embassies and consulates in rome

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What do you need a consulate for?

What do you need an embassy for?

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for your embassy in Rome

what a consulate does

Most of the time, when people think they need their embassy, what they really need is not their embassy, but their consulate.
However, it's also ironic that many people experiencing even relatively small problems abroad tend to go anywhere else for help except their consulate, when it would in fact have been best to go there first.

Consulates advise and sometimes help with all the little nitty gritty problems that ordinary citizens may have when travelling or living in a foreign country. Things like lost passports, or visa and customs guards giving you a hard time can usually be sorted out by your Consulate.

If you get too sick to fly home and miss your flight or so dangerously sick that you have to go home early but can't even climb out of your hotel bed, the consulate will help sort things out, and may lend you money to be flown home immediately.

If you die, it's not your problem, but it will be somebody else's, a relative or friend, and the consulate will help.

If you need translators and interpreters, for whatever reason, even or business or just pleasure, consulates (though not supplying them free) will usually keep a list of them you can contact, along with all sorts of other useful addresses for people in a jam.

If you have problems with crime, or if you yourself are arrested for any reason, you should contact your consulate first, before anything or anyone else.

Always bear in mind that whenever you are in a foreign country, you are not above the law.

Although consulates can arrange solicitors and oversee legal and police proceedings aginst you to help ensure you are fairly treated, you are still subject to the laws of the host country, however warped and undemocratic they may seem. Remember also that the national police force of any country's first principal and directive is the protection of its own citizens from outside threat. So don't think you can raise hell on the streets of Rome and then expect your consulate or embassy to bail you out of jail with a full pardon the next morning. They will not, and you are not immune, no matter how big and powerful your embassy might be. If arrested, do not spend all night in your cell shouting abuse and threats of internatinal vengeance at your captors. It will not help.

When abroad, and problems arise, do not hire any private lawyers, legal advisors or detectives before first contacting your consulate for help. When disaster strikes, you can usually save yourself time, money, stress and worry by always contacting your consulate first.

This is a two-way street, because consulates in turn usually appreciate knowing what's going on between their citizens and the host country. Larger problems that can escalate into international incidents can sometimes be contained if the consulate is informed immediately and involved from the beginning. They will know best what to do - It's their job, it's what they're there for. A Consulate is something you 'consult' when you have a question or problem.

As a matter of fact, the American Embassy actually encourages all US citizens visiting Rome (or wherever in the world you travel to) to immediately advise the US embassy or consulate of your presence in the host country. That way, they will know where to contact you in case of international emergency or evacuation. It's nice to know that your country takes a personal interest in you, isn't it? In contrast, as far as I know, the British Embassy in Rome neither knows nor cares who or how many British citizens are in Italy at this moment.

However, having said all that, you must also remember that a consulate is not a tourist information center. Don't waste your consulate's time with irrelevant questions about where to buy postage stamps or toothbrushes.

Consulates also function as passport and visa issuing offices for non-nationals of your country wishing to enter your home country.

If you are in a city such as Rome where your country has both an Embassy and a Consulate, nine times out of ten, choose the consulate to help you, don't bothert the embassy. But if you only have a contact number or address for an embassy and not a consulate, by all means, contact the embassy, and they will pass you on through the proper channels.

what an embassy does

Embassies are for the big stuff. However, many countries have their embassies and consulates under the same roof, and on some levels they function almost indistinguishably from each other, at least as seen from the outside. Contact your embassy for international trading information, or anything you consider of a commercial nature, advantageous to your own country, or anything political or highly dangerous. Consulates deal with passports, police and everyday problems.. Embassies deal with commercial business, international trade, wars and terrorism.

If you are in a city such as Rome where your country has both an Embassy and a Consulate, nine times out of ten, choose the consulate to help you, don't bothert the embassy. But if you only have a contact number or address for an embassy and not a consulate, by all means, contact the embassy, and they will pass you on through the proper channels.

           click here to find the address 
for your embassy in Rome 

terrorism warning to US citizens