About the Department
The External Affairs Department of the Velocity Interoperability Network conducts the relations of the Velocity Interoperability Network with bodies outside it. It maintains the Network's representations beyond its boundaries, provides consular assistance to citizens of the Network abroad, keeps the register of agreements concluded with external bodies, and accredits the representatives those bodies send to the Network.
The Department was established on 6 September 2026. Before that date each member organisation of the Network dealt separately with the external bodies whose work touched its own, with the result that the same body might hold several understandings with the Network and none of them recorded in a common place. Between 10 August and 5 September 2026 those functions were transferred to the Department, together with the instruments already concluded and the consular cases then open.
- 7
- Representations beyond the boundaries of the Network
- 11
- Instruments in force on the register of agreements
- 46
- Representatives of external bodies accredited to the Network
- 612
- Consular cases handled in the transition period
Responsibilities. The Department's work falls into six areas.
- Representations beyond the boundaries of the Network
- The Department opens and directs the representations the Network maintains at bodies outside it, appoints the officers who serve in them, and settles the business each is to carry.
- Consular assistance
- Assistance to citizens of the Network who are detained, who have lost their identity documents, who are ill or injured, or who are affected by a disruption in the area in which they are travelling.
- Travel advice
- Advice for citizens travelling beyond the boundaries of the Network, published at one of four levels for each area in which a representation is maintained, and reviewed at intervals set by the level.
- Agreements with external bodies
- Negotiation of agreements, memoranda of understanding and exchanges of letters, and the keeping of the register on which every instrument and its status are recorded.
- Protocol and accreditation
- Accreditation of the representatives external bodies send to the Network, the keeping of the register of accredited representatives, and the arrangement of official occasions.
- Statistics and reporting
- Quarterly statistical releases on consular cases, documents issued, travel notifications, instruments concluded and representatives accredited.
How the Department is organised. The Department works through five offices. The Office of Representations directs the seven representations and appoints the officers who serve in them. The Office of Consular Affairs handles cases arising beyond the boundaries of the Network and issues emergency travel documents. The Office of Agreements conducts negotiations and keeps the register of instruments. The Office of Protocol accredits the representatives of external bodies and arranges official occasions. The Office of the Spokesperson issues the Department's press releases and official statements.
The Department speaks for the Network as a whole and not for any single member organisation. Where a matter concerns the work of another department of the Network, the Department acts on the instructions of that department and does not decide the matter itself.
For the Department's origins and the milestones since its establishment, see History; for its reporting on activity, see Statistics. General enquiries may be sent to contact@foreign.gov.vin.