If you’re a foreign citizen living in or traveling through Guatemala, sooner or later you’ll need your own government: a passport renewal, a lost-passport emergency, a baby born here, a document notarised, or help in a genuine crisis. This section covers what each embassy in Guatemala City actually does for its citizens — and, just as importantly, what it doesn’t.

The answer differs sharply by country. Some embassies run a full in-house consular operation; others have moved almost everything online and keep the building for emergencies only. Knowing which model your embassy follows saves you a wasted trip to Zona 10 or Zona 14 — or a missed flight because you assumed a same-day service that doesn’t exist.

Citizen services guides

  • US Embassy: Citizen Services for Americans — the in-house model: passport renewal (by courier through Cargo Expreso for adults who meet the four criteria on the embassy’s courier page, read 28 September 2026) and emergency replacement, Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA), notary services, and emergency assistance, handled by the embassy in Zone 16 (Boulevard Austriaco 11-51, per the embassy’s contact page read 25 September 2026).
  • British Embassy: UK Citizen Services — the online-first model: passports are never issued at embassies, Emergency Travel Documents are applied for online (£125), UK birth registration is optional and online, and notarial services are minimal by policy. The embassy in Zona 10 is appointment-only.
  • Canadian Embassy Guatemala — location, contact, and services for Canadians in Guatemala.

How to use these guides

Each guide answers the same questions for its country: where the embassy is and how to actually reach it, what happens when a passport is lost or stolen, what a birth in Guatemala means for your child’s citizenship paperwork, which documents the embassy will and won’t touch, and the current consular fees — every figure traced to the embassy’s official source.

They pair naturally with the Guatemalan side of the same paperwork: a baby born here must be registered with RENAP regardless of what your embassy requires, and a marriage here follows Guatemalan law first — see our RENAP birth certificate and marriage for foreigners guides.

If you’re still in the planning stage rather than already here, start instead with the relocation guides — for example Moving to Guatemala from the UK — and make sure you land with travel insurance that covers you until your residency healthcare is sorted.

Questions about a specific embassy situation? Email stu@livinginguatemala.com.