Your experience with Consular staff?
 

This thread is open to all nationalities.

I was wondering what stories FTers had with regards to contacting an Embassy/Consulate for assistance, beyond the usual lost passport replacement or issuance of an emergency travel document.

Stories about events like a natural disaster or war resulting in evacuation, or perhaps reporting a serious crime or when you had to seek refuge in an embassy for a bit. How well did the embassy provide service?

Let's hear em ^

There was a Christmas party I was invited to at the Australian Consulate once.

Your experience with Consular staff?
 

Had to register there before wife and I could get marriage license in the foreign country.

Experiences have been mixed.

Indian Consulate in San Francisco - refused to let me in the door as my residence was in Atlanta at the time and they said I should direct any issues to Houston Consulate instead.

Indian Consulate in Toronto - had multiple friendly and informative email exchanges with the Consul-General personally about absentee voting and voter registration issues. Always prompt service at the Consulate itself when I needed document attestation or other services. Sadly seems to have gone downhill under new management judging by recent reports.

Indian High Commission in Accra - exceptional service. Had to take refuge there for a few hours due to some political issues and dodgy threats of arrest. They installed me on a comfortable chair in their library with some tea and biscuits while everything was sorted out by the First Secretary. Also had a new passport issued on the spot while I chatted with the High Commissioner in his office on a different occasion. Small mission where they knew the local expat community and were able to really provide us good service as a result.

A consulate is allowed to refuse entry to their own citizen based on geographic residency of the same country?? :confused: Seems complaint worthy.

I don't believe they are. Sounds like someone was being lazy that day.

The Indian Consulate in San Francisco refused my wife (US Citizen) a visa because her name was not on my utility bill and they said that they had no way to tell that she lived with me in Nevada… if she lived outside their area, they would not issue a visa. Fortunately a supervisor there (who was, strangely, not of Indian origin) managed to sort it out and get them to relent.

At the other end of the spectrum, I once had tea with the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Iran at their Embassy in Tehran.

At the Russian embassy in Ottawa, they run their consular services from a little house near the embassy. You go in, and a very Russian lady barks at you to sit down. You wait, and wait, and wait, and eventually, a very kind bald man smiles, asks you a little bit about your trip, and gives you your passport back.

All in all, a decent experience. I think receptionists, Russian or not, are inherently unhappy people! :P

In 1966, the Polish consulate in Washington told my mother, who was preparing for a family trip in a VW camper from Paris to Moscow and back, that she and my father should get their Polish visas when they reached Prague. Arriving there, my parents and us three kids went to the Polish consulate. The vice-consul looked at my mother's passport and noted her birthplace: Poland.

"When did you leave Poland?"
"1946."
"Oh, then you're a defector. (The Communist government had already been established then.) You can't come back to Poland."

This was a major predicament as the whole purpose of the trip was for my father to present a paper at the International Congress of Psychology. My mother called friends in Warsaw (which was itself a major undertaking; we went to the main post office, filled out a form, and waited for her name to be announced together with the booth number where she could pick up the call), who contacted various officials to no avail.

After a few days with no visa, my father went along to the consulate. The consul himself was on vacation. My father introduced himself to the assistant with his full academic title in Czech: Professor Doctor X. He pointed out that the vice-consul's refusal of a Polish visa for my mother was preventing him, a distinguished American scientist, from delivering a paper at the most important international scientific conference in his field. This would surely provoke a diplomatic incident; did the vice-consul want to be responsible?

Magically, the visa appeared.

I've only had to deal with 3: Nigeria, Indonesia, Thailand.

Nigeria only for the 4th of July party for ex-pats. Barbecued burgers, dogs, beer. Who could complain?

Indonesia to add pages. Polite and efficient.

Thailand I've had multiple experiences. The Citizens Services has always treated me well, although long waits are normal. But they treat my (Thai) wife like dirt. I get the impression that some think she is betraying their country by marrying an American. She won't go there any more without me. They treat her OK when I'm standing there.

As an expat living overseas, you get a little different view of the DipCorp people that does a traveler who shows up and asks for a service, like a lost US passport. I was an expat in several different countries and in different continents in the 80s and 90s, and my overall view of the Americans employed by the State Department wasn't very positive.

Generally this was because the State people never seemed to have any interest in learning about the people in their host country or developing any sort of relationships with the people who lived in the city. Again, this is a generalization, but it was as if all their social and professional interests were centered on Washington DC, and anyone who was not a part of the Beltway Crowd was not worth their time. For example, I had an American employee who worked for me in the capital of an Asian country, and an American Embassy guy came to the country and moved into the house next door. The Embassy guy and his family went out of his way to ignore my guy and his family the entire time he lived there, as well as every other neighbor on the street.

