FCO LOCATE closing

[LooneyTunes]

A FYI for anyone else who uses it but hasn't seen/received the note from them...

Appears that the FCO are shutting down LOCATE on 14th May.

Was always a reassuring service to have in place if going to odd places, so sorry to see it go. Shame there doesn't seem to have been any consultation on it as I know that I for one would have been happy to pay a modest subscription for the service to continue.

[K50 DEL]

Can quite understand why they're closing it, I've lived and worked abroad for 6 years now and I've yet to meet anyone other than me who has even heard of the system let alone actually updated it every time they went anywhere.

The mail I got talked about a replacement service that seemed a little more useful.

[LooneyTunes]

The other system they talk about seems to rely on you being able to look for their information. Rather got the impression that it was simply a case of diverting funds to the FCO's advice site.

I liked the fact that in theory at least, with LOCATE, they knew you were in the country if things started to go wrong.

Do agree though - hardly anyone seemed to know it existed though.

[Kermit power]

I went through a period of having two papers because I had weeks on end when I wasn't in the country for long enough to get visas put in a single passport, but I'd never heard of this!

[LooneyTunes]

They never really did a good job promoting it.

I only found out about it when I started working in a couple of less developed/stable places and was trying to find a way to make sure that someone knew I was there if it all kicked off.

What they'd have actually done if it did, well, who knows...

[GlenMH]

LooneyTunes said:

What they'd have actually done if it did, well, who knows...

Having chatted to the Brit ambassador in Tokyo a couple of weeks after the quake etc, the answer is "bugger all".

Even the FCO didn't know what it was for.