Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Embassies and Consulates.

I am not specifically discussing for example US Embassies or Thai Embassies, or US Consulates or Thai Consulates. We go specific in some videos but this is just a conceptual video I occasionally get this presumption come up amongst folks that say: "Well the Consulate is saying this. Can we go to the Embassy and have them overrule it?" Well, that is not really how it works exactly with respect to visas. I want to be clear, full disclosure. I have worked in Immigration Law for nearly 14 years now. I am an American Immigration Attorney. I have dealt with the Thai Immigration system at length. I am a naturalized Thai citizen so I have been through that whole process, personally and professionally. 

The thing I am trying to impart here is this is a general video. There may be specifics to say USA or Thailand or some third country that may not precisely apply here. Long story short, oftentimes I see people, they sort of presume that the "Embassy will overrule the Consulate". For example, you go to a country for example the United States. There is the Thai mission to the United States. There is the Thai Embassy in DC. Then they have the Thai Consulate, Los Angeles, Thai Consulate, Chicago, Thai Consulate in New York and they have consulate jurisdiction over a given area of the country. Simultaneously, there is the US Embassy here in Bangkok as well as the US Consulate General in Chiang Mai. Again they have different Consular jurisdictions. They oversee different parts of the host country for purposes of visas. 

As a general rule of thumb, an Embassy does not step in to overrule a Consulate. If for example the US Consulate up in Chiang Mai, their Consular section makes a decision regarding issuance of a Visa, pretty rare that you are going to see anybody down here from Bangkok sort of overrule them. Now I guess in theory especially the Ambassador who has authority over the entire host country for purposes of the representation of the US mission, I guess he could, in this case he being the current Ambassador, could do that if circumstances warranted. As a practical matter, that is not their function nor do they particularly look to do that in any way. That is across the board from my experience. The Ambassadors are there to act as the diplomatic representation, representative of the sending state. They are not there to get into the minutiae of Visa issuance or Visa adjudication. 

So again if you are looking at the United States, if you get an unfavorable response regarding a visa application from the Consulate with jurisdiction over you, for example Thai Consulate, Chicago, no I don't think it is going to be particularly feasible to go to the Embassy and have them overrule them. That is not really how it works. It is more a lateral thing. That said there is a hierarchy but for purposes of Visa issuance that isn't really how it works. One aspect of the mission isn't going to overrule another aspect of the mission as a general rule with respect to adjudication of Visa applications.