Los Angeles Consular Corps

Welcome to the Los Angeles Consular Corps. (LACC). We are a non profit corporation formed for the purpose of fostering and promoting an esprit de corps amongst our members; promoting and fostering goodwill, friendly relations and cooperation between our countries and United States Federal, State and local governmental authorities.

Whenever more than one Consul is posted to a community, there is formed a collective body known as a Consular Corps. It is a body sui generis without legal standing to act collectively. (Each government must act for itself). For convenience, most Consular Corps organize themselves to exchange information and meet with local and official leaders. The senior Consul (by rank and/or longevity) is called the Dean and usually represents the corps for protocol purposes. The present Dean is the Consul General of Argentina, Ambassador Jorge Lapsenson. The LACC is governed by an Executive Committee which is appointed by the Dean.

The LACC presently consists of 97 consulates (60 Career and 37 Honorary). Career Consular officers are appointed by their Head of State or Foreign Minister and are full-time servants of their government. Honorary Consular officers are United States citizens and need not possess the nationality of the country they serve and are generally appointed to provide a degree of Consular representation in areas not covered by career Consular officers. All Career and Honorary Consular officials are accredited by the U.S. Department of State in accordance with the terms of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

LACC also has a small number of Emeritus Members who were invited to continue membership of the LACC in recognition of their significant contributions to the LACC while previously serving as active Consuls.

The duties and responsibilities of the Consul General are set forth in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations but may vary from Country to Country. These duties include but are not limited to protecting the interests of their citizens while in the United States, services on behalf of the country, visa issuance, the promotion of trade and commerce between countries as well as cultural and education activities.