Wuhan reopened in 2008 after an absence of nearly 60 years. The consulate's office is located in the New World International Trade Tower, in the Hankou region of Wuhan.

When it reopened as an American Presence Post (APP), it was staffed by one American Foreign Service Officer.

The Consulate General of the United States in Wuhan was established in November 2007 under the provisions of the 1981 U.S.-China Agreement on Consular Facilities. The Consulate General focuses on providing emergency services to American citizens in the region, promoting U.S. exports and fostering other aspects of our commercial and economic relations, and expanding cultural and educational exchanges between the U.S. and central China. [3]

This is one of five American diplomatic and consular posts in the mainland of the People's Republic of China. The others are: the Embassy in Beijing, and consulate-generals in Guangzhou, Shenyang, and Shanghai.

Expanding

On February 10, 2017, U.S. Consulate-General in Wuhan broke ground on site of future office in Minsheng Bank Building. The construction was planned to start in February and to be completed in summer of 2018, by which time the consulate's capable of offering non-immigrant visa, American citizen services, and other consular services. The new consulate office will also include a large multi-purpose room which will be used to host American cultural events such as lectures, movie nights, art and music.

On March 28, 2024, U.S. Consulate-General in Wuhan held a dedication ceremony for its new facility at Minsheng Bank Building. In this new facility, U.S. Consulate-General in Wuhan starts offering expanded in-person services for U.S. citizens as well as nonimmigrant visa interview services. [4]

Consuls General

Waving American Flag in front of New World International Trade Tower, where Consulate-General of United States in Wuhan is located. Star-Spangled Banner waving in front of the Consulate-General of United States in Wuhan.jpeg
Waving American Flag in front of New World International Trade Tower, where Consulate-General of United States in Wuhan is located.
Main entrance to the Consulate on 47th floor of New World International Trade Tower. Entrances to the consulate are equipped with Knox Box 4400 Series. United States Consulate General Wuhan (Wuhan New World International Trade Tower 4701) Entrance.jpg
Main entrance to the Consulate on 47th floor of New World International Trade Tower. Entrances to the consulate are equipped with Knox Box 4400 Series.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diplomatic mission</span> Representatives of one state in another

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consul (representative)</span> Diplomatic rank

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consulate</span> Official office of one country in another country

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernadette M. Allen</span> American diplomat (born 1956)

Bernadette Mary Allen is a retired United States foreign service officer and a former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Niger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consulate General of the United States, Jerusalem</span> American diplomatic mission to the Palestinians

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.

Americans in China are expatriates and immigrants from the United States as well as their locally born descendants. Estimates range from 72,000 to 110,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embassy of the United States, Beijing</span> United States diplomatic mission to the Peoples Republic of China

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 District, Beijing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embassy of the United States, Copenhagen</span> Diplomatic mission

The Embassy of the United States to the Kingdom of Denmark is the diplomatic mission of the United States in Denmark. The building is located on Dag Hammarskjölds Allé, in Indre Østerbro, Copenhagen, and it was opened in May 1954. The embassy also oversees American interests in Greenland. On 10 June 2020, the United States reopened its consulate in Nuuk, Greenland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consulate General of the United States, Shanghai</span> United States diplomatic mission in China

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consulate General of the United States, Shenyang</span> American consulate in Liaoning, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consulate General of the United States, Chengdu</span> American consulate in Sichuan, China

The Consulate General of the United States, Chengdu, was a diplomatic mission in Wuhou District, Chengdu, China from 1985 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consulate General of the United States, Guangzhou</span> American consulate in Guangdong, China

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embassy of the United Kingdom, Beijing</span>

The Embassy of the United Kingdom in Beijing is the chief diplomatic mission of the United Kingdom in the People's Republic of China. It is one of Britain's largest overseas embassies. It is located at 11 Guanghua Road, in the Chaoyang District. The current British Ambassador to China is Caroline Wilson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consular Agency of the United States, Bremen</span>

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.

References

  1. "Ambassador Locke's Remarks on Announcing Expansion of U.S. Consulate General Wuhan | Beijing, China - Embassy of the United States". Archived from the original on September 4, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  2. "ABOUT CONSULATE". U.S. Embassy & Consulates in China. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  3. "About Us | Consulate General of the United States Wuhan, China". Archived from the original on June 14, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
  4. "U.S. Consulate General Wuhan Celebrates Move to New Consulate Facility". U.S. EMBASSY & CONSULATES IN CHINA. U.S. MISSION CHINA. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "New U.S. consul general in Wuhan assumes office". en.hubei.gov.cn. Retrieved February 19, 2019.

30°35′49″N114°16′05″E / 30.597°N 114.268°E / 30.597; 114.268