At the embassy, the immigration section is mainly responsible for responses regarding cases. As for the employees recruited abroad, the person at reception who takes calls, for example, is an employee of the Department of Foreign Affairs. However, the two departments work closely together to serve clients in both languages. Our officers who work abroad now have a “CCC” linguistic profile. Some older employees like myself still have a “CBC” profile, but all new recruits start at the “CCC” level.
In some countries, though, it is not easy to recruit people who speak French in addition to English and the language of the country. At the main reception desk, people have to be able to provide service in both languages. And when these people take a coffee break, if their replacements do not know French as well, they are supposed to be able to immediately call on an officer who can help them provide service in both official languages.