The Intellectual Wealth Protocol_A Consular Framework for Recognising Exceptional Human Capital Without Compromising Equality or Security

States increasingly compete for scientists, founders, creative professionals, institutional leaders and other highly capable people. Dedicated talent visas recognise part of this reality, but most encounters between such individuals and the state still occur through ordinary consular workflows designed principally to determine legal eligibility and risk. This article identifies a resulting governance gap: a legally correct visa process may fail to recognise verified knowledge, achievement or networks that would be relevant to another public institution. It proposes the Intellectual Wealth Protocol, a bounded administrative framework for detecting credible indicators, conducting specialist verification, assessing national relevance, and making consent-based referrals while preserving the independence of immigration decisions. The argument is developed through normative institutional design and comparative analysis of selected talent-migration mechanisms in the United Kingdom, United States, European Union and Singapore. The proposed framework distinguishes human worth from administratively relevant capability; treats reputation as evidence rather than status; and separates recognition, referral and admission. It combines a multidimensional assessment matrix with procedural safeguards concerning equality, fraud, data protection, security, conflicts of interest, automated systems and audit. The article does not advocate preferential visa approval or a consular category of “very important person.” It argues instead that a capable state should be able to recognise unusual, independently verified contribution without converting recognition into entitlement.