EMBASSIES

In over 260 countries around the world, there are U.S. Embassies and Consulates with consular officers available to provide assistance to American citizens abroad. If you need help in case of an emergency, you should consider the embassy your first point of contact. Find the U.S. Embassy in the country you are visiting. Learn where it is located and its contact information.

Knowing how to get in touch with the U.S. Embassy should be a no-brainer! Don’t waste time during an emergency searching for the nearest Embassy!
Why not have the information in your backpack or pocket? Visit the “To Go” section of our site for a wallet card....jot down the number and……go from here.

Their Role
Where in the World?
Stay in Touch
History

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THEIR ROLE

Their Role

Not sure what an Embassy really is? Well, it’s not just another building full of bureaucrats. In many ways, the U.S. Embassy is your 911 when overseas. Whether you’ve lost your passport, need to evacuate the country, or someone back in the U.S. needs to get in touch with you, the U.S. Embassy is your point of contact for assistance in many different situations. During a natural disaster, political upheaval, or other emergency, consular officers assist American citizens with transportation, evacuation, and in keeping them safe. This is just one of the many reasons that we encourage you to register your trip before you depart.
Registration is free, confidential, and can be done online.

Emergency Services
If you’re in serious legal, medical, or financial trouble, the U.S. Embassy offers a variety of services.

Health emergencies
Obtaining medical treatment and hospital care abroad can be expensive, and medical evacuation to the U.S. can cost more than $50,000. Note that U.S. medical insurance is generally not accepted outside the United States, nor do the Social Security Medicare and Medicaid programs provide coverage for hospital or medical costs outside the United States.
If an American citizen becomes seriously ill or injured abroad, a U. S. consular officer can assist in locating medical services and informing family or friends. If necessary, a consular officer can also assist in the transfer of funds from the United States. However, payment of hospital fees and all expenses are the responsibility of the traveler.
If your insurance policy does not cover you abroad, it is a good idea to consider purchasing a short-term policy that does.
There are health insurance policies designed specifically to cover travel. Many travel agents and private companies offer insurance plans that will cover health care expenses incurred overseas including emergency services such as medical evacuations. The names of some of the companies offering short-term health and emergency assistance policies are listed in the Medical Information for American Abroad.

Find a hospital or doctor abroad.

Arrests
DISCLAIMER: SINCE CONDITIONS VARY FROM COUNTRY TO COUNTRY, THE PRECISE NATURE OF SERVICES MAY VARY LIKEWISE, DEPENDING ON INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES IN A PARTICULAR CASE.
While in a foreign country, a U.S. citizen is subject to that country’s laws and regulations, which sometimes differ significantly from those in the United States and may not afford the protections available to the individual under U.S. law. As our Country Specific Information explains, penalties for breaking the law can be more severe than in the United States for similar offenses. Persons violating the law, even unknowingly, may be expelled, fined, arrested, or imprisoned. Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking in illegal drugs are strict, and convicted offenders can expect jail sentences and fines. If arrested abroad, a citizen must go through the foreign legal process for being charged or indicted, prosecuted, possibly convicted and sentenced, and for any appeals process. Within this framework, U.S. consular officers provide a wide variety of services to U.S. citizens arrested abroad and their families.
Click here for more information on arrests overseas.

Deaths
When an American dies abroad, the Bureau of Consular Affairs must locate and inform the next-of-kin. Sometimes discovering the next-of-kin is difficult. If the American’s name is known, the Bureau’s Office of Passport Services will search for his or her passport application.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs provides guidance to grieving family members on how to make arrangements for local burial or return of the remains to the U.S. The disposition of remains is affected by local laws, customs, and facilities, which are often vastly different from those in the U.S. The Bureau of Consular Affairs relays the family’s instructions and necessary private funds to cover the costs involved to the embassy or consulate. The Department of State has no funds to assist in the return of remains or ashes of American citizens who die abroad. Upon completion of all formalities, the consular officer abroad prepares an official Foreign Service Report of Death, based upon the local death certificate, and sends it to the next-of-kin or legal representative for use in U.S. courts to settle estate matters.
Click here for more information about how consular officers can help if there is a death overseas.

