July 16th, 2021
A note on Honorary Consulates:
As we started this project, one of the first things we noticed in our research was the distinction between a Consulate-General and an Honorary Consulate.
So what exactly is an honorary consulate? Well, we had to figure that out for ourselves on today's trip. Talking to the Albanian Honorary Consul, we learned that smaller countries usually opt for an Honorary Consulate instead of a Consulate-General. An important difference is that while Consulate-Generals typically send their own representatives, Honorary Consuls are usually locals, such as the Albanian consul, Dr. Wong, BBS JP, a respected Hong Kong lawyer. These locals are appointed through various channels, where in Albaniaโs case, they had requested Dr. Wongโs appointment as Honorary Consul to the PRC Foreign Ministry which has an office in Hong Kong.
In addition to the difference between Consulate-Generals and Honorary Consulate, we discovered that there are two main types of honorary consulates. One is the Honorary Consulates with a physical location, with staff dedicated to the Consulate, as you can see in the Kenyan Consulate above. The second is Honorary Consulates without a physical location, instead they are given the address of the business offices or residences of appointed Honorary Consuls, such as the law firm of the Albanian Honorary Consul.