Helping Consuls Help Their Citizens

The Embassy Consular Conference is dedicated to consular staff covering the varied work consuls undertake when assisting their nationals or issuing secure travel documents to citizens and foreign nationals. The conference attracts around 120 consuls from 80+ missions.

The conference will include policy briefings on three broad themes:

• Borders and Immigration
• International Families
• Consular Assistance

In addition to the policy briefings there will be an exhibition where consular staff will be able to meet reputable consular service providers, UK government agencies and NGOs/charities who assist consuls in the work they do.

The conference will close with the Consul of the Year Awards which recognise the outstanding work consuls have performed in service to their citizens. Regional Awards will be presented to Consuls of the Year from six regions (Africa, Americas, Asia, Caribbean & Oceania, Middle East and Europe). From this shortlist, attendees at the conference will be able to vote for the overall Consul of the Year 2023.

Who should attend

• Consular officers 
• Visa officers 
• Police liaison officers/Police attachés 
• Immigration officers 
• Justice and Home Affairs officers 
• Labour/social attachés
• Legal attachés

 

Who you will meet

• Legal advisers (immigration, family law, personal injury, extradition
• and mutual legal assistance) 
• Notaries and legalisation 
• Visa agencies 
• Visa outsourcing agencies 
• Secure document providers (eg visas, passports, ID cards) 
• Biometric and identity hardware providers (scanners, cameras) 
• Consular tech and software solutions 
• Translators 
• Travel assistance
• Repatriation services

Programme

Embassy Consular Conference and Consul of the Year Awards

 

Date: 14 November

Time: 13.00-18.30

Venue: Royal Over-Seas League, 6 Park Place, St. James’s, London SW1A 1LR

 

13.00-13.30 – Registration

13.30-14.00: Session I – Borders and Migration

Opening Keynote Address by the Minister for Immigration the Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP

14.00-14.40 – Coffee, Consular Services Exhibition and Voting for Consul of the Year 2023

14.40-15.20: SESSION II – Consular Emergencies

Briefing on emergency response during a mass casualty event involving foreign nationals, including victim ID, family liaison and consular notification

15.20-16.00 – Coffee, Consular Services Exhibition and Voting for Consul of the Year 2023

16.00-16.40: SESSION III – Consular Assistance: International Families

Best practice sharing in cases of cross-border child protection

16.40-17.10 – Pre-Awards Networking Reception

17.10-18.00: CONSUL OF THE YEAR AWARDS

17.10-17.20 – Closing Keynote Address
Director of Consular Affairs at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Jennifer Anderson

17.20-17.50 – Presentation of Regional Consul of the Year Award Winners

17.50-18.00 – Announcement of Consul of the Year for 2023

18.00-18.30 – Networking Reception