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SALT LAKE CITY — David Utrilla never expected to become an official representative of his native Peru when he moved to Utah.
But after a visiting diplomat saw an overwhelming demand for consular services from the thousands of Peruvians living in the state, Utrilla was asked to take on the role of honorary consul of Peru in Utah.
"I was a little intimidated," Utrilla said. "I had never been involved in politics in my native country of Peru. I don't know anybody, in fact, in the government. I was also concerned that I had not been very involved even with the Peruvian community here in Utah."
Like all honorary consuls, Utrilla eventually received approval from both his own country and the U.S. State Department, as well as training on his consular duties. Instead of having to travel to the nearest Peruvian consulate — in Denver — for services like passport renewal, Peruvians in Utah could now go to Utrilla for help.
"The community, in general, were very happy to have a consul here," he said. "It has been a very rewarding and fulfilling position for me to have, helping my native country of Peru and, in particular, the Peruvian community that resides here in Utah."
Fifteen years later, Utrilla is still serving an estimated 45,000 Peruvians. Peru is one of dozens of countries that have recognized a need to better serve its citizens in Utah (9% of Utahns are foreign-born) and develop strong ties with the Beehive State.
In fact, Peru is one of 26 countries in the Utah Consular Corps, an organization that consists of both honorary consuls like Utrilla, who are unpaid, civilian volunteers; and career consuls, who are paid foreign diplomats that usually have gone through years of diplomatic training. Just two countries, Mexico and El Salvador, have career consuls in Utah.
Another seven countries are currently in the process of getting honorary consuls in Utah: Colombia, Bulgaria, Indonesia, United Kingdom, Costa Rica, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. That process can take anywhere from six months to two years.
Czech Republic Honorary Consul Jonathon Tichy said Utah's network of foreign consuls is one of the largest in the country outside of international hubs like California, Chicago, Washington D.C. and New York.
"Utah having such a big consular corps compared to other similarly sized states — I think that just speaks to Utah's place in the world as a crossroads," Tichy said. "Honorary consuls aren't just guys with titles. There's real, substantive work that's behind what we do and there's a reason we're not self-appointed. The sending government and the U.S. government both see value in having that representation in the state."
What does an honorary consul do?
Honorary consuls perform many of the same services as regular consuls, such as passport renewal, document notarization, cultural events, assistance with legal and law enforcement and repatriation of human remains. Those services often save Utahns a trip to a consulate in California, Denver or Texas. But there are some issues, like power of attorney, that are outside the authority of an honorary consul.
Unlike normal consulate employees, honorary consuls keep their day jobs, which range from law to education to business.
"This a labor of love," Utah Consular Corps President Baldomero Lago said. "I'm just a one-man individual that has to handle all the emails and the appointments."
Lago, who represents about 2,000 Spaniards living in Utah, said he spends about 20 hours a week on consular work. That work is done mostly from his home office. He said the biggest challenge is balancing his job and family with consul work.
"Sometimes I have to make some hard decisions where, for example, my job has to come first before my consulate," he said. "I really want to be able to help some individuals, but I'm not able to do that, so it's a little frustrating."
Utrilla, who does 15 appointments a day, with the help of a paid consulate employee, echoed Lago's feelings.
"We cannot help as many people as need it," he said. "We don't have enough bandwidth to help everybody, even though everybody's needs are urgent and important."
Because honorary consuls are volunteers, their pathways to becoming consuls can vary. For example, the Czech government asked Tichy to represent them following his work at the U.S. Embassy in Prague. Tichy is not a Czech citizen, but his grandparents immigrated from the country and he is fluent in both Czech and Slovak. He represents an estimated 3,500 to 5,000 Czechs living in Utah.
Tichy said the most difficult part of his work is seeing the human tragedy resulting from situations with which he assists, such as a young Czech woman who was kidnapped by a truck driver, or a university student who was deported three months before graduation.
"Sometimes those are, those are kind of tough situations to deal with and to explain," he said.
Building ties with Utah
The work of honorary consuls extends beyond helping the citizens of their homeland, to include work that benefits the states where they live, such as economic development with foreign businesses, meeting with individuals planning to visit their respective countries and, in some cases, approving visas for missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Lago, for example, was able to help facilitate a visit from the Real Madrid soccer team to Real Salt Lake, and Tichy helps organize a Czech film festival each year that is open to the public.
"The Utah Consular Corps is what I call the diplomatic arm of the state of Utah," Lago said. "I think that Utah should be aware of this great body of individuals that they are putting a lot of their time and effort on behalf of their citizens to benefit the state of Utah."
