What are consular services?
Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan is part of the central office of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Consular services are one of the public services in international affairs provided by the Main Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and consulates of the Republic of Tajikistan in other countries according to the procedures as determined by the national legislation and international documents acknowledged by the Republic of Tajikistan.
Consulates are: consular units of diplomatic missions of the Republic of Tajikistan, general consulates, consulates, vice-consulates and consular agencies of the Republic of Tajikistan in foreign countries.
What is the Main Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan and what does it do?
The Main Consular Department of the MFA is an affiliate of its Headquarters. The Main Consular Department supervises the consular offices of the Republic of Tajikistan in other countries in accordance with the Consular Statute of the Republic of Tajikistan, other legal and regulatory documents of the Republic of Tajikistan as well as international documents acknowledged by the Republic of Tajikistan.
The Main Consular Department, alongside its supervisory role, provides consular services to individual and legal entities of Tajikistan and other countries regardless of their form of ownership, diplomatic missions and international organizations and their representative offices accredited in Tajikistan and other nationalities.
What consular services does the MFA Main Consular Department provide?
- processing, issuance, extension, replacement and cancellation of Tajik visas to other nationalities/stateless persons;
- processing, issuance, extension, replacement and cancellation of Tajik international passports to citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan;
- review of applications of citizens on document enquiry;
- information and counselling services;
- Tajik citizenship issues;
- issuance of invitation (visa support) letters to other nationalities/stateless persons
- issuance of laissez passer for returning to Tajikistan;
- apostilling and consular legalization of documents and certificates;
- registration of international passports of public servants of other countries and their family members entering Tajikistan based on the request of their host diplomatic missions and consular offices of other countries as well as international organizations or their representative offices accredited in Tajikistan;
- providing the “business trip to People’s Republic of China” stamp for citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan who intend to visit this country for business or tourism;
- putting stamp for travel to the Gorno-Badakhshon Autonomous Provice border zone in international passports of the staff of diplomatic missions, consular offices and international organizations.
Which consular services do the consular offices of the Republic of Tajikistan in other countries provide?
Consular officers implement the following functions while providing consular services:
- ensure that individual and legal entities of Tajikistan exercise their all rights provided by the legislation of their country of arrival in full fledge;
- maintain register of citizens with permanent and temporary residence in their coverage zone;
- support the representatives of Ministries, agencies and organizations of the Republic of Tajikistan as well as other citizens of Tajikistan in the Consular coverage zone in implementing their service duties;
- inform Tajik citizens temporarily residing in their consular coverage zone about the laws and other regulations of the host state;
- support Tajik citizens living in their consular coverage zone in conducting cultural and public events;
- have the right to represent Tajik citizens in agencies of the host country if they are absent or have delegated their issues to another person or are not able to protect their interests for other reasons;
- implement instructions of investigation authorities and courts of Tajikistan against the Tajik citizens unless prohibited by the laws of the host country;
- have the right to register child adoption certificates of children who are citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan living overseas;
- undertake measures on custodianship of underage citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan left without custodians in their consular coverage zone;
- undertake measures for protection of property left after the death of a citizen of Tajikistan;
- have the right to undertake measures to deliver inheritance to its inheritors in the Republic of Tajikistan;
- collect biometric data of Tajik citizens for the issuance of passports and insert relevant records into them in case of necessity;
- issue visas to other nationalities and stateless persons;
- have the right to accept applications for naturalization, renunciation of citizenship and restoration of citizenship of the Republic of Tajikistan;
- may make proposals to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on deprivation of citizenship of the Republic of Tajikistan;
- register marriage of citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan in accordance with the legislation of Tajikistan;
- provide notarial services in accordance with the legislation of Tajikistan;
- legalize documents and certificates issues by authorized agencies of the consular area according to the procedures as determined by the legislation of Tajikistan;
- accept applications for apostillization of documents at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan.
What are the legal and regulatory documents on consular services?
National Legislation:
Constitution of the Republic of Tajikistan (Article 16)
Constitutional Law of the Republic of Tajikistan on Citizenship of the Republic of Tajikistan (08.08.2015);
Law of the Republic of Tajikistan on Diplomatic Service (31.12.2014);
Law of the Republic of Tajikistan on Public Registration of Marriage Act (29.04.2006);
Law of the Republic of Tajikistan on Public Notary (16.04.2012);
Law of the Republic of Tajikistan on Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Republic of Tajikistan (01.02.1996);
Consular Statute of the Republic of Tajikistan approved by the Resolution 275 of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan (30.07.1998)
Resolution 546 of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan (02.11.2007);
Regulation on processing and issuance paper-based and electronic visa of the Republic of Tajikistan to foreign citizens and stateless persons approved by the Resolution 31 of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan (25.01.2017);
Regulation on issuance of international passports containing electronic data storage and Laissez Passes to citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan approved by the Resolution 203 of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan of 29.02.2009;
Instruction on procedures of consular legalization approved by the Decree No 428 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan (19.11.2008).
International documents:
Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963);
Minsk (1993) and Chisinau (2002) Conventions on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Matters;
Bilateral consular conventions and treaties with other states.