American Presence Post
An American presence post is a very small diplomatic facility of the United States government located abroad. It is usually staffed by a single Foreign Service officer who carries the title of consul. An American presence post is roughly equivalent to a consulate, but lacks a regular consular section, and does not issue visas. These matters are referred to the closest full-scale consulate, or the embassy which has jurisdiction over the APP. It is not uncommon to hear an APP casually referred to as a consulate or virtual consulate. Some posts that were previously operated as APP's have been upgraded to consulate status, including Busan and Medan.