The other weird touch point for State people and their dependents is on flights to and from the states, where some of the most entitled behavior I have ever seen from Americans has been exhibited by our supposed public servants. DYKWIA, demands for upgrades because of who they are, etc.

Again, this is a generalization, and I am sure that their are good folks out there, but it has been depressingly consistent that the State people, rather than setting an example for being a neighborly American living in a foreign land end up being a character out of "The Ugly American". And since it was my tax dollars supporting their near-lavish lifestyles, it was particularly noticeable and disagreeable.

My Mom spent part of her childhood in Tangier, Morocco, in the 1940s and 1950s. She fondly remembers going to 4th of July ice cream parties at the American Legation in Tangier, and I think she said that it was also home to an English-language lending library. My grandparents often got invited to Legation parties. A few years, my Mom and I spent the better part of a week hanging out in the Legation building (now home to the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies) reading through old copies of the Tangier Gazette.

I spent part of my childhood in Saudi Arabia, and while I don't think I ever visited the US Consulate in Dhahran, I'm almost certain my parents went to a few parties there...invitations were much coveted since the Consulate had name-brand booze, rather than the wine brewed in Rubbermaid trashcans and moonshine made in home stills that expats regularly drank.

My senior year in high school in Maryland I was friends with a British exchange student and her host family secured tickets to the British Embassy Christmas party/pantomime and invited me to join them. (My British boarding school is hosting an alumni reception at the British Embassy in DC in a couple weeks, but sadly I won't be able to attend!)

Male British consul in China still remains the only person to say goodbye to my boobs
"lovely to see you" - to face, shaking hand
"hope to see you again soon" - to boobs.

I've had to work with a fair few British embassies and consulates on business, and the quality is really variable. Bigger missions tend to have better staff, and some of the local officers (nationals of the country you are in, but employed by HMG) are superb.

I frequently use ACS at US Embassies/Consulates in Asia, Europe and Latin America. I've been satisfied with the experiences, after I get into the building. Some experiences have been more formal, some experiences more friendly, but no bad experiences.

My worst experiences with consular staff are with consular staff for countries beside my own, but those bad experiences have been rather rare.

I was invited to a party co-hosted by the Australian Consulate in Chicago (with the Australian National University of which I am a graduate). Met the Consular General and had a great conversation on their role in trade etc.. If I was still paying Australian taxes I would be happy with my taxes paying for the post!

I have needed to visit an Embassy once to get additional pages for my Passport. Seeing a Marine guard at the entrance left the most memorial impression as I knew I was "back" in America (though really in the Middle East). Getting the pages was simple and easy.

Most Foreign service officers generally keep to each other as they tend to be targets. In many countries it means a target for bullets, others they are just harassed, plus there is always an issue in doing something that "looks" bad. Being seen with someone from the wrong company can send things at work down hill very fast and end your career. I have some friends who are FSO and most have spent very little in the US and quickly find they do not fit in basically anywhere or with anyone other then each other.

Other then high ranking staff most FSO do not make very much money as pay starts at less then $40k and housing allowances can be hit or miss. Some cities you make out others not so much; Tokyo is one that people love till they find out that that massive housing allowance doesn't go very far when you are told to live in an ultra expensive area.

Many years ago, my wife (at the time, fiancee) was seeking an exit visa from Korea to come to the U.S. for our wedding. Part of this process was an interview at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. After a long delay, she was finally let in to be "interviewed" by a Korean employee of the U.S. He began by offering her a cigarette (a real no-no for Korean ladies at that time), and, when she refused, said, "You are going to America to marry an American. I thought all prostitutes smoked." My wife was shocked. She just got up and left. She then called the U.S. Ambassador (she was on the staff of another country's embassy) and related what had happened. Within days, she was asked back to the embassy, where all the paperwork was signed and stamped. The same man said he was sorry, and asked her out to dinner. Again shocked, she left and telephoned me. I was a friend of a U.S. Senator at the time and I called him. About a week later, she told me that all was cleared up and the man no longer worked for the U.S. government. I knew my wife with her connections (her mother was a political figure at the time and she was on an embassy staff) would be OK; what offended both of us was, what if she had been just a poor Korean girl wanting to marry an American - why the need for an insult? BTW, same U.S. Embassy a month before: I went with her to file papers for our marriage and her departure. After waiting 6 hours watching the employee (an American) with my papers drink coffee, talk to others, and mill around, I asked him the status of my paperwork. He told me, "You should have gone through the Army offices first, and, besides, it got you out of a day of work." I replied that I was a college professor teaching in Korea and not in the Army. He said, "Oh. Here they are", handing me the signed papers. I did not complain at that time because the really bad incident hadn't yet occurred. I sincerely hope things are better now days.

