Day in the Life of a Consular Officer

Many people ask me just what it is I will do as a Foreign Service Officer. It is a difficult question to answer because their are many, many different jobs and over 200 places around the world where they can be done. However, most junior officers do at least one year of consular work. That is, they’re responsible for adjudicating visas for foreigners wishing to come to the United States as well as assisting Americans traveling overseas. While I’m not doing this particular job on my first tour, I probably will the second tour.

Girl in the Rain has a great entry on what it is like to be a consular officer in a busy post (visa mill in FS slang) like South Korea. You can read about it here and decide you still want to join up.