The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs monitors global activities that relate to the safety and well-being of Americans traveling or living abroad. The Bureau has three types of travel-related notifications that it issues—Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts and Worldwide Cautions. It is important for travelers to understand the differences and to read the details of any notification that affects their intended destination.
Travel Warnings are issued when long-term conditions make a country dangerous or unstable. Travel Warnings are also issued when the U.S. government has limited ability to assist its citizens in the particular country due to the closure of an embassy or consulate or because of a reduction of its staff.
Currently there are 30 countries on the Travel Warnings list. Warnings include the date issued and are usually open ended. There is, for example, a Travel Warning for Russia due to ongoing wildfires that are creating hazardous levels of air pollution. No one knows how long that condition will last, and the State Department has authorized the departure of its non-essential embassy personnel.
Travel Alerts are issued to advise travelers of short-term conditions that pose significant risks to U.S. citizens. Although usually issued as a country advisory, they often deal with concerns within particular regions of a nation. Travel Alerts can include everything from terrorist attacks to high-profile sports events. Currently there are four countries and one region listed on the Travel Alerts list.
Travel Alerts have an issue date and typically an expiration date. Like warnings, these also may deal with specific regions. For example, their currently is a Bolivia Travel Alert discouraging travel to three specific regions where large groups are protesting the Bolivian government. Other parts of the country are not affected by the Alert.
The State Department also issues Worldwide Cautions to inform U.S. citizens of global conditions that may pose a risk. These cautions also deal with regions of the world and will outline terrorist or other concerns that exist within that part of the world. As these Cautions tend to be very broad in nature, it is always best to refer to the Warnings and Alerts to get specific country concerns.
State Department notifications can be very general or overly cautious, so it is good to get additional information as well. Please see our July 10th blog Keeping International Volunteer Teams Safe for a list of additional sources. State Department Travel Alerts, Warnings and Cautions can be found at www.travel.state.gov.