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Honduras inaugurates consulate in Aurora, Colorado

Honduras inaugura consulado en Aurora, Colorado

HAPPINESS | Honduran community celebrates the opening of the consulate in Colorado. (Photos/El Comercio de Colorado)

NEW SYSTEM IMPLEMENTED FOR CONSULAR APPOINTMENTS

Newsroom El Comercio de Colorado

(Vídeo/El Comercio de Colorado)

Walter Gunner, a Honduran resident in Colorado, was visibly excited upon learning about the opening of the new Honduran consulate in Aurora. “Two years ago, I had to travel all the way to New Orleans to renew my passport, and between the trip, gas, and other expenses, I spent around 1,300 dollars. Having the consulate here will save us a lot of money and make life easier for all of us,” Walter commented.

The Honduran community in Colorado had been requesting a closer consulate for years. The nearest consulates were in cities like Dallas or Los Angeles, forcing them to incur high costs for basic services. With the new consular office in Aurora, Hondurans not only from Colorado but also from Wyoming and Utah will benefit from consular services without having to travel long distances.

Immigrant-friendly city

During the consulate’s inauguration, the Vice Chancellor of Honduras, Antonio García, explained that “the decision to open this consulate was made in the first year of the government, but it was a long bureaucratic process. Today, it finally materializes. Aurora is a strategic city, not only because it hosts a large Honduran community but also because it is an immigrant-friendly city with a robust integration plan,” García stated.

The new Honduran consulate is the second for a Central American country in Aurora and the third in Colorado, following those of El Salvador and Guatemala. The choice of Aurora is no coincidence, and García highlighted that this city was chosen due to its commitment to immigrants and its infrastructure, which allows for efficient and effective service to the community.

TAMARA TORO RIVERA| General Consul of Honduras in Aurora.

A new appointment system

Walter, who, in addition to benefiting from the proximity of the consulate, was also aware of the new appointment system, mentioned, “I’ve seen that they’re already informing people about a new system for appointments, and it seems it will be easier. In the past, many compatriots had to pay for fake appointments or faced many issues with the old system. I hope that doesn’t happen anymore.”

Vice Chancellor García explained that the new system, called ACOS (Consular Affairs), was designed to avoid the problems faced by the previous system, where there was appointment trafficking and internal and external collusion. “The new system will allow users to pay online or with debit or credit cards, ensuring better control and appointment availability. Additionally, only those who pay for the service will show up, preventing the accumulation of ghost appointments,” García commented.

ANTONIO GARCÍA | Deputy Minister of Consular Relations and Migration of Honduras.

Number of Hondurans

According to the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), by the end of 2022, about 557,528 people, or 9.5% of Colorado’s residents, were not born in the U.S. Of these, about 281,720, or 50.5% of non-native residents, are originally from Latin America, including South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

MPI indicates that, by 2022, around 32,069 Colorado residents were born in Central America. Meanwhile, in 2022, MPI estimated that about three thousand Hondurans residing in Colorado were beneficiaries of TPS. Since December 2022, an undetermined number of Hondurans have arrived in the Denver metropolitan area.