VIETNAM UN MISSION/CONSULAR DUAL ACCREDITATION

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000146 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR IO/UNP AND S/CPR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OFDP VN UN SUBJECT: VIETNAM UN MISSION/CONSULAR DUAL ACCREDITATION ¶1. Vietnamese PermRep Loung Minh Le has sent Ambassador Khalilzad an informal note requesting his support for the Vietnamese Government's decision to appoint two persons at its Mission to the UN to provide visa services. Attached to the informal note was a undated diplomatic note from the Vietnamese MFA to Embassy Hanoi announcing the decision. Text of this note follows in paragraph 3 below. ¶2. USUN contacted S/CPR, which noted that a Vietnamese request for dual accreditation in New York was denied in July 2003 and no subsequent request has been received. The Vietnamese MFA note, however, refers to a meeting on November 25, 2003 at which former U.S. Ambassador Burghart informed then-Vice FM Le Bang that the Department had agreed to the dual accreditation of one or two persons. When USUN receives dual accreditation requests from Permanent Missions to the UN, we inform the Mission that its Embassy in Washington must approach the Department for approval in advance. Given the facts in this case, we are hesitant to do so in the absence of clarification from the Department. ¶3. Begin text of Hanoi note: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam presents it compliments to the Embassy of the United States of America in Hanoi and has the honour to request the latter to kindly convey the following matter to the United States Department of State: Due to the ever-growing ties between Vietnam and the United States, as well as between Vietnam and the United Nations, there has arisen a genuine need for Vietnam to assist an increasing number of American citizens who go to Vietnam for different purposes, including those of tourism, cultural exchange and doing business, UN officials, and members of missions of other UN Members States, in obtaining an entry visa to Vietnam. In response to this, then U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam, H.E. Raymond Burghart, at his meeting with then Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Bang on 25 November 2003, officially informed that the U.S. State Department had agreed to the appointment of one or two persons from the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to perform consular services, that these persons shall not have diplomatic status in the Permanent Mission, and that the Department would look forward to receiving an official note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on this matter. On that basis, it is the Ministry's honour to inform that it will appoint, as of 31 March 2008, two persons from the Permanent Mission of Vietnam in New York to provide visa services. As suggested by the U.S. State Department, these persons shall no longer perform other work for the Mission as of the above date. It is understood that these persons shall, in accordance with international and U.S. practice, enjoy the privileges and immunities provided for in the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and be allowed to use the premises and office facilities of the Permanent Mission in the performance of their duties. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall inform the State Department of the names and titles of these two persons in due course. The Ministry of foreign Affairs of Vietnam avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the Embassy of the United States of America the assurances of its highest consideration. End Text. WOLFF