Integrity Legal

Those who read this blog regularly will no doubt have noticed that we frequently post the holiday closing schedules for US Embassies and Consulates throughout the region. This is done in an effort to forestall unnecessary trips to a US Embassy or US Consulate as many foreign nationals are unfamiliar with American holidays and many American Citizens may be unfamiliar with local holidays.

Every year, Americans travel to American missions abroad in order to obtain certain services which cannot be performed by anyone except a Consular Officer. Generally, each American Mission has an American Citizen Services Section to provide vital services to Americans abroad. Services of this nature include, but are not limited to, Consular Report of Birth Abroad issuance, new US passport issuance, notarization services, addition of new visa pages, and in rare cases Americans seek a Consulate in order to renounce their US Citizenship (in recent months this has been on the rise, but those thinking about renouncing their US Citizenship would be wise to consult an American attorney about the ramifications of such a decision).

Those wishing to partake of services from a US Embassy abroad should look at the Post’s official website in order to learn if they make appointment online. If so, this can save the American Citizen a great deal of time and trouble as the Consular Officers can better anticipate the American’s needs prior to his or her arrival at the post. Furthermore, complicated requests could be more easily streamlined where the officers’ have been placed on notice.

Those seeking assistance from a Visa Unit attached to an Embassy or Consulate overseas are well advised to contact the Post directly in order to ascertain how interview appointments at Embassies are processed and scheduled.

Those seeking information related to US visas should see the following: US Visa Thailand or K1 visa

The holiday schedule posted below is quoted directly from the official website of the US Embassy accredited to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Tuvalu:

Listed below are Fiji and U.S. National holidays on which the Embassy is closed.

Holiday	Date Observed
New Year’s Day	Friday, Jan 01, 2010
Martin Luther King Jr’s Birthday	Mon, Jan 18, 2010
President’s Day	Mon, Feb 15, 2010
Prophet Mohammed’s Birthday	Mon, Mar 1, 2010
National Youth Day	Mon, Mar 22, 2010
Good Friday	Friday, Apr 2, 2010
Easter Saturday	Sat, Apr 3, 2010
Easter Monday	Mon, Apr 5, 2010
Memorial Day	Mon, May 24, 2010
Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna Day	Fri, May 28, 2010
Queen’s Birthday	Mon, Jun 14, 2010
Independence Day	Mon, July 5, 2010
Labor Day	Mon, Sep 6, 2010
Fiji Day/Columbus Day	Mon, Oct 11, 2010
Diwali	Fri, Oct 5, 2010
Veterans Day	Thurs, Nov 11, 2010
Thanksgiving Day	Thu, Nov 25, 2010
Christmas Day	Mon, Dec 27, 2010
Boxing Day	Tue, Dec 28, 2010

Tags: American Citizen Services, consular report of birth abroad, K1 Visa, US Consulate, US Embassy, US Visa Thailand