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What Happens Now?
If a UK citizen or business needs help abroad, they can seek consular assistance from a UK embassy, high commission or consulate. There’s also a 24/7 emergency number (Consular Contact Centre).
The kind of consular assistance offered by the UK1 includes:
- Issuing emergency passports/travel IDs.
- Acting as a notary/officially approving documents.
- Specific help, such as contacting people or arranging for paperwork or transfer of money.
- Providing interpreters or an approved list of local professionals (legal, health etc.).
- Helping UK citizens who are victims of crimes abroad.
- Visiting UK citizens who have been accused of a crime and/or detained.
- Supporting people if family members go missing or die abroad.
- Acting as a point of contact in the event of a disaster, evacuation or conflict.
- Arranging for registrations of births, marriages and deaths that happen abroad.
The FCDO also issues travel advice – telling people which countries to avoid and what they should do when preparing to travel to or from particular countries (i.e. getting vaccinations against tropical diseases).
In 20242, FCDO recorded over 230,000 enquiries/consular calls. The most common consular services provided were issuing emergency passports (26,000), missing people & social welfare calls (7,100), services relating to deaths abroad (6,500), health/medical care and repatriation (6,100) and consular assistance to UK citizens accused of crimes (4,700).
Consular assistance isn’t free.
The FCDO sets fees for consular services. As of 2025, the fees range from £35 to £150 depending on the type of service needed.
UK diplomatic missions also assist businesses looking to export or attract investment. However, in the case of Wales, the Welsh Government’s network of overseas offices does something similar or provides extra support for trade.
Does This Work for Wales?
Yes.
There haven’t been any issues – as far as I’m aware – of anyone from Wales not being able to access consular services when they need them. According to the UK Government’s consular data, they only received 50 complaints in 2024, compared to almost 1,000 compliments.
The Welsh Government’s overseas offices play a role in supporting businesses abroad as part of the current International Strategy.
Whether the Welsh Government are making full use of the UK’s FCDO networks (or are able to do so), and how successful the offices have been more generally, are up for debate.
IndyWales & Consular Assistance: Pros & Cons
We might be able to offer faster assistance to Welsh citizens who need help abroad.
Some elements of the UK’s travel advice system can be improved upon or made easier to understand.
Many other countries have modernised their travel advice systems and do more online or through apps; there’s an opportunity for Wales to do so as well.
There and opportunity – where practical – to share embassy space and costs with other countries. This might make the most sense with consulates focused almost entirely on helping tourists rather than diplomacy.
A network of diplomatic missions would gradually build up the networks and “soft intelligence” needed to help Welsh businesses.
The establishment of a Welsh diplomatic service (or equivalent) would create lucrative posts abroad that wouldn’t normally be available to people living in Wales.
UK consular assistance is highly regarded and available pretty much anywhere in the world. There’s no reason why Wales wouldn’t be able to provide a similar level of services, but it might be in fewer locations and take a while to get up and running.
We might end up offering slower assistance to Welsh citizens if the infrastructure isn’t in place to help them. For example, what would a Welsh military need to evacuate Welsh citizens in an emergency?
We might not have a choice in where a Welsh embassy, consulate or high commission is to be located.
Wales’ record in attracting foreign investment has been patchy since the 1990s and there’s far more international competition than there used to be.
Some people would ignore travel advice and put themselves at risk (which goes for the UK as well).
What Do Other Countries Do?
If Wales joins the EU, Welsh citizens would be able to seek consular assistance at any EU member state or consulate if Wales doesn’t have a diplomatic mission in that country3. An EU emergency travel document is set to be introduced before the end of 2025.
Consular assistance is provided at all Irish embassies and consulates. This is guided by a Consular Assistance Charter. Ireland’s “TravelWise” service provides informal and formal travel advice.
There’s a voluntary registration scheme for Irish citizens travelling abroad (except within the Common Travel Area) so they can be contacted easily if needs be.
The Estonian Government runs the “TravelWise” service, which is a one stop shop for travel advice and information.
The Estonian Government encourages citizens to register their foreign trip with the TravelWise service so it’s easier for them to provide consular help if needed.
The Estonian Government points citizens to seek consular help at an EU member state embassy where there isn’t an Estonian diplomatic mission. They can also apply for emergency travel documents to return to Estonia as long as they have a secure internet connection.
Pre-and post travel advice is issued by the Danish Government’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
Similarly to Estonia, the Danish Govenrment encourages its citizens to register trips abroad (“The Danish List”). This is coupled with an app (Travel Ready) which issues immediate advice and information in the country the Danish citizen has travelled to. It also provides direct means to seek consular help and advice.
Consular assistance is provided by New Zealand’s embassies, high commissions and consulates. There’s an emergency assistance phonenumber/switchboard.
New Zealand citizens are encouraged to register their trips abroad and/or if they’re living overseas (SafeTravel). This is used by diplomatic missions to contact people if needed and provides travel advice from the New Zealand Government.
What Options Does Wales Have?
You would expect any Welsh embassy, high commission or consulate to offer consular assistance. In some tourist-heavy areas, it might be their sole focus.
Some of the things we might want to consider include:
- Having a “one-stop shop” website for travel advice, similar to New Zealand’s SafeTravel or Estonia’s TravelWise. Business Wales already does something similar for trade and investment.
- A traffic light style system for travel advice for each country: green (no issues), yellow (keep aware), amber (avoid uneccessary trips), red (do not travel).
- A voluntary registration system for foreign trips so Welsh citizens can be contacted quickly if needed (and possibly make issuing emergency passports easier).
What's at Stake?
The overall score (out of 20) is the total of the scores for the four mini-categories (out of 5 each).
How Would This Be Run?
It would be part of the remit of a Welsh foreign department (or equivalent) and whoever is responsible for foreign affairs in the Welsh Government.
If the consular staff in one area are suddenly overwhelmed (i.e. an emergency evacuation), you would expect extra staff to be drafted in from Wales or the closest Welsh embassies/consulates.
Consular services would be scrutinised by the relevant Senedd committee.
How Much Will This Cost?
Headline: No direct costs.
Consular services are currently funded by a mix of a premium on passport applications and renewals4 combined with consular service fees set by the FCDO. The fees are the same wherever you are in the world.
You would expect Wales to continue with something similar, or pass the entire cost onto the applicant via fees (which could mean cheaper Welsh-issued passports).
Some costs – such as repatriation or legal advice – are not covered under consular assistance and the person involved would pay for it.
Would any new taxes need to be introduced?
No, though the Welsh Government would set fees for consular services.
Who will pay for this?
Anyone who needs consular assistance – mainly tourists.
How Long Would This Take?
It would happen gradually as and when we are recognised by other countries and start formal diplomatic relations with them.
You would expect consulates in places most commonly visited by Welsh tourists to be opened around the same time as embassies and high commissions.
People & Work
Welsh tourists and Welsh businesses that do a lot of exporting or importing or would like to expand abroad.
This would be tied to the creation of a Welsh diplomatic service and embassy network, so potentially up to 700 posts overseas (based on the previous post).
UK Government, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (31st August 2022). “Consular assistance: How the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office provides support”.
UK Government, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (26th May 2025). “Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office consular data 2024”
EU Directive 2015/637
UK Parliament, Written Questions (22nd October 2020). “Diplomatic Service: Passports”.
No AI tools were used to draft this post.
