Procedure on Arrival

On arrival at his post to take up his duties, a head of mission will be met by the Chief of Protocol (or his deputy). This will not, however, be the case in the event of his arrival coinciding with a national or religious holiday or (in an increasing number of countries) over a weekend or very early or very late in the day. He immediately informs the Minister for Foreign Affairs(as well, of course, as informing his own Minister) that he has arrived, and requests an appointment so that he may call on him and, according to the practice in a number of countries, present him with a copy of his credentials.

In the UK, for example, an Ambassador would do this by sending to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, by hand of the protocol representative who meets him, a letter of the following lines.

Sir,

I have the honour to inform you of my arrival in London on [date] in order to take up my duties as Ambassador of....................................... to the Court of St. James’s.

I should appreciate it if arrangements could be made for me to call on the appropriate Ministers and senior officials of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and, in due course, for me to have an Audience of Her Majesty the Queen for the presentation of my credentials, the Working Copies of which I enclose herewith [or] which have already been sent to your department.

With the assurance of my highest consideration,

I have the honour to be, Sir,

Your obedient Servant,

(Usual signature of Ambassador)

The Rt Hon.­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­____________________________

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth

Affairs,

Foreign and Commonwealth Office,

London SW1

According to UK practice the receipt of the working copy of the Ambassador’s credentials (and of his predecessor’s letter of recall where appropriate), together with the letter announcing his arrival, constitute the formal assumption of his duties.

If the head of mission holds the rank of Chargé d’Affaires en titre he will be accredited to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and will deliver to him his letter of appointment; but assuming, as is likely to be the case nowadays, that he holds the rank of Ambassador, his next call will be a ceremonial one on the Head of State (to present the original of his credentials), arrangements for which will usually be made through the head of the Department of Protocol. If it is the practice to deliver a formal speech at this audience, he should ensure that the Minister for Foreign Affairs has a copy of it in advance. The procedure adopted by a state for reception of a particular class of head of mission (i.e. Ambassador, Minister or Chargé d'Affaires) must be uniform in all cases.

Once a head of mission has officially assumed his functions he advises the Dean (Doyen) of the Diplomatic Corps and other heads of missions accordingly, and proceeds to call on them in accordance with the diplomatic protocol. In a city of considerable diplomatic activity such as, for example,

London, where the number of diplomatic missions has trebled in the past thirty years, the traditional practice for newly arrived heads of missions has been adapted to present-day circumstances. After paying courtesy calls on Ministers and senior officials of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (usually within a week or ten days of arrival), heads of mission call on the Doyen of the Diplomatic Corps, a selected number of their fellow heads of missions (chosen, in order of seniority, according to the political interests and geographical position of the newcomer's country), and on prominent figures in British life of their own choosing. Because a new head of mission has entered fully on his functions by presenting to the FCO, on his arrival, the working copies of his credentials, his call on the Queen to present the credentials themselves is in the nature of a symbolic last act of the arrival procedure rather than (as in many other countries) an essential first act. Because of the Queen’s absence from London, it can sometimes be a month or so before a new head of mission presents his credentials, but meanwhile he can, quite properly, circulate a note to other missions announcing his arrival and assumption of functions. If a head of mission is replacing a colleague (as opposed to opening up a mission) he ensures that the appropriate procedure has been carried out with regard to his predecessor’s letter of recall.

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