On 21 October 2009 Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan became a part of the FCO Global Out of Hours programme.

British nationals in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan needing emergency assistance, or those calling on behalf of a British National requiring help (outside of Embassy opening hours) are asked to call  a special number within the Embassy. Any caller to this number will automatically be redirected to the Foreign Office's Global Response Centre in the United Kingdom. The Response Centre is able to provide immediate advice. The calls are charged at local call rates and may be recorded for monitoring purposes. The system has been working for several months in other countries and the initial feedback from both consular customers and from staff suggests that the new Response Centre is working very well.

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The consular section is part of the British Embassy Office Almaty. The British Consul Barry Bobin-Martin and the consular staff are here to look after the interests of British, Irish and non-represented Commonwealth citizens visiting or living in Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan.

Office Hours
The Consular Section is open to the public between 0830 and 1100 from Monday to Friday. However if you need to speak to someone urgently you can visit the office up to 1700 Monday to Thursday or 1530 on a Friday.

Outside normal working hours a Consular Emergency service is in operation.
The telephone number outside normal working hours is: + 7 7172 556244. Please note that this number is for emergencies only. Examples of emergencies include the hospitalisation, detention or death of a British national overseas. Our Global Response team provides emergency assistance only and cannot answer routine passport questions or any visa enquiries. Such enquiries should be directed to the Embassy team during normal working hours. Your call will be charged at local call rates and may be recorded for monitoring and training purposes.

In Kyrgyzstan we have an Honorary Consul, Mike Astoparthis who is based in Bishkek. His contact details are: 231 Tynystanova Street (located in the basement under Fatboy's Cafe), Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic. Tel: 996 (0) 312 622825, Facsimile: 996 (0) 312 622825, Mobile: 996 (0) 555-584245, Email: gbhoncon@mail.kg. Please note that Honorary Consul's landline and mobile phones are for the normal working hours, from 09:00 to 18:00. Outside normal working hours please call + 7 7172 556244 to be redirected to the Foreign Office's Global Response Centre.

As Honorary Consul, Mike can receive money for passport applications (he also holds stock of application forms) and can offer assistance to British, Irish and non-represented Commonwealth citizens in Kyrgyzstan. However he cannot issue emergency passports.

We hope that this section helps you to understand the functions of a Consular Section but if you have any further questions please contact British Consul Barry Bobin-Martin or a member of the Consular Staff at Almaty.Consular@fco.gov.uk