What is the difference between embassy high commission and consulate

Being the equivalent of an embassy, High Commissions are mainly situated in the capital city of the host country and contain within itself consular offices. Conversely, Consulates tends to be mainly located in larger cities that are outside the Capital city.

A High Commissioner is vested with the responsibility of heading the High Commission. While a Consuls General is responsible for heading a Consulate. Other personnel who form a part of the High Commission include counsellors, secretaries who are often raked as first, second and third and attaches who may be junior career officers or non-career officers. In contrast to that, personnel like Consuls, vice consuls of career and non-career and consular agents work in a Consulate.

Diplomats in a High Commission enjoy certain privileges and immunities like exemptions from the civil and criminal jurisdictions, direct taxes and customs duties of the host country.

They, their staff and their families are personally inviolable. These immunities and privileges help them in discharging their duties without any hindrance. In contrast to that, the privileges and immunities of Consuls are not so profound. Normally, they are also exempted from the direct taxes and customs duties of the host country. But they can be summoned as a witness in civil cases. Overall, they are considered to be subject to the laws of the host country.

Appointed directly by the foreign government, and are simply citizens of the host country or foreign nationals. The Consulate helps the citizens present in the host countries with issues of their residency. They primarily help out the consuls, with things like enhancement of relations between the two countries. The officials appointed as consuls are diplomats of the country, so they are paid by the government. The honorary consul members are not diplomats by career, so they are not paid by the government.

One of the functions of diplomatic missions is to look after the interests of British citizens in their host countries. Typical consular duties performed by consular posts include issuing passports and emergency documents; registering births and deaths; handling cases of child abduction and forced marriages; and assisting Britons detained or imprisoned, who have fallen ill or been the victim of a crime.

Their activities are governed by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations The presence of a diplomatic mission in a country is the formal symbolic sign of friendly relationships between countries. In the modern era diplomatic relations are governed by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations This replaced the system put in place by the Congress of Vienna of amended by another Vienna Convention in , which had begun the process of standardising and professionalizing diplomatic relations.

Due to their symbolic importance, diplomatic missions became a key battleground in the Cold War. Many intelligence operatives on both sides worked under diplomatic cover. This resulted in periodic mass expulsions; for example in , the British government decided to expel Soviet diplomats from London on spying charges.

The withdrawal of an ambassador, or a diplomatic mission, is one of the strongest signals a country can give of its displeasure. In the modern era it is often the precursor to some sort of sanction being taken against the country. The present system of diplomatic missions is not regarded as controversial, having been proven by the tests of time. Nonetheless, specific concerns about the role of diplomatic staff and premises in espionage remain an issue, given the protections provided by diplomatic immunity, despite the end of the Cold War.

In , for example, nine British diplomats were expelled from Russia following accusations of spying. History is replete with a long list of high profile incidents involving diplomatic missions, stemming from their position as the jurisdiction and territory of one country in the midst of another. These include in particular, the Iranian hostage standoff, lasting for days, at the American embassy in Tehran in , followed in by a siege of the Iranian embassy in London, which culminated in a six-day standoff before SAS troops dramatically stormed the building.

And the only thing even close to you is a U. Can they help? Or are you going to have to hop a plane to the capital? Thankfully, no flights to Mexico City are necessary. And anything you might need as a U. An embassy is also sometimes home to the ambassador.