Finland will open one more Consulate General in United States on July 1, said the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in a press release.
President Alexander Stubb on Friday approved an amendment to the Decree of the President on the Locations of Finland’s Diplomatic Missions.
The new Consulate General will be located in Houston, Texas.
Finland currently has three foreign missions in the United States: the Embassy of Finland in Washington, D.C., and Consulates General in New York on the East Coast and Los Angeles on the West Coast.
The Consulate General will begin its work in temporary premises with the help of administrative staff sent from Finland.
The permanent premises will be ready by the end of 2025 or early 2026 at the latest. The US authorities are currently processing permits for the premises.
The procedure for appointing the Consul General will be completed within a few months.
The recruitment of other personnel for the Consulate General, including for trade promotion tasks, will begin soon.
“I am pleased that we can concretely strengthen Finland’s presence in the US market, which is absolutely central to us. In the changing world situation, it is increasingly important for Finland to promote its commercial interests in the United States by raising its profile and making its voice heard. Texas is one of the strongest regions in the world economy, and there is demand for Finnish solutions,” said Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen.
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio emphasised that opening the Consulate General in Houston has significance for Finnish businesses.
From the start, the Consulate General will provide services for people in distress and other urgent consular services requiring immediate attention on site. Other consular services will continue to be provided by Finland’s Consulate General in New York until the permanent premises in Houston have been completed.
The Decree also included some amendments to the provision of consular services by the existing missions. The amendment concerning the provision of consular services in the Finnish missions will enter into force on 1 May 2025, when the Embassy of Finland in Beirut will start providing consular services in full.
Furthermore, the services of the Finnish Embassy in Doha will be expanded as of 1 October 2025.
The Embassy will start providing residence permit services within its consular district, replace the Finnish Embassy in Abu Dhabi in the provision of consular services to Pakistani nationals, and complement the services of the Finnish Embassy in Ankara to provide residence permit services to Iraqi applicants.
Earlier in December 2014, Finland decided to open one more Consulate General in United States.
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
