This is part of an e-mail I received from the British Consulate in Guangzhou:

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has
introduced a new registration system - LOCATE - for British nationals
resident in and visiting countries overseas. To enjoy the benefits of
registration with the Embassy/Consulate-General in your area of China,
all British nationals need to re-register. In the future we will
only keep contact details on LOCATE. So please help us to help you. If
you know any British resident in Nanning who has not registered with
us, please kindly forward this email to them and encourage them to
register with us. To register, please complete the LOCATE online consular registration form at
<https://www.locate.fco.gov.uk/locateportal>

Even people already registered should re-register.

By registering your details you will enable the Consul to pass on important information of concern to British citizens and to contact you in the event of emergencies.

Our consular warden in Nanning is Anthony De Burgh who is also a member of this board.
https://www.locate.fco.gov.uk/locateportal

Graham

Our consular warden in Nanning is Anthony De Burgh who is also a member of this board...Oh No he is not...!!!

In addition, this ongoing registering fiasco is becoming somewhat shambolic.

By all means try and Re-register, you might be lucky.

I am in touch with the Commonwealth Office regarding this.
I will post any reply when and if I receive it.

Hi Andrew,

In that case I'll talk to him tonight and persuade him to join us!

If you are attending tonight's free drinks session, courtesy of HM FCO, perhaps we can let the new Consul know the difficulties we are encountering with registration.

Graham


I talked with James (Christened Anthony but known as James since he was 2 years old) last night and he said he will consider joining us. He is a very busy man and his consulate duties already give him a greater workload, so he hasn't much free time available. He said forums like this are good for passing on official information and keeping people informed.

I've just tried to re-register and there was no problem, although the connection was very slow. You must register via the link sent to you in an e-mail. In the section about length of your intended stay you need to input today's date and a date 12 months in the future if you intend to stay longer than one year. This is because the database will be updated every year and you cannot have retrospective dates.
There are notes which explain this which I have posted below. These notes specifically mention Kenya, but i presume apply here also.
Graham

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – REGISTRATIONS / LOCATE

Q WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF REGISTERING?

A The British High Commission will have a record of your location and contact details in Kenya, which will help us to contact you in the event of an emergency. It will also help us to find you if a member of your family has lost touch with you and needs to be in contact.

Q WILL YOU PASS ON MY PERSONAL DETAILS TO OTHERS?

A Your registration is protected under the Data Protection Act. Your details will only be used by the British High Commission for the purpose of contacting you. We will pass your details to our consular warden/correspondent in your area so that they are able to contact you on our behalf. You will also receive his/her details.

Q HOW DO I REGISTER?

A To register on line please log on to www.fco.gov.uk and go to online services/ online consular registrations and follow the instructions.

Q I HAVE HAD A LOOK AT THE WEBSITE BUT IT REQUIRES ME TO SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS THE REGISTRATION FACILTY. WHY SHOULD I PAY FOR THIS SERVICE?

A Subscribing to the service does not involve any costs. It is a free service.

Q WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET?

A If you don’t have access to the internet please contact the Consular Section of the British High Commission on 020 2844000 and we will assist you.

Q I AM RESIDENT IN KENYA AND THE SYSTEM ONLY SEEMS TO APPLY TO THOSE VISITING THE COUNTRY.

A We apologise that the system is misleading in this way but it is designed for use by both visitors and residents. If you have any questions on completion of the on-line form, please contact the Consular Section of the British High Commission on 020 2844000 and we will assist you.

Q THE SYSTEM ASKS ME FOR MY TRAVEL DATES BUT I AM A RESIDENT. WHAT DATES SHOULD I ENTER?

A You should enter the date on which you are registering and the date a year from that day. Because the system requires that the information held on it is updated annually, it does not recognise retrospective dates and therefore that you may have lived in Kenya for some years. The reason for entering a datewhich is only one year in the future is because the system will generate an e-mail to you a year from the date of your registration. This is designed to establish whether you are still living in Kenya or whether any of your details have changed. If you do not reply to this request, your registration will be automatically deleted from the system and it will be assumed that you are no longer in Kenya.

Q I UNDERSTAND THAT THE BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION HAS WARDENS, WHAT IS THEIR PURPOSE?

A The British High Commission has a network of Wardens (in Nairobi) and Correspondents (up-country/at the coast) throughout Kenya. Their role is to keep the High Commission in touch with matters affecting the interests of British nationals who are resident their area and to assist us in maintaining contact with those British nationals.

Q HOW DO I FIND OUT WHO MY WARDEN/CORRESPONDENT IS?

A Once you have registered on LOCATE you should receive an e-mail giving you details of your Warden/Correspondent. If you don’t receive this information you should contact the Consular Section at the British High Commission in Nairobi (tel (020) 2844000) to find out these contact details.

Q I AM A KENYAN PASSPORT HOLDER BUT I HAVE A CERTIFICATE OF ENTITLEMENT TO THE RIGHT OF ABODE IN MY PASSPORT. CAN I REGISTER ON LOCATE?

A Yes

Q WHY DO WE HAVE TO KEEP ON REGISTERING OURSELVES SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU HAVE CHANGED YOUR SYSTEM WHEN OUR DETAILS HAVE NOT CHANGED?