Missing Persons
As concerned relatives call in, consular officers use the information provided by the family or friends of a missing person to locate the individual. We check with local authorities in the foreign country for any report of a U.S. citizen hospitalized, arrested, or otherwise unable to communicate with those looking for them. Depending on the circumstances, consular officers may personally search hotels, airports, hospitals, or even prisons.
Privacy Act - The provisions of the Privacy Act are designed to protect the privacy and rights of Americans, but occasionally they complicate our efforts to assist citizens abroad. As a rule, consular officers may not reveal information regarding an individual Americans location, welfare, intentions, or problems to anyone, including family members and Congressional representatives, without the expressed consent of that individual. Although sympathetic to the distress this can cause concerned families, consular officers must comply with the provisions of the Privacy Act.

Non-emergency Services
The U.S. Embassy can help with the following:

Absentee voting
Selective Service registration
Transfer of Social Security/Government benefits
Acquisition and Loss of U.S. Citizenship
Providing U.S. tax forms
Notarizing documents
Providing information on obtaining foreign public documents

Contact the Office of Overseas Citizen Services for answers related to questions concerning:

Death of an American citizen abroad
Arrest/detention of an American citizen abroad
Robbery of an American citizen abroad
American citizens missing abroad
Crisis abroad involving American citizens
After-hours number for an emergency involving an American citizen abroad

You can reach Overseas Citizen Services
From 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. Federal holidays).
Outside the United States and Canada   1-202-501-4444
Toll free in the U.S. or Canada              1-888-407-4747

Services Not Offered
Since there’s such a large number of travelers and a limited number of consular officers, they do not provide tourist or commercial services. The following is a list of services NOT provided by the U.S. Embassy.

Tourism services
Commercial Services/Banking Services
Search for missing luggage
Settling of commercial disputes for U.S. citizens
Interpreter services
Lawyer advice and services

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WHERE IN THE WORLD?

Consular personnel are located at U.S. Embassies and Consulates abroad, and in the U.S., 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Find the Embassies in your destination countries and make a note of their contact information.
Locations for the various embassies and consulates are also available on the Country Specific Information. The Consular Information Sheets provide detailed information about the country you’re planning to visit, including any special entry requirements, crime and security conditions, and areas of instability.

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STAY IN TOUCH!

Register Your Trip.....go from here.

If you’re planning to travel abroad, register your trip with the Department of State. No, Big Brother is not trying to keep tabs on you. Travel registration makes it possible to contact you if necessary. Whether there’s a family emergency in the United States, or a crisis in the country you’re visiting, registration assists the Embassy or Consulate in reaching you. Registration is free and can be done online.

Worried about confidentiality? Well, put your mind at ease. In accordance with the Privacy Act, the Department of State may not release information about those registered without their express written authorization.

If your family needs to reach you because of an emergency, they can pass a message to you through the Office of Overseas Citizens Services (OCS).
OCS will contact the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in the country where you are traveling to pass the message to you.

You or your family can reach Overseas Citizens Services by calling
202-501-4444 from overseas or
888-407-4747 from within the U.S. or Canada

Leave a copy of your trip itinerary with family or friends at home. Having a copy of an itinerary and other documentation will save them valuable time if they need to contact you in an emergency. Better safe than sorry.

Make two copies of your passport (just the identification page), your airline tickets, driver’s license and the credit cards you plan to take. Leave one copy of each with family or friends at home, and pack the other copies separately from the originals.
Leave a copy of the serial numbers of your travelers’ checks with a friend or relative at home. Carry your copy with you in separately from the actual checks. As you cash the checks, cross the numbers off the list.

