Vice Consuls Reach Out to Regional Centers

15 October 2010

Vice Consul Tom Zia with students in Wisznice

On September 20-23, two of Embassy Warsaw’s vice consuls hit the road, visiting Gdansk, Bialystok and Wisznice, where their busy schedules combined consular services and community outreach.  In just a few days, the two officers delivered our message of service and accessibility to nearly 1,000 students and teachers, as well as a large group of local officials and American citizens.

Tom Zia in Bialystok and Sergio Moreno in Gdansk met with students at top local high schools to discuss studying and traveling in the U.S. They provided practical information on the visa process, along with their own insight on American student life.  More than 650 students participated in sessions that also included presentations by Aleksandra Augustyniak, an educational advisor with the Polish-U.S. Fulbright Commission.

In addition, Mr. Zia received an especially warm reception when he visited his mother’s hometown of Wisznice to address an audience of more than 250 at the local middle school.  Mr. Zia spoke about his personal connections to Wisznice, his own education experiences, and opportunities for young people to study and travel in the U.S.  He also held meetings with community leaders, high school students, and local media to discuss student exchange programs and provide information on the visa process.

Services to American citizens featured prominently on the schedule, and Mr. Moreno and Mr. Zia, respectively, held drop-in hours at the American Corner-Gdansk and the Young Learners’ Resource Center-Bialystok to offer a range of consular services.  They provided more than 20 passport and notarial services, and advice on issues such as claims to citizenship, visas, and other important matters.   The officers visited two incarcerated U.S. citizens and an American child in a local orphanage.  A Warden dinner in Gdansk to discuss issues of concern to the local American community rounded out the outreach there.  Both officers consulted with local crisis management officials for the Pomorski and Podlaski regions to focus on sharing information and fostering our cooperative relationship to quickly and effectively help U.S. citizens in Poland in the event of an emergency.

As part of Embassy Warsaw’s consular outreach program, these successful road trips went a long way to help achieve the consular section’s goal:  to deliver exceptional service and accessibility to American citizens and Polish applicants throughout Poland.