[Harpua]

I need to add more pages to my US Passport. I found the appropriate form on the State Dept.'s webpage but I'm not keen on sending my passport overseas to the US for processing for who knows how long.

Is there somewhere in Hong Kong that I can do this, say US Embassy?

[ap999]

I would take it would be the US consualte located t Garden Road, Central.

[golfduke]

yes the US embassy does it... took me 15 minutes. It is right near the peak trian station...

[berryplucker]

The US Embassy is in Beijing. What is on Garden Road is the US Consulate.

[Harpua]

Thanks. What's the difference between an Embassy and Consulate? Just curious.

[kostas]

A quick search on Yahoo! : http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20000824.html

[penguinsix]

An Embassy houses an ambassador and is the policy and politics section of a country's foreign affairs department.

A consulate, usually, handles more routine stuff like visas and citizen services. As HK is not, for foreign affairs purposes, an independent country, it has only a consulate.

The process is very simple--go to the embassy--have your US passport with you (and you might need to flash it to the doormen to get through security faster). You head upstairs and fill out a quick form (you can also download the form) and then hand it in.

HOWEVER, if there is a big line, you'll get a number and wait until you are called.

HOWEVER, part II, if there is a big line, sometimes they will step up and say "Anyone here just getting more passport pages step to the front." Needless to say, be ready for anything.

[HKFella]

Even Embassies handle consular services (visas, passports, etc). Usually, an Embassy (or High Commission among Commonwealth Countries) is the main diplomatic mission in the host country and located in the capital city. Consulates are diplomatic offices in other cities, and yes they often tend to offer routine services because the Embassy takes care of mightier matters of State, but they could deal with trade, commercial, and other matters too (as seen in HK because of its special status and commercial importance, though it's not the capital of PRC).