A The new registration system is much better than our old one. The old system was unwieldy and we had no way of knowing if you had left Kenya, changed your address etc. The new system, LOCATE, requires you to update your information annually. If you were able to register yourself on-line you will automatically receive an update request annually. If you do not respond to this request your details will automatically be deleted from the system because it will be assumed that you are no longer resident in Kenya. It is therefore in your best interests to keep your registration up-to-date. If you fail to do so, we will not be able to contact you in an emergency.

Q WHY DO I HAVE TO LIE ABOUT WHEN I ENTERED KENYA BY ENTERING A WRONG DATE?

A You are not lying. The system requires you to enter the date on which you register. It does not recognise retrospective dates. This is because your information should be updated annually as explained above. You can indicate in the “notes box” how long you have been in Kenya if you wish to do so.





Q IF I DO NOT REGISTER DOES THAT MEAN YOU CANNOT EVACUATE ME AND MY FAMILY IN THE EVENT OF A CRISIS EVEN IF WE SHOW UP WITH OUR BRITISH PASSPORTS?

A No. All we want is to be aware of how many British Nationals we have in Kenya to help us plan for an evacuation in the unlikely event that it should be necessary to arrange one.

Graham
Just to clarify.

I registered some months ago.
My registration is current and when I log in all details are intact, accurate and up to date.
No need to re-register.
BUT
just to check, I went back in, this time my login was rejected and I needed to report 'a lost password' in order to get a new password.
Once I had the new password, I then tried to login in - Attempt failed - Wrong password.
Message returned stating 'to many attemps' Finally now I am able to log in.

My information is still intact no re register needed, interestingly, even if I did wish to alter any of it there is no Submit button.

I have notified them of this shambles.

Also, I am asking for confirmation of Anthony De Burgh at the Guangzhou Consulate.

If he is who he says he is - he ain't doing a very good job !!!

My only dealings with him so far have been him trying to offer me business help - for which he insisted on having my entire business proposal, costings and the like, submitted to his company before he would offer any advice...Mmmmm.

Just to keep everyone informed, we have TWO Consular Wardens in Nanning: Anthony De Burghe more usually called James, and Niall Bench (Niall rhyming with tile).
I have their latest contact details should anyone need them.

Tonight's Consulate get together was poorly attended, does this mean the UK citizens in Nanning do not register and so do not get an invitation to attend? It is disappointing - the Consul is there to help us should we ever need it.

Graham

Hi Sorry to butt in on this, didn't know anything about a bash this evening - been having big problems with my internet connection. It works and then for hours it's off and I'm not so hot in this regard.

Anyway I'm here in Nanning for the next month and guess I should register? Would also like to register with you guys here so please let me know where you hang out for community chats etc.

My mobile here is 13878796937 or just respond here (if it's still working tomorrow)

Tony

As a matter of interest how many UK citizens are there in Nanning/ Guangxi?

Just curious because when I first visited Nanning in 2002 i never saw another westerner, now of course they're (we're) a common site!!

I asked the same question on Thursday. Simon Hu, the pro-consul, would have known the figure but was not in the room at the time. By the time he joined us we had moved to other topics and I forgot to ask again. Only about 12 Brits turned up for the free drinks.
Two years ago I was told only about 30% of UK citizens registered with the consulate.
Graham

This is an e-mail I received today:
Registration with British Consulate-General Guangzhou‏
From: Consular.Guangzhou@fco.gov.uk
Sent: 26 March 2008 07:08:30

Dear British Registrants/Citizens in South China,

Please see below the important message about the new registration system - Locate. Please also be informed that this message will be sent to the British registrants or British Citizens in South China. We consolidated the email addresses from different sources. If you receive two emails or more on this, please accept our apologies on the trouble caused to you. If you have left South China, please revert to us so that we will delete you from our contact list.

An important message for all British nationals

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has introduced a new registration system - LOCATE - for British nationals resident in and visiting countries overseas.

To enjoy the benefits of registration with the Embassy/Consulate-General in your area of China, all British nationals need to re-register.

However, please note this is a one-time process and, under the new system, you will not have to do this again. All you will ever have to do in future is amend your registration - eg if your leaving date changes, if you move house or country, get a new mobile number, etc. The new system puts your registration within your control; from time to time we will remind you of the need to update your records, but we will no longer do this on your behalf.

To register, please complete the LOCATE online consular registration form at
https://www.locate.fco.gov.uk/locateportal

If you know any recently arrived British Nationals or others who have not registered, please encourage them to do so by forwarding this message.

We are confident that this new service will improve our ability to provide help and information more readily in crisis situations, thus reducing delay and relieving family and friends of the worry and stress caused by our inability to contact you. Please help us to help you.

Consular Section
2/F Guangdong International Hotel
339 Huanshi Dong Lu
Guangzhou 510098
P.R. China
Tel: 00 86 20 8314 3000
Fax: 00 86 20 8331 2799
Email: guangzhou.consular@fco.gov.uk
Website: www.uk.cn http://www.uk.cn/
Visit our blogs at http://blogs.fco.gov.uk

Hi Guys
More good news for us Canadians , as I have been told that in case of emergency we can use the British Consulate and for advice .

Thanks everyone for all the great advice and information ! Paul