SUPPORT FOR BRITISH NATIONALS ABROAD
Who they can help?
Support to people outside the UK who are:
- - British Nationals [whether or not they normally live in the UK]
- - British Nationals with another nationality [known as dual nationals] but normally not in the country of their other nationality
- - In certain circumstances, nationals of other European Union countries and Commonwealth nationals whose country does not have a local embassy
Support cannot be given to other countries’ nationals, even if they may have been legally living in the UK.
Where you can find the British Consul in Cyprus:
Alexander Pallis Street
PO Box 21978
Nicosia
1587
Cyprus
PO Box 21978
Nicosia
1587
Cyprus
Telephone +357 22 861100
Fax +357 22 861125
All telephone enquiries:
Monday to Friday, 07:30 to 14:30
Consular section - public counter:
By appointment only. Consular appointments can be booked for the relevant services on the following days:
· Alexander Pallis Street (south) - Tuesday, 09:30 to 12:30
· Mehmet Akif Street (north) - Wednesday, 09:30 to 12:30
British nationals who need emergency assistance need to contact the High Commission (Tel: +357 22861100, Option 2) and a member of staff will deal with them. Out of Consular section working hours (0730-1445) calls will be dealt with by London and if urgent consular assistance is deemed necessary the call will be escalated to post.
Out-of-hours emergency assistance
British nationals who need emergency assistance outside normal office hours should call +357 22 861 100 where they will be given details on how to proceed and how to contact a duty officer if needed.
A full directory of British Embassies, High Commissions or Consulates is available on www.gov.uk/fco
What kind of help can they provide?
They offer help which is appropriate to the individual circumstances of each case. Their staff overseas will make an assessment of your vulnerability and the needs you have based on who you are, where you are, and the situation you are facing. They will aim to offer assistance which helps meet these needs.
The help they can offer can include:
- - Issuing replacement emergency travel documents
- - Providing information about transferring funds
- - Providing appropriate help if you have suffered rape and sexual or physical assault, are a victim of other crimes, are ill or in hospital
- - Providing details of local lawyers, interpreters, doctors and funeral directors
- - Providing details of other organisations that can provide specialist support where they are unable to
- - Contacting family or friends for you if you wish them to
- - Making special arrangements in cases of terrorism, civil unrest or natural disasters
- - Providing documentary services such as consular birth or death registration and help with marriage or civil partnership documents
They cannot:
- - Help you enter a country, eg, if you do not have a visa or your passport is not valid [because each country can decide who they allow into their country and, outside the EU, no country has any obligation to explain their decisions to the British Government]
- - Ensure your safety and security in another country [because this is the responsibility of the government and authorities of that country]
- - Give you legal advice or translate documents, although they can give you details of people who may be able to help you, such as English-speaking lawyers or professional translators/interpreters [because such support is best provided by independent professionals and they do not have the funding or expertise to provide such specialist service]
- - Carry out searches for missing people [because doing so is the responsibility of the local authorities and to search effectively requires resources only they can provide]
- - Investigate crimes get you out of prison, prevent the local authorities from deporting you after your prison sentence, or interfere in criminal or civil court proceedings [because they cannot interfere in another country’s processes, and must respect their systems just as they expect them to respect the UK’s laws and legal processes]
- - Get you better treatment in prison than local prisoners [although they may raise concerns with local authorities if treatment falls below internationally recognised standards] or get you better treatment in hospital than the treatment that is given to local people [because they cannot interfere in another country’s processes just as we would not accept such interference in the UK]
- - Pay any bills or give you money from public funds [because they are not funded to do this and it is the obligation of individuals to take responsibility for themselves]
- - Make travel arrangements for you, or find you work or accommodation, or make business arrangements on your behalf [because these are private arrangements which are your responsibility to make for yourself]
- - Get involved in private disputes over property, employment, commercial or other matters [because they are in no position to judge the facts and have no jurisdiction overseas to resolve such matters]
Response in a crisis?
It is not easy to define what such circumstances might be, but they might be the result of natural disasters or large-scale accidents, civil unrest, terrorism or conflict.
There may be limits to what can be done in a crisis – please take sensible precautions, read and follow advice provided and take responsibility for your own safety first. They have a duty of care to their own employees and will not send staff into a situation where they judge that their safety could be seriously at risk.
Some examples of the extra help they can provide in a crisis are to:
- - Send extra staff to the country involved to support British nationals and to reinforce their Embassy staff on the ground
- - Work with local authorities to establish if British nationals have been involved and provide information and support to those who have been affected
- - Set up an information hotline in the UK
Generally there is no legal right to consular assistance. All assistance provided is at their discretion.