There’s a travel vlogger I follow, who hails from the U.S., but I shall not mention him by name because I don’t think he really needs any more publicity than he has, to be honest. I’m not saying that in a bad way at all – all I’m saying is he’s doing more than just fine! So anyway, one of the things he always does when he’s in a foreign country and believes things might get out of hand a bit, is write the number of the U.S. embassy located in that specific country on the inside of his t-shirt.
I don’t know, for some reason he’s kind of preparing for a situation wherein he might be found lying unconscious somewhere, with the number written on the inside of his t-shirt perhaps making for the only way through which he would subsequently be identified as a U.S. citizen to possibly set the wheels of getting the appropriate help into motion. Either that or he’s preparing for a night of some heavy drinking that could get all the way out of hand…
I guess that’s commendable because in some way it demonstrates his understanding of the role of one’s embassy when visiting a foreign country. I don’t know about preempting situations such as the ones he is though…Haha…
Anyway, so what is the role of your embassy? It’s important to know so that you can follow due process if you ever find yourself in a situation that requires you to get some help from your embassy and so that you can be fully up-to-speed with what your embassy can and cannot do for you.
Diplomatic immunity?
It’s true that ambassadors do indeed have the privilege of diplomatic immunity, but that is limited to them only and not to the citizens of the country for which they are an ambassador. So no, your embassy can’t get you something like a pardon should you find yourself in trouble with the law in the destination country you’re visiting.
What they can do in that particular situation is help you understand the scope of the trouble you find yourself in and perhaps try to get in touch with your loved ones in order for them to try and help you with some legal representation or any other legal fees which might be accrued, such as perhaps having to buy a list-price flight ticket back home in the event that you’re to be deported, or something along those lines.
Travel and ID document administration
What your embassy primarily exists for is to help make for a resident extension of your country’s equivalent of the Home Affairs department. So if for instance you lose your passport while in that foreign country, your embassy will, at a cost of course, be authorized to issue you with a new one. Of course this might mean that they’d need to get in touch with your relatives back home to help with the financing of these administrative processes, but that’s essentially what your embassy is there for.
