Matthew Hurley, the latest senior U.S. Foreign Service officer to land in Guadalajara, looks set to be a busy man over the next three years.
As consular section chief and deputy principal officer, Hurley will stand in for Consul General Tayna Anderson whenever required. He will also manage a large staff embracing the consulate’s two most hectic areas: the issuing of visas and services to American citizens.
Hurley will call on 18 years of experience in consular affairs as he runs the rule over a diplomatic mission that handles 320,000 visa applications a year and caters to one of the largest communities of expatriate Americans anywhere on the planet.
Hurley began his career as a public interest lawyer working for public defenders, as well as providing legal services to homeless people. He joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1998 and was sent to Monterrey in northern Mexico for his first posting. He has subsequently served in London, Guatemala, San Salvador, Athens and Montreal, as well as spells in Washington D.C.
Stressing that attending to Americans living in or visiting the region is one of the consulate’s main priorities, Hurley urges his fellow citizens to register online with the consulate if they plan to be here for any period of time.
“This facilitates communication with us to them individually,” he says. “Everyone who registers with us will be the recipient of any email that goes around regarding security or a weather warning such as a hurricane. It will also be easier for them to replace a passport if they loose it.”
Privacy laws dictate that the consulate cannot share the details of individuals with third parties, Hurley stresses.
While Hurley acknowledges that more and more U.S. State Department business and communication now happens online, he says “telephone lines and personal communication channels are always open.”
As a non-law enforcement agency, Hurley says the consulate cannot become involved in legal situations but can “refer victims of crime to resources that are available, facilitate communication between them and family members in the United States and give them a list of attorneys if they feel they need them.”
The consulate encourages the reporting of serious crimes and is always ready “to lend a ear,” Hurley says, especially during their monthly outreach sessions in the Lake Chapala area. Consulate staff are in frequent communication with Mexican officials on a wide range of issues, he says. Concerns raised by U.S. citizens are routinely passed on.
In the case of U.S. citizens who become destitute in Mexico, Hurley says the consulate can recommend a shelter and put them in contact with family members or, in a last case scenario, repatriate them. “It’s a more cumbersome process but we can do this.”
Not so long ago, it was commonplace to see long lines snaking around Guadalajara’s consulate building as Mexicans waited for hours to apply for visas to travel to the United States.
The process has been automated and simplified in recent years to such a degree that applicants need spend no longer than 30 minutes getting their visas once they have booked their appointments online, Hurley says.
That doesn’t mean that nefarious folks – often referred to as coyotes – who prey on gullible Mexicans unsure about how to obtain a visa – have all gone away. They still hang around the consulate building, Hurley says, sometimes sporting fake badges to try and pass themselves off as consulate employees.
Hurley says the consulate is working hard on several fronts to inform people that the only legal way to obtain a visa is through online registration and their contracting agency. “We are warning people about fraud prevention, to look out for red flags and direct them to our resources.”
Hurley revealed that there are consulate staffers dedicated solely to social media tasks (Twitter, Facebook, etcetera), major tools in helping educate and eradicate fraud. He also has not ruled out creating radio spots to get the message across, noting that in El Salvador he commissioned television advertisements with actors on this theme that achieved some success.
Supervising such a dynamic foreign mission will require spending plenty of time behind a desk, but Hurley hopes to get out and meet U.S. citizens throughout the four-state consular region. Lakeside residents should see him at outreach sessions held each month at the American Legion in Chapala and Lake Chapala Society in Ajijic. He also plans to attend a town hall meeting with U.S. residents in Puerto Vallarta in the near future.
Hurley says he is thrilled to have obtained the Guadalajara posting, since this destination is much solicited by foreign service employees.
“The consulate has a deserved reputation in Washington as one of the best missions there is,” he concludes.
The United States Consulate General in Guadalajara is located at Progreso 175, Colonia Americana, Sector Juárez. Special consular services are available to assist U.S. citizens in need from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., except on holidays. Phone: (33) 3268-2100, emergency telephone: (33) 3268-2145. For after-hours emergencies regarding U.S. citizens, contact the duty officer at 01-55-5080-2000, ext. 0.