Originally Posted by catbox9

I'm not sure the exact title I want for this thread. I mean, I think I know what embassies do (issue visas, provide assistance to citizens of the country, etc.) but maybe I'm not so sure.

Here's my story...
As an American citizen/passport holder, I've oftentimes noticed that my passport tells me to register with the embassy either in person or online - something I've never actually done. I've also heard stories that US embassies are supposedly treated like US soil even though they're in a foreign country.

My passport is quickly filling up and I'm presently in Asuncion, Paraguay so I decided I'd head over to the embassy and see if I could add pages since the window to do that is closing and my passport has about 9 years of validity left (it is just barely old enough to be allowed to add pages to it).

When I got to the embassy today I looked around and read the signs about opening hours, etc. (all of which were in Spanish without English translations) and was quickly approached by a Paraguayan police officer. They asked me what I was doing and I attempted to explain (in Spanish) that I was a US Citizen and wanted to add pages to my passport. I was told that I would need to make an appointment and was not permitted inside.

I didn't actually need to have this done today, but I thought it was a bit strange that I wasn't even permitted to go inside the embassy and was denied entry by Paraguayan officials - not US officials.

Can you not just walk into an embassy? I've previously visited a Paraguayan and Brazilian consulate (both in Los Angeles) and they let me walk right in no questions asked.