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HISTORY

The consular corps of the United States has a long, honorable, and sometimes dramatic history serving the United States and protecting the welfare of Americans. It began in 1778, years before the U.S. Constitution was signed. Benjamin Franklin and John Adams complained to Congress that the demands of American seamen in France distracted them from their delicate negotiations at the court of Louis XVI. They urged Congress to establish a consular service.

In 1780 the first American Consul General, William Palfrey, set sail for his posting in France. Unfortunately, he never made it. In an early example of the risks involved in a Foreign Service career, Mr. Palfrey was lost at sea when his ship sank.

But Congress quickly followed up by sending Thomas Barclay and the American consular service was born.

The first organized consular service was established by Thomas Jefferson when he became Secretary of State in 1790. Two years later, Congress passed a law describing the powers and duties of a consul. This law, as amended, still serves as the basic charter for our consular work today.

Did you know?

Original consular duties included detailed guidance on dealing with American seamen, assisting Americans detained abroad, and responding to the seizure of American ships. During the first 10 years of the new republic, 69 consuls and vice-consuls were sent out into the commercial world where trading and the shipping interests lay.
The cultural heritage of Consular Affairs is peopled with American literary figures, musicians, song writers, scientists, and heroes. The distinguished list includes many well-known Americans, including:
Joel Roberts Poinsett, physician, botanist and statesman. Poinsett was sent by James Madison as the first consul to the Latin American as they rebelled from Spain from 1810 to 1814.
James Fenimore Cooper, best known for his novels Last of the Mohicans and Leatherstocking Tales. Fenimore Cooper was appointed consul in Lyons, France in 1826, although he never served under this appointment.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter and The House of Seven Gables. Hawthorne was appointed by President Pierce to serve as consul to Liverpool, which was the busiest consulate in the consular system during his term, from 1853 to 1857.

HEROES

We have other heroes in our consular past and present. Take Hiram “Harry” Bingham IV, for example. Bingham put his career and his life on the line during World War II by helping to rescue at least 2,500 Jews and other opponents of the Nazi regime while he was assigned to Marseille, France in 1940 and 1941. One of the people he is credited with helping is the painter Marc Chagall. In 2002, Bingham’s relatives received a posthumous award for his heroic actions from then Secretary of State Colin Powell. We honor Mr. Bingham’s actions, ethics and courage.

Consular officers today also take on the tough jobs, or head into trouble spots just as others are leaving. The terrible events of the Indian Ocean tsunamis serve as a brutal reminder of how unexpected and arbitrary natural forces can inflict so much damage on the innocent. Images of the devastation, the victims, and the anguish of the survivors have touched and saddened all of us. In the midst of the chaos and the loss, consular officers were there to demonstrate our central commitment to providing assistance to American citizens. It is a story illustrative of our efforts in so many other cases of disaster and tragedy. And although the scope of this response was quite large, it is the fact of a tragedy, not the size, which propels us into action.

HISTORY OF THE CONSULAR FLAG

In 1777 a dark blue flag with 13 white stars, called the "Jack," was first flown on small naval vessels whenever an ambassador or minister of the diplomatic corps was on board. On April 27, 1903 a "C" was added to the center and this new flag was authorized as the consular flag for the use of consular officers traveling by boat in the ports to which they were accredited. According to instructions, the flag was to be used by consular officers who had occasion to employ small boats for official purposes and was designed to indicate to vessels of war and port officials that a consular officer of the United States was on board. During that year, consular flags were sent to officers at many seaports, including Canton, Constantinople, Naples, Nice, Rio de Janeiro, Tampico, and Yokohama. In 1909 the United States Navy began to display the consular flag on a staff in the bow whenever a consular representative of the United States made an official visit onboard.

Other nations using a consular flag include the United Kingdom, Mexico and Paraguay. Today, in accordance with Foreign Affairs Regulations, the consular flag is displayed along with the U.S. flag in consular waiting rooms and in the offices of Consuls General and consular chiefs.