Quick answer
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The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) is a free State Department service for U.S. citizens and nationals traveling or living abroad. You register your trip at step.state.gov, and the U.S. embassy for your destination sends you safety and security alerts and can contact you, or help family reach you, in an emergency. It takes a few minutes and is worth doing for every international trip.
Researched and maintained by Empyrean Travel · How we research
- Cost
- Free
- Who can enroll
- U.S. citizens and nationals
- What you get
- Embassy alerts and emergency contact
- Where to enroll
- step.state.gov
What is STEP and what does it do?
STEP is run by the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs. When you enroll a trip, your details go to the U.S. embassy or consulate covering your destination, and three useful things follow.
- Alerts: you receive the embassy’s security, health and demonstration alerts for that country by email, the moment they’re issued.
- Contact in a crisis: after a natural disaster, civil unrest or other emergency, the embassy can reach you with instructions and check on your welfare.
- Family emergencies: if someone at home needs to reach you urgently, the embassy can use your STEP details to help them find you.
How do you enroll in STEP?
Go to step.state.gov, create an account and add a trip: the countries, dates, where you’re staying and how to reach you locally. You can also list an emergency contact. If you live abroad, enroll as a resident rather than adding individual trips.
You can also subscribe to a country’s alerts without a trip, which is useful while you’re deciding whether to book, or when a family member is traveling.
- Add every country on a multi-country itinerary, with accurate dates.
- Use an email address you’ll actually check while traveling.
- Update the enrollment if your plans change mid-trip, and delete trips you cancel.
What won’t STEP do for you?
STEP is a communication tool, not a rescue service. Enrolling doesn’t mean the U.S. government will evacuate you: commercial flights are the expected way out of most crises, and when the government does arrange departure assistance, it is generally provided on a reimbursable basis, which can mean signing a promissory note.
STEP also doesn’t replace travel insurance, medical evacuation coverage or your employer’s traveler-tracking system. Treat it as one layer of protection: it gets official information to you quickly, and it gives the embassy a way to find you.
Should business travelers enroll in STEP?
Yes. A company’s duty of care program should already know where travelers are and how to reach them, but STEP adds direct embassy alerts the traveler sees in real time. Some companies require enrollment only for Level 2 and higher destinations; making it a standard step for every international trip is simpler and easier to enforce.
Travel managers can make it effortless: put the STEP link in itinerary emails and approval workflows, and for international business travel, pair it with your own emergency contact procedures and an up-to-date traveler profile.
Who is eligible, and what about non-U.S. travel companions?
STEP is for U.S. citizens and nationals. Green-card holders and other non-citizens traveling with you aren’t covered and should use their own country’s registration or alert service where one exists; Canada, the U.K. and Australia all offer travel alerts for their citizens.
In a mixed-nationality group, a family or a corporate team, make sure everyone knows which embassy to call and has saved its number. Read the State Department advisory together before you go so everyone shares the same picture of the risks.
Frequently asked questions
Is STEP free?
Who can enroll in STEP?
Will the government evacuate me if I’m enrolled in STEP?
Should I enroll in STEP for a short trip?
Is my STEP information kept private?
Official sources
Rules, fees and schedules change — confirm the latest details at the source before you travel.