Consulate Opens in Queens to be Closer to the 100,000+ Ecuadorean Community

Today, the Ecuadorean Consulate opens a branch office on the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and 67th Street in Woodside, Queens.

“We wanted to be where our people are,” Ecuador’s consul, María Eugenia Avilés.

Opened Saturday through Wednesday, the office processes passports and identity cards, registers births and weddings, and provides authorizations for children traveling on their own.

For Ecuadorean immigrants, Queens has been a major destination point with over 100,000 residents, according to 2006 census estimates. Of the 600,000 Latinos in Queens County, Ecuadoreans are the largest group.

(BTW: There are a total of 1.5 million Latinos on Long Island - Long Island City to Montauk.)

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Photo: Ecuadoreans came out in force Sunday Aug. 3 2008 for their Independence Day Parade in Jackson Heights, Queens.