Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office stands in London, where this tour begins. It is the department behind almost every way the United Kingdom connects with other countries: embassies, consulates, international aid, diplomacy. British diplomats working abroad answer to it, and so do the teams delivering humanitarian assistance and disaster relief overseas.

The department took its present shape in 2020, when the Foreign and Commonwealth Office merged with the Department for International Development. That merger brought diplomacy and overseas aid under one roof. Its remit now runs from citizen support and trade promotion to humanitarian aid and economic development. Teams and projects reach the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, the Americas, and Europe and Central Asia. A branch called FCDO Services handles the work behind the scenes: technical security, logistics, translation, interpreting, and digital services. That branch has built new embassies in Bangkok and improved connectivity in Islamabad.

When earthquakes or hurricanes strike, its people join the emergency response in places such as Mexico City and the Caribbean. You can also ask the office for an apostille, the stamp that makes a British birth or marriage certificate valid abroad. One stamp decides whether a piece of paper crosses a border.