consular affairs

Why It Can Take Two Years to Get a U.S. Visa

A Visa Doesn’t Guarantee Entry, Just a ‘Knock on the Door’

Abroad for the Holidays, Diplomats Create Another Kind of Family

For Americans in Trouble Abroad, a Consular Officer May Be the Only Hope

An Outsider’s Peek Inside the Foreign Service’s Inner Workings

Ambassador
Daniel Fried

Fried is a former assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, senior director for European affairs on the National Security Council and ambassador to Poland. He spent 40 years in the U.S. Foreign Service.

Ambassador
Janice Jacobs

Jacobs is a former assistant secretary of state for consular affairs and ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. During her 34-year Foreign Service career, she also served in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Mexico, Nigeria and Thailand.

Ambassador
Charles Ray

Ray is a former ambassador to Zimbabwe and Cambodia, deputy chief of mission in Sierra Leone, and consul-general in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. His 30 years in the Foreign Service were preceded by 20 years in the U.S. Army.