The International Schools Review Forum

Aside from Anglo American St Petes/Moscow, what other schools extend diplomatic status to teaching staff? ie, special passports, visa rules, maybe special legal status? Just curious.

[quote="lightstays"]Aside from Anglo American St Petes/Moscow, what other schools extend diplomatic status to teaching staff? ie, special passports, visa rules, maybe special legal status? Just curious.[/quote]
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I wasn't aware that they did (and we did have an initial Skype interview a fews years back with them, and then never heard anything back, even after they promised we would. Not exactly professional).

Anyways, I too would be curious to hear about any schools that do. In Beijing (and most places I would have assumed), it's the opposite, with embassy spouses forced to either give up privledges to work as a teacher or do so illegally.

We had commissary (US Embassy Grocery Store) privileges in Warsaw and Lima.

We could buy really good Cuban cigars for 3 bucks each!! It was a nice perk!! But weird since you can't buy Cuban anything back home....

More often I hear, "In the old days..." As posts get less isolated and the world more global, US embassy privileges are waning. Would've loved APO access in many places but never given. We've just gotten used to no mail or packages.

More frequently, my experience have been embassy spouses lose diplomatic passports in exchange for a work permit.

My experience concures with overseasvet2. You typically loose a official passport/ diplomatic passport in exchange for a work permit. I know one guy who's wife is a Canadian diplomat but she doesn't work outside of her countries diplomatic mission. The only person I kow who's ever been able to keep his diplomatic passport and get a work permit was a retires ambassador, and in that case I was in Europe. I know retired former miliitary that maintain their commissary and base access privileges. I know of teachers that have taken advantage of some minor consulate privileges.

DoDDS teachers travel on official USA passports, which convers some privileges and limited immunity. There are educational organizations that enjoy diplomatic privliges.

Icarda international school of Aleppo, Syria gets you some limited diplomatic privelages. You can drive to Turky in an Icaeda vehicle, buy whatever and not have to clear it with customs.

I know US citizens who work at YIS, in Myanmar, need to get official passports.

I concur with other posters. In a limited and decreasing number of schools, you can get commissary privileges. Nice perk.
I have no personal knowledge of anyone getting a diplomatic passport for working in an American school. You're not a diplomat, you're not working for the US government, why would you? (Technically any school can throw "American" in its name. The more official ones receive some funding from the US State Department, but that doesn't make them US government entities.)

[quote="PsyGuy"]
DoDDS teachers travel on official USA passports, which convers some privileges and limited immunity. There are educational organizations that enjoy diplomatic privliges.[/quote]

While we do travel on Official passports, we are not granted any special priviledges, or any imited immunity with them. We are granted SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) status, which has nothing to do with our passports. We are subjected to the same laws as the host nation and if we commit a crime in our host nation (off-base) then were are subjected to their legal system.

Now, in some cases some of us use our Official passports to go through the Diplomat line for immagration, but if the offical can read they'll usually send us right back into the same line as everyone else. If they can't ready English, or just aren't paying attention, they'll stamp us through.

Otherwise, it's just a different colored passport that identify you as traveling on business for the United States government. And we don't call them Official either, we call them No-Fee Passports.

Actually thats not true. Under the Vienna Convention and several other aspects of international law (The Hague Convention, Geneva Convention, etc), you have qualified immunity for official acts. There are actually a number of diplomatic type privileges you have. It doesnt mean (unlike many action movies) that you can hit someone in a bar, or other type of criminal act, because to put it simply those arent actions in your official capacity. This would require diplomatic immunity, and in many cases the home nation waives the immunity and permits the detention of the individual.

You can call them anything you want, but as a class they are called official passports, to distinguish them from diplomatic passports (which are also no fee passports), and regular passports (there are regular passports that are no fee passports as well).

Never heard this before. Not what we're told, but interesting nonetheless.

Yes, they are called official, but we call them no-fee. And the only perk that I've gotten with it is the free upgrade to business class on a flight from SFO to NRT.

Interesting, I'm going to have to ask more questions...

You probably dont notice them, because the practical effect is that its not different really then the immunity you would have in the states as a public school teacher. Very little of what you would do under the local jurisdiction would be considered an "official act". Its a difference without distinction, your not going to be ordered/directed to do something that would put you in a position of claiming official immunity.

I realize you call them no fee, and its an accurate generalization, especially when comparing it to your regular passport (that you paid for) but there are real and significant differences between official and diplomatic passports, despite both types being "no fee passports".

PsyGuy, you are right. I do enjoy limited immunity while in Japan, or traveling on orders to other countries while on my Official Passport. Interesting and thanks for sparking me to look deeper into this.

[quote="gr8teach"]I know US citizens who work at YIS, in Myanmar, need to get official passports.[/quote]

I don't think they do at YIS, which is just an ISS-managed school and not associated with the US Embassy in any way.

ISY, however, is associated with the embassy and the teachers there do qualify for some sort of official or diplomatic passport, I'm not sure of the details exactly but do know it is different and they can get a special visa as well. The ISY teachers also get "special privileges" to purchase cars (special price and cuts through some of the red tape).

However all teachers, at all (or most?) of the international schools in Yangon can have commissary privileges if they are American or Canadian citizens. It is a nice perk.