Foreign visitors turn to honorary consuls for help

But this select group of Southern Nevadans also makes up the state’s Consular Corps, official representatives of other countries who, at any given moment, might be called upon to serve as problem solvers, red-tape cutters, travel agents, hospital or police liaisons or, simply, hand holders and guardian angels to foreign visitors or citizens of other countries who live here.

Currently, representatives of 19 countries, from Austria to the United Kingdom, are based in Southern Nevada. Yet, says Lia Roberts, honorary consul for Romania and dean of Nevada’s Consular Corps, "I’d say 99.99 percent (of Las Vegans) don’t have any idea what we are all about."

According to the U.S. State Department, an honorary consul is a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States who has been authorized by a foreign government to perform official functions on its behalf within the United States.

Honorary consuls are nominated for the position by other countries’ officials and then must be approved by the U.S. State Department.

The state’s consular corps — organized under the auspices of Nevada’s Office of Diplomatic Relations and Protocol — was organized 12 years ago, when the countries of Ecuador, Germany, Italy and Mexico had honorary consuls here.

Today, nearly two dozen countries have consular representatives in Nevada, most of them in the form of part-time, honorary consuls. (Mexico and El Salvador, in contrast, have full-time consular officers in Las Vegas.)

Lena Walther, honorary consul for Sweden, says that country has had an official presence here since 2005, largely because Sweden’s government officials "realized that with increased tourism here, they really needed some representation."

As the name implies, honorary consuls are unpaid, typically performing their official duties as a sideline to their paying jobs. For example, Andre Yves Portal, honorary consul for France, is food and beverage director of the Palms and jokes that "people feel it’s strange when I say the consul is in the casino."

"We are not paid a dime," Roberts says. "We’re not even allowed to profit in any way from our position, so everything’s on our own time and money. When I host a reception for (Romanian) delegations, for example, like I did many times, I use my home and I pay for it."

Unlike full-time diplomatic officers, honorary consuls enjoy comparatively limited legal immunity. However, they do share with their full-time diplomatic brethren a job that can veer from the routine to the intense with each ring of the cell phone.

"It’s a 24-hour job because you get calls at all times," Roberts explains. "Some things are emergencies, and you have to absolutely respond to those because sometimes people’s lives depend on it."

Then, Walther says, "you might be tied up for a day or two with a crisis situation."

Honorary consuls deal with "everything under the sun," according to Roberts: issuing temporary passports for visitors whose own passports have been lost or stolen; issuing visas for foreign-born Nevada residents who plan to travel to their countries; assisting tourists who have been robbed or mugged or who run afoul of the law; helping visitors who are involved in accidents or medical emergencies; and even working with the families of foreign nationals who have died here.

Their phone numbers can be found on the websites of their own country’s embassies and Nevada’s Office of Diplomatic Relations and Protocol. They’re also likely to appear in the Rolodexes of Southern Nevada’s police officers, emergency room nurses and hotel concierges.

In fact, Portal adds, "I think most of the airlines have got my number."

An honorary consul’s duties can be emotionally wrenching. Last summer, Portal was called to assist when two French teenagers were killed and five French nationals were injured in a traffic accident at Death Valley National Park, and Roberts once worked with a Romanian family whose daughter’s involvement with drugs resulted in the woman going into a coma from which she never recovered.

Such incidents are "sad things," Roberts says, but "it makes you feel good when you can do something to ease (a family’s pain) a little bit."

Honorary consuls also assist citizens of other countries who have made Southern Nevada their homes. Walther estimates that Southern Nevada is home to "several hundred" Swedish citizens whom she assists with administrative matters.

"Also, we have an election this year," Walther adds, "so I’m going to have people come here to vote."

Andreas Adrian, honorary consul for the Federal Republic of Germany, says Southern Nevada’s German community numbers about 45,000. Between those residents and "a lot of German tourists who come here," Adrian figures he spends about 35 hours a week on consular duties. He works as a real estate broker.

Portal estimates that Southern Nevada is home to between 2,000 and 2,500 French citizens. "We have helped people find houses," he says, and assisted French citizens who "want to open a business or find a job or want to look at houses, or what schools are there, et cetera, et cetera."

Roberts estimates that more than 20,000 Romanian citizens and people of Romanian descent live here, all of whom would otherwise have to travel to the Romanian consul’s office in Los Angeles for administrative matters.

Honorary consuls also may issue visas to Southern Nevada residents who wish to travel to their countries. For example, Adrian notes that, while Americans need no visa to travel to Germany, citizens of some Asian countries — even if they live in Southern Nevada — do.

In a quintessentially Las Vegas twist, Adrian also issues documents to German tourists who get married in Las Vegas. In many European countries, it can take several weeks and several trips to several agencies to take care of pre-marriage paperwork, he notes, while "here you can do it in an hour."

Unofficially, honorary consuls serve as lower-case-A ambassadors, hosting visiting delegations from the countries they represent. Roberts once hosted a reception for Romania’s crown princess and a reception for members of Romania’s ministry of justice.

Similarly, honorary consuls may serve as de facto trade representatives, working with foreign businessmen who are thinking of starting a business here or Americans who are thinking of starting a business over there.

Be they artists, businessmen, athletes or government officials, Roberts says, "the idea is to promote culture, to promote technology, to promote business, especially between the two countries."

And, while this certainly isn’t in their official job descriptions, Southern Nevada’s honorary consuls have no problem with selling Nevada to the countries they represent.

"I’m constantly trying to tell people about Nevada, and when you consider starting a business, this is a very, very good state to do it," Walther says.

Honorary consuls even may play tour guide to globe-trotting Southern Nevadans. Portal doesn’t mind that part of the job, unofficial as it may be.

"We try to connect people, if Americans are going to France, to see what to do and what to visit," he says. "We also try to do something for residents here to study in Europe, in France."

A few weeks ago, Portal offered hotel advice to a few Paris-bound locals.

"I’m from Paris," he explains with a laugh, "so I know Paris pretty well."

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.