Consular and Diplomatic Immunity in The US
| Category | May be arrested or detained | Residence may be entered subject to ordinary procedures | May be issued traffic ticket | May be subpoenaed as witness | May be prosecuted | Official family member | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diplomatic | Diplomatic agent | No1 | No | Yes | No | No | Same as sponsor |
| Member of administrative and technical staff | No1 | No | Yes | No | No | Same as sponsor | |
| Service staff | Yes2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No, for official acts. Otherwise, yes2 | No2 | |
| Consular | Career consular officers | Yes, if for a felony and pursuant to a warrant.2 | Yes4 | Yes | No, for official acts. Testimony may not be compelled in any case. | No, for official acts. Otherwise, yes3 | No2 |
| Honorary consular officers | Yes | Yes | Yes | No, for official acts. Yes, in all other cases | No, for official acts. Otherwise, yes | No | |
| Consular employees | Yes2 | Yes | Yes | No, for official acts. Yes, in all other cases | No, for official acts. Otherwise, yes2 | No2 | |
| International organization | Diplomatic - level staff of missions to international organizations | No1 | No | Yes | No | No | Same as sponsor |
| International organization staff3 | Yes3 | Yes3 | Yes | No, for official acts. Yes, in all other cases | No, for official acts. Otherwise, yes3 | No2 | |
| Support staff of missions to international organizations | Yes | Yes | Yes | No, for official acts. Yes, in all other cases | No, for official acts. Otherwise, yes | No | |
| 1Reasonable constraints, however, may be applied in emergency circumstances involving self-defense, public safety, or the prevention of serious criminal acts. | |||||||
| 2This table presents general rules. Particularly in the cases indicated, the employees of certain foreign countries may enjoy higher levels of privileges and immunities on the basis of special bilateral agreements. | |||||||
| 3A small number of senior officers are entitled to be treated identically to "diplomatic agents". | |||||||
| 4Note that consular residences are sometimes located within the official consular premises. In such cases, only the official office space is protected from police entry. | |||||||
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