Consular assistance is help and advice provided by the diplomatic agents of a country to citizens of that country who are living or traveling overseas.
The diplomats may be honorary consuls, or members of the country's diplomatic service.
Such assistance may take the form of:
Such assistance commonly does not extend to:
At Article 5, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations gives the most broad, detailed, and internationally accepted definition of 'consular functions': [1]
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity that ensures diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws, although they may still be expelled. Modern diplomatic immunity was codified as international law in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) which has been ratified by all but a handful of nations. The concept and custom of diplomatic immunity dates back thousands of years. Many principles of diplomatic immunity are now considered to be customary law. Diplomatic immunity was developed to allow for the maintenance of government relations, including during periods of difficulties and armed conflict. When receiving diplomats, who formally represent the sovereign, the receiving head of state grants certain privileges and immunities to ensure they may effectively carry out their duties, on the understanding that these are provided on a reciprocal basis.
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes an embassy, which is the main office of a country's diplomatic representatives to another country; it is usually, but not necessarily, based in the receiving state's capital city. Consulates, on the other hand, are smaller diplomatic missions that are normally located in major cities of the receiving state. As well as being a diplomatic mission to the country in which it is situated, an embassy may also be a nonresident permanent mission to one or more other countries.
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a given person's identity. It enables its holder travel to and from foreign countries and to access consular assistance while overseas. The document certifies the personal identity and nationality of its holder. Standard passports contain the full name, photograph, place and date of birth, signature, and the expiration date of the passport. While passports are typically issued by national governments, certain subnational governments are authorised to issue passports to citizens residing within their borders.
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sovereign or appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment. The word is also used informally for people who are known, without national appointment, to represent certain professions, activities and fields of endeavor such as sales.
Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seatings at state dinners, the person to whom diplomatic credentials should be presented, and the title by which the diplomat should be addressed.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) is a bureau of the United States Department of State reporting to the under secretary of state for management. The mission of the Bureau is to administer laws, formulate regulations and implement policies relating to the broad range of consular services and immigration. As of 2021, the bureau is headed by the Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs, Rena Bitter.
The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations is an international treaty that defines a framework for consular relations between sovereign states. It codifies many consular practices that originated from state custom and various bilateral agreements between states.
A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people of the two countries.
The Master Nationality Rule is a consequence of Article 4 of the Convention on Certain Questions Relating to the Conflict of Nationality Laws of 1930. This provides that "a State may not afford diplomatic protection to one of its nationals against a state whose nationality such person also possesses".
A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country, usually an embassy or – between Commonwealth countries – high commission. Like the terms embassy or high commission, consulate may refer not only to the office of consul, but also to the building occupied by the consul and the consul's staff. The consulate may share premises with the embassy itself.
A protecting power is a country that represents another sovereign state in a country where it lacks its own diplomatic representation. It is common for protecting powers to be appointed when two countries break off diplomatic relations with each other. The protecting power is responsible for looking after the protected power's diplomatic property and citizens in the hosting state. If diplomatic relations were broken by the outbreak of war, the protecting power will also inquire into the welfare of prisoners of war and look after the interests of civilians in enemy-occupied territory.
Consular immunity privileges are described in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 (VCCR). Consular immunity offers protections similar to diplomatic immunity, but these protections are not as extensive, given the functional differences between consular and diplomatic officers. For example, consular officers are not accorded absolute immunity from a host country’s criminal jurisdiction, they may be tried for certain local crimes upon action by a local court, and are immune from local jurisdiction only in cases directly relating to consular functions.
The Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Belgium and is responsible for Belgian foreign policy, relations with the European Union, development cooperation policy and certain aspects of foreign trade policy. The central government in Brussels directs the network of diplomatic and consular representations abroad.
The Embassy of Australia in Moscow is the diplomatic mission of Australia to the Russian Federation. The current head of post and Ambassador of Australia to the Russian Federation is Graeme Meehan. The embassy serves as the diplomatic mission for Australia to the Russian Federation, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The chancery is located at 10A/2 Podkolokolny Lane in the Tagansky District of Moscow.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, abbreviated KLN, is a ministry of the Government of Malaysia that is responsible for foreign affairs, Malaysian diaspora, foreigners in Malaysia, diplomacy, foreign relations, counter terrorism, bilateral affairs, multilateral affairs, ASEAN, international protocol, consular services, maritime affairs, chemical weapons. The current ministry is based in Putrajaya. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Malaysia is also widely known as Wisma Putra, which is also the name of its building in Putrajaya.
Consular identification (CID) cards are issued by some governments to their citizens who are living in foreign countries. They may be used, for example, by an embassy to allow its citizens to vote in a foreign country. Some jurisdictions accept them for some identification purposes. They are not certifications of legal residence within foreign countries, so CID card holders could be legal or illegal aliens.
Assistance may refer to:
The Grenadian passport is a travel document is issued to citizens of Grenada, in accordance with Grenada Citizenship Act 1976 and the Grenada Constitution, for the purpose of facilitating international travel. It allows the bearer to travel in foreign countries and the Commonwealth of Nations, in accordance with visa requirements, and facilitates the process of securing assistance from Grenadian consular officials abroad, if necessary.
The Canada–Australia Consular Services Sharing Agreement is a bilateral agreement between the governments of Australia and Canada for each country to provide consular assistance to citizens of the other in situations which are from time to time agreed between the two countries. Missions in area where only one country has developed diplomatic relations will provide consular services to both Canadian and Australian passport holders or citizens.
The Russian Foreign Services is a complex of measures, carried out by specialized companies to help integrate Russians into their new society, to give wide-ranging support to the Russian citizens while they are abroad. Assistance is provided to ensure comfortable stay of Russian-speaking citizens abroad, through offering the information support during transportation, transfer, accommodation in hotels, organization of excursions, providing concierge services and resolving domestic problems.