Embassy and Consular Offices 4/23/2010
What is a Consular Office?
Consular offices are generally located in foreign tourist cities, and takes care of minor diplomatic tasks such as issuing visas. The word consulate literally means office of the consul, who is a diplomat appointed to foster trade and take care of expatriates.
What is an Embassy Office?
The word embassy comes from the French ambassy, or office of the ambassador. Ambassadors are high-ranking diplomatic representatives who serve as spokespersons for their national governments. If one country recognizes the sovereignty of another, they generally establish an embassy there. Embassies take care of the same administrative duties as consulates, but they also represent their governments abroad.
The general services offered in Embassies and Consulates are:
- Consular Reports of Birth/Death
- Information about Missing persons
- Information about Customs
- International Adoptions
- International child abduction
- Immigrant Visas or Green Card
- Legal and business matters
- Marriage, Divorce and other legal matters
- Notaries Services
- Non-Immigrant Visas
- Passports and other legal documents
- Tourist Complaints
- Traveling abroad Registration
- Voting Services
Locate Consulates and Embassies
Locate a website of U.S. consulates and embassies worldwide in alphabetical order at: www.usembassy.gov