(a) The term venue means the place where the certificate is executed. The venue must be shown on all notarial certificates to establish the qualifications and sphere of authority of the notarizing officer to perform the notarial act. The items characteristic of a typical venue, in the order of their appearance in the certificate, are as follows:

(1) Name of the country (or dominion, Territory, colony, island, as appropriate);

(2) Name of province or major administrative region (if none, this may be omitted);

(3) Name of local community (city, town, or village);

(4) Name of the Foreign Service post.

(b) When a notarial act is performed, and the notarial certificate executed, at a locality in a consular district other than the locality in which the Foreign Service office is situated, the venue should mention only the name of the country (or dominion, territory, colony, island, as appropriate), and the name of the consular district.

(c) The venue used at a Foreign Service post which has not been officially designated as an embassy, legation, consulate general, consulate, or consular agency should bear the notation “American Consular Service” in place of the post name.