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 and emergency replacement, Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA), notary services, and emergency assistance, all handled at the embassy in Zone 14.
  • 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.