Now that passports have to be mailed back to HMG in the UK, the biggest question for the massive UK Embassy in HK for expat Brits here is: what on earth do they do all day?

They liaison with the locals all day.

When I tried to get an Indonesian tourist visa in both Tokyo, Colombo and Hong Kong, I was summarily admonished by all three. After 45 minutes, the HK one finally relented. Their excuses were that I could get a VoA in Indonesia, though my argument was that it was my first time going, thus I didn't want to encounter any hiccups along the way.

OTOH, the Pakistani Embassy in Jakarta loved chatting with my ex-gf, so they kept serving us tea.

The Taiwanese Embassy in San Salvador was not surprisingly pissed that I tried to get a photo of their front gate. After code-switching a bit with embassy staff, they gave my friend and I some maps and CDs.

I've had foreign relatives insulted by US embassy/consulate staff. They get their US visas but decide never to go through the process again. It's no better now than before -- even as it is way less likely a Korean fiancée is going to be considered a prostitute today than some decades ago.

Many of the Spanish Consular Staff in San Juan are regular drinking buddies of mine... I don't know if that counts, but I always get good service now.

I've dealt with a few embassies and consulates (and ambassadors and consul-generals) through work. There is a huge difference between the countries / offices - I recall when I telephoned one consulate, expecting to go through to the switchboard, the consul-general himself answered the telephone - I was completely thrown! Others I have virtually had to pull teeth to be put through to the person who is expecting my call, switchboard / reception Nazis! And I must confess, the US ones are particularly bad on this front!

Funnily enough I have received an invitation to attend a soiree at an Embassy overseas next month (I swear the person putting the list together thinks I am someone else) which I am much looking forward to. I am also secretly hoping that they will serve ferrero rocher (for an obvious to Brits reason). It hasn't happened yet sadly (if I were an Ambassador I would sooooo serve them, just to see who got the joke!)

it's been a while so memory's not clear, but i remember needing to contact an italian representative in the denver area. google gave me an address for consulate that i followed with GPS


at destination, i wasnt sure of navigation since it was a quiet residential neighborhood. i looped the block once until i realized the car parked at the marked address had special license plate, and there was a tiny plaque near door of the house.


doorbell was answered, after a few minutes, by a man about 70 years of age, still in his pajamas. it was noon. he took my documents and gave me a card of a lady (the consular representative ???) to check on processing status.


about a week later i called the number, answered only by her machine. called again a few days after that, and person on the line said that the lady had just quit her job.





forgot what transpired next but eventually i got all the documents sorted.

My recent experience with U.S. Embassy Seoul, and that of the Korean people we had working with us, was (AFAIK) substantially better. Issues were handled shockingly quickly by comparison to what I've gotten from federal government offices in the U.S., and the visa clerk was casual but professional interacting with my family and, from what I could tell, others in the queue.

YMMV, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I am so glad that things have improved :) . I know that few/some/many (?) of the Korean girls marrying Americans in the 1960s were "business girls", but it still wasn't right to even suggest that. Interestingly, the girls' nationalities has gone from Korean to Russian/Eastern European to Fillipina (I work at U.S. military bases "up north") over the years. The U.S. Army (and, today, the Phillipine government) have been doing a decent job of reducing postitution from what it was 40 - 50 years ago. Good for the Seoul Embassy staff that there has been improvements. I still live in Korea, but have essentially no contact with the U.S. Embassy.

The efficiency level of service in East Asia has really shot through the roof if you compare it to the 1960's or so.

As someone studying international affairs, I envy those of you who grew up around your respective countries' diplomatic corps.

My impression of US embassies/consuls is that they're not nearly as prone to have get-togethers for expats as other countries' (Australia, for example).

It's a combination of paranoia and population size that makes the difference.

The larger a given country's population and the larger the given country's population of expats in a foreign jurisdiction, then usually it is way less likely any citizen of the given country is invited to events by their own embassy/consulate in the host country.

The more "security" an embassy/consulate has in a place, the less inviting it tends to be to its own citizens too for social events in the host country.

