U.S. Foreign Service Officer headed to Wuhan, China

The mission of a U.S. diplomat in the Foreign Service is to promote peace, support prosperity, and protect American citizens while advancing the interests of the U.S. abroad. The work that diplomats do has an impact on the world as they serve at one of any of the more than 270 embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions in The Americas, Africa, Europe and Eurasia, East Asia and Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, and South Asia.

The duties of a Consular Officer include to provide emergency and non-emergency services to American citizens and protect our borders through the proper adjudication of visas to foreign nationals and passports to American citizens. We adjudicate immigrant and non-immigrant visas, facilitate adoptions, help evacuate Americans, combat fraud, and fight human trafficking. Consular Officers touch people’s lives in important ways, often reassuring families in crisis. They face many situations which require quick thinking under stress and develop and use a wide range of skills, from managing resources and conducting public outreach to assisting Americans in distress.

Changes at post

Sunset at Dhow cafe this Friday night

Some welcome changes have come my way and I'm enjoying my time in Maputo more than ever. The first big change was moving from FMO (financial management office) to CONS (consular office). I've spent the last three weeks learning a lot about how consular officers decide who gets a visa to visit the U.S. and who doesn't. Through this process I've had to learn all about the different kinds of visas that are issued and how to process them. The other half of the job consists of helping Americans who have any sort of problem while in Mozambique and also with routine needs like new passports, notary services and births or deaths abroad.

The consular office in Maputo is one of the smallest in the world because there is only one consular officer. The other two employees are local staff from Maputo. Although the office is super tiny with cramped workspaces, I like it because it's easy to know what's going on with everyone all the time (I'm probably the only one who thinks this, however). Since there is only one consular officer he has to do it all himself which means that I get to see how everything is done since I'm never more than about three feet away from any person in the office at any given time. He does all of the actual visa interviews and official signatures on documents and I've been taught to do all of the paperwork and data entry that goes into every service preceding his official decision.

The other recent change has been another move. I've spent the first four weeks of my stay in Maputo in the intern house which has been fine, but not really my scene. When a nice young couple from the embassy asked if I wanted to live with them for the rest of my time here, I jumped at the chance. Now, I'm overwhelmingly grateful for daily access to internet, hot showers, air conditioning, a clean kitchen and constant quiet. It's pure bliss.

With this new access to internet I'm hoping to be able to write a bit more in my last four weeks here. Thanks for reading and stay tuned.

Read More 1 Comment | Posted by Sarah Sanderson

1 Comment

Linde on August 10, 2016 at 6:40 AM

Work sounds really interesting!
Glad you were able to move somewhere you like better (both at work and for housing).

Wanderlust

In Mandarin: 旅遊癮 (lǚyóu yǐn)

According to my Mandarin teacher, the term 'wanderlust' can best be translated as 'a travel addiction or craving'. In the above translation, 'yǐn' has several meanings such as 'a strong impulse', 'a longing', or 'a desire'.

U.S. Foreign Service Officer headed to Wuhan, China

Changes at post

1 Comment