The highest priority of the Bureau of Consular Affairs is to protect the lives and serve the interests of U.S. citizens abroad. Across the globe, we serve our fellow citizens during some of their most important moments – births, adoptions, medical emergencies, deaths, arrests, and disasters. We also help U.S. citizens connect with the world by issuing millions of U.S. passports each year.
We keep our country safe and help foreign nationals connect with the United States by issuing visas to qualified visitors, workers, and immigrants. Led by the Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs, our team is proud to be the public face of the Department of State, representing the best of U.S. values to millions of people around the world. We are here to serve you.
A U.S. passport is your ticket to international travel. The U.S. passport is a request to foreign governments to permit you to travel or temporarily reside in their territories and have access to lawful local aid and protection. The passport allows you access to U.S. consular services and assistance while abroad. Most importantly, it allows you to re-enter the United States upon your return home.
The Department of State issues U.S. passports to traveling U.S. citizens. We protect the integrity of the U.S. passport as proof of U.S. citizenship at home and around the world.
Passport Services consists of:
We also issue passports for U.S. citizens that apply at our embassies and consulates abroad.
If you are interested in passport statistics, please visit our Passport Statistics page for information on:
The Department of State will issue secure travel documents to U.S. citizens while providing the highest level of customer service, professionalism, and integrity.
Service Standards
The Office of Visa Services, in the Consular Affairs Bureau, Department of State provides various functions:
When to Contact Us vs. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Defining the different roles and responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State can be confusing. We hope this information will assist you:
Contact the Department of State - A U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad will be your resource for questions about U.S. visas, including the application process, the status of visa processing, and for inquiries relating to visa denial.
Visa Services, Public Inquiries can usually explain what aspects of immigration law and regulation are applicable in certain cases, and can also check the current status of a particular case, if processing has been delayed.
Contact the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) - The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for the approval of all immigrant and nonimmigrant petitions, the authorization of permission to work in the United States, the issuance of extensions of stay, and change or adjustment of status while you are in the United States. Questions about these matters should be referred to DHS, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
About Us
The protection of U.S. citizens overseas is one of the Department of State’s highest priorities. We provide information designed to help U.S. citizens stay safe abroad, and U.S. Embassies and Consulates also provide emergency and non-emergency services to overseas U.S. citizens around the world.
We help U.S. citizens in the event of arrest, death, destitution, crisis, or medical emergency overseas. We respond to welfare and whereabouts inquiries, and deal with nationality and citizenship matters.
See also:
The Office of Children's Issues (CI), part of the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, plays an active role in the intercountry adoption process. In our work, we are dedicated to assisting parents as they seek to provide a home to orphans abroad.
We carry out the Department of State's responsibilities as the U.S. Central Authority for the Hague Adoption Convention. The Office of Children's Issues is responsible for the day-to-day oversight and implementation of the Hague Adoption Convention in the United States.
The Office of Children's Issues (CI), part of the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, plays an active role in the intercountry adoption process. In our work, we are dedicated to assisting parents as they seek to provide a home to orphans abroad.
We serve as the U.S. Central Authority for the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. Also known as the Hague Adoption Convention, this is an international treaty among over 90 nations around the world, including the United States. The Office of Children's Issues is responsible for the day-to-day oversight and implementation of the Convention in the United States.
We have 21 full-time employees that work in intercountry adoption. Some of our primary functions include:
The Department of State has no higher priority than to safeguard the welfare of U.S. citizens abroad, the most vulnerable of whom are children. We believe that a court in the country of a child’s habitual residence is, in most cases, best placed to make decisions on matters of custody and access.
Our Role
The Office of Children’s Issues serves as the U.S. Central Authority for the Hague Abduction Convention (Convention), an international treaty that offers a civil remedy to resolve international parental child abduction cases. In that capacity, the Office of Children’s Issues leads U.S. government efforts within the Department of State and with other U.S. government agencies to prevent international parental child abduction, assist children and families involved in these abduction cases, and promote the principles of the Convention.
If you believe your child is being abducted internationally by another family member and has not yet left the United States, you can call the Office of Children’s Issues at any time at 888-407-4747.