Fortunately, even within this general dynamic, there are exceptions that shift things somewhat for at least some limited period of time -- largely driven by who has been appointed to run the embassy and the desire of spouses/significant others of such persons. But then things eventually revert back to fit the trend as indicated in my prior two paragraphs.

My Swedish relatives working outside of Sweden get invited to dinner with the visiting Swedish king far more frequently than my American relatives working abroad in a NATO country get invited by the US embassy/consulate for a dinner with any visiting American official. Maybe I've been around the block a bit too much, but I am not sure there is much to be missed than some free food and drink.

Do your Swedish relatives work with/in the government at all? Or are regular, expat Swedes just invited to these events?

None of my such-invited Swedish relatives work against the government in any form -- none of them are anti-monarchists like myself :D -- but the few invited to foreign meet-ups with their birthright head-of-state do not have a work history for or with the Swedish government in any official employment or contractor relationship as far as I know.

The invitations seem way more likely when you are registered as a local resident with the local embassy in a far-off country that is not home to many of your fellow citizens and you happen to have a rather established public history in the locality; but that doesn't explain it as much as being registered with the embassy in a locality with few if any of your fellow citizens there.

Each country is a bit different. The more elitist or paranoid your country's average ambassadors tend to be (or are encouraged to be), or the less generally egalitarian your home country's society, then the less likely a local resident expat will get an invitation to such kind of events with officials (unless connected with the government/government figures running the local show, in charge of the local show, or a beneficiary of governmental assistance). The more fellow expats of your country there are in a host country, the less likely an invitation all other things being equal.

My visits are pretty boring and generally pleasant-

New passport - Guangzhou
Pages - Hanoi
Pages - Jerusalem
New Passport - Doha
4th of July party - Cairo

. . .

If someone wants to lay a bet that the Indian consulates and embassies aren't the worst in the world, I'll join you! Many of them have been outsourced to cox & kings, especially for visa services and this is about the one in new york

A year ago on a cold wintry day, I arrived at the destination only to see a queue of about 50 people standing outside. They started giving out hand-written numbers on post-it's to all in line. Finally folks started getting in the door but my guess is most folks were waiting outdoors for over an hour. Upstairs, it looked like a refugee camp and it turned out the guy giving out post-its only knew his numbers till 100 so when a 57 was called, there were like 3 folks standing up. Finally after waiting 4 hours, I decided the time for honesty was over, claim an emergency of requiring to fly out that night or I would have never been out of there and gotten my visa-stamped passport back. When I left, i could see a swarm of agitated people who had gathered around the officer's demanding to themselves go to the backroom to fetch their passports

I wished my wife's county (a small European country) had a real diplomatic post out here so we'd get invited to function but we live 2,200 miles from the embassy. She's also a native citizen of the country we live in though.

An old flame of mine is now an U.S. FSO in a South American country. Haven't really talked to her yet about life there. She authored some article a few years back profiling U.S. F.S. employees (didn't use the word "officers" ~ and it seems it includes anyone working under Chief of Mission authority) and it'd appear, from survey results, that 2/3 are female and 84% are single (never-marrieds or divorced).

F.S. includes both officers and speicalists.

In the early 70s, trying to get a visa for Chad at their embassy in Algiers. The official looking probably head fellow spent a bunch of time looking at the pages in my passport, and said to come back tomorrow to pick it up. It turns out he had someone hand draw a fancy looking visa "stamp" to mimic those of other countries. Coolest visa I ever got!

More recently, a young acquaintance went to the Indian embassy in NYC - took the bus down, doing it as a day trip. The queue was as crazy as posted above and things were not getting anywhere - they were not even letting people into the building. So she bribed a guard and got in - had to pay the guy in the elevator because there were cameras everywhere. We (my Indian friends and I) thought this was a hysterical "entrance exam" where you had to demonstrate the ability to give baksheesh just to get into the country :D

LOL mojaveFlyer - you say it so well! It is indeed the training exercise they want you to go through but only few figure it out and they are well awarded

btw - was the fancy drawing an actual visa of algiers that was drawn out?

A few years ago, I sent the passports of my wife and myself to the Kenyan and Tanzanian high commissions (term for embassies between British Commonwealth countries) in YOW (before unified visas were offered). I had submitted enough postage and envelope for one of the high commissions to send it to the other, with a reg number and all.

Panicked when I could not trace the mail, I called the high commission that the passports were sent to first. They said the high commissioner or consular officer sent the passports by car to the other high commission. And yes, I got my pre-stamped envelope back too.