Expats/Tourists

From New Orleans Wiki

This page is for expats and tourists looking for information on getting back home, requiring passports, etc.

FYI, the news coming out is USA is not allowing any foreign officials in affected areas.

Australia
http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/TravelBulletins/United_States_of_America-Hurricane_Katrina - Aussie statement current for Sept 5 - temporary consulates in Baton Rouge, at Houston Astrodome & San Antonio.

Links to check:
http://www.dfat.gov.au - Dept of Foreign Affairs
http://www.austemb.org/ - AU Embassy in the states
http://www.smartraveller.gov.au - Smart Traveller

General & Mexico
from the BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4212760.stm
The State Department says there are no figures for the number of foreigners who are missing as a result of Hurricane Katrina but it's known that tens of thousands of people from Latin America for instance stayed in the New Orleans area including significant numbers of Hondurans and Mexicans. So in an attempt to match the foreign nationals with their respective countries an international consulate centre has been opened beside the Houston astrodome where nineteen countries are ready to provide shelter and documentation for their citizens. One fear the authorities have is that illegal immigrants who were caught up in the storm will refuse to come forward for help for fear of being deported. In an effort to allay the concern of Mexicans the country's President Vicente Fox announced that he'd reached an agreement with US officials that any undocumented Mexicans in New Orleans at the time of the hurricane would not be persecuted. <p>