Colombia’s foreign minister inaugurated a new consulate in Orlando, Florida, Tuesday.
“You don’t know how happy I am to open this new consulate,” said Minister Maria Angela Holguin Tuesday evening. The Colombian government expects the consultate to be able to serve and assist at least 300,000 compatriots residing in central and northern Florida, in the U.S.
Consul General Maria Londoño Jaramillo will lead a team of 11 people at the new facility. The office will have the ability to provide: passports, visas, military cards, civil registration paperwork (birth, marriage and bonds) and identity cards.
Before the consulate in Orlando became operational, many local Colombians had to make expensive and time consuming trips to Miami to do any paperwork or seek assistance.
The Colombian consulate in Orlando is one of six to be opened since October 2010. There are currently 104 Colombian consulates worldwide.