Commonwealth Citizen - Consular Assistance

Consular Assistance

In foreign (i.e. non-Commonwealth) countries, the British embassy or consulate is traditionally responsible for Commonwealth citizens whose governments are not represented in the country concerned. A few Commonwealth governments have made alternative arrangements to share the burden, such as the Canada-Australia Consular Services Sharing Agreement, hence for Canadian and Australian citizens, the British embassy or consulate only provides assistance if neither country is represented. In return, there are a few Australian consulates that are responsible for British nationals because there is no British consulate there. A few Commonwealth governments, namely Singapore and Tanzania, have opted not to receive consular assistance from the United Kingdom.

In other Commonwealth countries, British High Commissions accept no responsibility for unrepresented Commonwealth citizens, who should look to the host Commonwealth government for quasi-consular assistance. Canadian and Australian citizens are still able to seek consular assistance from each other's high commissions.