In this article, we focus on the social role played by expatriates’ spouses during international assignments. Many researchers emphasize the importance of the spouse for the success or the failure of international assignments. Some experts even consider the behavior of the spouse as the most important factor for the expatriation success. Today it is increasingly difficult for multinational companies to ignore the importance of spouses and to deny the expectations that organizational actors address to them in terms of social and professional roles. Following a « Goffman’s dramaturgical » role analysis, we study these role expectations on the basis of an exemplary case : the spouses of diplomatic and consular employees of the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Forty spouses, men and women, were interviewed during our investigation. We present in a structured and detailed manner the various repertoires and sub-repertoires that are available to perform the expatriate spouse role.