Vienna Convention on Consular Relations

Under the Vienna Convention on Consular relations 1963, the following are some of the Consular functions:

a- protecting in the receiving State the interests of the sending State and of its nationals, both individuals and bodies corporate, within the limits permitted by international law;

b- issuing passports and travel documents to nationals of the sending State, and visas or appropriate documents to persons wishing to travel to the sending State;

e- helping and assisting nationals, both individuals and bodies corporate, of the sending State;

f- acting as notary and civil registrar and in capacities of a similar kind, and performing certain functions of an administrative nature, provided that there is nothing contrary thereto in the laws and regulations of the receiving State;

g- performing any other functions entrusted to a consular post by the sending State which are not prohibited by the laws and regulations of the receiving State or to which no objection is taken by the receiving State or which are referred to in the international agreements in force between the sending State and the receiving State.

What is stated above is pretty clear and easy to understand, what more to be put in place, however this is not so in most of the Embassies or High Commissioners that I have visited. It is alarming the sad truth how the people inside those offices behave.

My experience conclude that the Far East Embassies are friendlier and willing to go a distance to assist their clients, they are more human, and do not hide behind glass windows or walls. They come out to meet the client and not let a mediator (which normally is a clerk, receptionist, telephone operator or driver) to speak on their behalf.

When I was at the Austrian Embassy, I cannot help but witness how a Regional Country Director was treated, he was literally begging the clerk to let him speak to one of the consular representatives, despite showing her all the evidence that he had traveled to that country before and his cable company is located in that country. No one came out at all, no one.

I encountered some nasty experience myself; come on people you are nothing in your own country, so how come you are treating your client as lappers? Were you not made aware of the functions as stipulated in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations? Amazing!!!!

The Malaysian, Singapore, Australian, USA Embassies staff are among those to be considered the best with human relations. They are not afraid to face the clients and even if they are not able to assist the client, he/she will leave the Embassy feeling respected.

Wake up already people and don’t make this treaty become another joke of the UN charter.