UK FCO 'Locate' Service

For any UK citizens coming to Malaysia on MM2H (or even visiting for that matter) you may not be aware of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) 'Locate' system. Previously when living or working overseas it was suggested that you register at the nearest UK Embassy or Consulate. Only in particularly precarious countries was it suggested that tourists / short stayers did. Once you had, theoretically if there were any major issues likely to affect the wellbeing /safety of UK citizens in that area, the FCO would generally have some idea of who was there and how they could be contacted. Well, that was the theory at least!!

That practice has changed now a people are advised to register with a new website and resource called FCO Locate. It is basically a more 'techy' based approach to the same problem. The level of detail you can provide is quite extensive the only problem being is that you have to update your profile regarding your stay every year, which given the number of UK citizens who are resident overseas on a permanent or semi-permanent basis seems quite bizarre. Whether you will ever need, or dare I say want, to be contacted by the FCO in relation to 'incidents' in countries as stable as Malaysia is a different matter and I would imagine the only likely circumstance would be a natural disaster which nature seems to be dealing out quite a lot of lately. Better safe than sorry.

Information regarding FCO Locate can be found here which includes a link for you to register.