Nathan Wolf, Mexico's consul general in Minnesota, will be leaving in the coming weeks, a Consulate of Mexico official said today.

Wolf, who has been consul general since the consulate opened in St. Paul in June 2005, is being reassigned to the secretary of foreign relations in Mexico City.

Wolf, 39, has worked for the Mexican Foreign Service since 1992 and has held many positions abroad including Mexican embassies in Uruguay and Washington, D.C.

The consulate in Minnesota is one of about four dozen that Mexico maintains in the United States.

The consulate at 797 E. 7th St. in St. Paul, serves Minnesota, South and North Dakota, as well as parts of northern Wisconsin. It issues passports and a vital identification card called a matricula consular. That card can be used to open bank accounts, cash paychecks and obtain marriage licenses. It also offers protection services, such as advice when dealing with labor issues, immigration or the authorities.

Before the consul opened, Mexican citizens had to travel to Chicago for services.

At the time that the consulate opened, Wolf estimated that there were nearly 140,000 Mexicans living in Minnesota.

PAUL WALSH