Consular Outreach -
Skylark Medical Clinic, August 5, 2004
1) Opening - introduction by Dr. Gary Podolsky
2) Introduction - Background / career FS officer - Postings: Jakarta, Tehran,
Brasilia
3) FAC and Consular
Affairs
A) what do we do
- 24 hours, 7 days a week
- Passport services
- Citizenship Services
- Notarial Services (certified true copies, letters of no impediment to marriage,
etc.)
- Registrations of Canadians Abroad (ROCA)
- Preparing Travellers - web site, publications, travel reports, etc.
- assist in medical evacuations - repatriation of deceased Canadians - visit
Canadians in jail
- Election Services
B) what don't we do
- Not a bank
- we do not pay your bills
- No "get out of jail free" cards
- Not a Travel Agency
- Do not intervene in private matters
- No Legal advice
- Post bail, pay fines, etc.
- Enforce custody orders
- Investigate crimes or deaths
- Store personal effects
- Fine you a job
- Pay for burials
- Perform marriages
- Help you find a place to live
4) Before you travel
- Be Informed
- need for passport, visas in advance
- medication
- original carton, copy of prescription, letter from doctor
- children and travel
- can your child travel by themselves or with only one parent
- Hague Convention on International Child Abduction
- Dual Citizenship
- vaccines needed; need for anti-malaria pills
- research, research, research
- FAC web site
and others
- talk to travel agents, tour companies, others travellers
- entry and exit requirements for the country you will visit Ex.
- May need return ticket or proof of funds to purchase
- proof of yellow fever vaccine
- copy of itinerary with family/friends
5) What to take - Pg. 4 "A Traveller's Checklist"
- passport and wallet sized birth certificates
- credit card/travellers cheque
- Bon Voyage But
- location of Canadian Diplomatic Missions and toll free numbers
6) When you arrive
- keep in contact with friends/family
- let them know you arrived (e-mail)
- maybe you do not need to contact them but maybe they need to contact you
(illness or death in family at home)
- Register at the Embassy (online or in person)
- keep in updated
