STEP Enrollment and What a US Embassy Can Do for You

The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, or STEP, is a free State Department service that puts your email address on the list for alerts from the US embassy or consulate where you are traveling or living. It takes a few minutes to set up, and it is the main way an embassy reaches Americans when something goes wrong: a hurricane, a wave of protests, an airport closure. This guide shows how to enroll in the current system, what the messages look like, and, just as important, what an embassy can and cannot do for you once you are there.

The short version

• STEP is free. You sign up at mytravel.state.gov, either as a guest with just an email address or with a Login.gov account that lets you manage trips and residence plans.
• The State Department launched a new version of STEP on September 16, 2024. If you enrolled before that, you need to enroll again.
• Subscriptions last up to one year. For a plan with no end date, STEP emails you after a year to confirm, and cancels the subscription if you do not answer.
• Alerts cover security, demonstrations, health, weather and natural disasters, travel advisory changes and routine embassy notices.
• Embassies can replace a lost passport, visit you if you are arrested, give you a list of local lawyers and doctors and help in a crisis. They cannot pay your bills, give legal advice, get you out of jail or act as your agent.

What STEP does

When you enroll, you tell the State Department where you will be and for how long. The embassy or consulate covering that place adds you to its message list. The State Department says STEP messages go to your email and help the embassy contact you, or your emergency contact, in an emergency.

The message types it lists are:

• security alerts,
• demonstration alerts,
• health alerts,
• weather or natural disaster alerts,
• Travel Advisory updates, and
• routine messages about embassy and consulate services.

In practice, a demonstration alert names the date, the area of the city and the expected size, and suggests avoiding it. A weather alert lists shelters, airport status and the embassy's emergency phone line. Routine messages announce holiday closures, passport outreach days and new appointment systems. You will not get many emails, and the ones you do get are worth reading.

How to enroll, step by step

1. Go to mytravel.state.gov and choose STEP. This is the only official address. Do not use a third-party site that asks for payment.
2. Pick guest or account. The US Embassy in Niger, explaining the new system to residents, says a guest subscription takes about 90 seconds: you enter your email and confirm it with a code. The downside is that you cannot log back in to change anything. An account uses Login.gov, the government's sign-in service, and lets you add, edit and end travel plans.
3. If you create an account, set up multi-factor authentication. Login.gov offers options that do not need a US phone number, such as an authentication app or a security key, which matters if you no longer have a US line.
4. Choose "Enroll Your Time Abroad and Subscribe to Travel Messages."
5. Add a travel plan. Enter the country, the arrival date and either a departure date or, if you live there, a resident plan with no end date. Choose the nearest embassy or consulate.
6. Add an emergency contact. It is optional and worth doing. This is the person the State Department can reach if it cannot reach you.
7. Check your inbox for the confirmation email, and add the embassy's sending address to your contacts so alerts do not land in spam.

Families and groups can use group enrollment with a Login.gov account: one person creates the plan, and each traveler accepts by email.

When to update STEP

• When you move to a new city covered by a different consulate.
• When you change your email address.
• When you leave the country for good.
• Once a year, when STEP asks you to confirm a plan with no end date.

What an embassy or consulate can do for you

US embassies and consulates provide what they call American Citizen Services. The exact list varies by post, and each embassy's website has a section for US citizens. The core services are:

• Passports. Renewals, new passports, and emergency passports when yours is lost or stolen and you need to travel soon. See our guide to renewing a US passport abroad.
• Reports of birth abroad for children born to US citizens.
• Notarial services, by appointment, for US documents that need a notary.
• Help when you are arrested. Embassy pages for Greece and Vietnam list the same core help: a list of local English-speaking lawyers, contacting family or friends with your written permission, regular visits, making sure you receive medical care, an overview of the local justice process and, where prison rules allow, a way for family to send you money through an OCS Trust.
• Crime victims. Help contacting local police, family and victim resources, and replacing documents.
• Serious illness, injury or death. Lists of local doctors and hospitals, help contacting family, and guidance to relatives on the steps after a death abroad.
• Crises. Alerts, information on commercial flights and, in rare cases, organized departures. The State Department expects you to pay your own way; assistance with travel is normally a loan you repay.
• Federal benefits and voting. Many embassies have staff or partner offices that answer questions about Social Security and help with absentee voting information.

What an embassy cannot do

This list surprises people. Taken together from the pages of the US Embassies in Greece, Vietnam, Kazakhstan and the Bahamas, consular staff cannot:

• get you out of jail,
• tell a court that you are guilty or innocent,
• give legal advice or represent you in court,
• serve as your official interpreter or translator,
• pay your legal, medical, hotel or other bills,
• give or lend you money, or cash checks,
• act as your agent in private business, rental or financial disputes,
• find lost property,
• forward your mail or packages,
• renew your US driver's license,
• issue US police records or authenticate US birth and marriage certificates, which come from state and federal agencies at home, and
• share information about you without your written consent.

The State Department's own Foreign Affairs Manual says consular officers are barred from acting as agents, attorneys or fiduciaries for US citizens. The honest summary: an embassy can make sure you are treated fairly under local law, connect you with help and replace your passport. It cannot remove the consequences of local law, and it is not a bank.

The emergency numbers to save today

The State Department's line for Americans who need help is staffed 24 hours a day:

• +1-202-501-4444 from overseas
• 1-888-407-4747 from the US and Canada

Each embassy also lists its own after-hours number on its website. Save both, plus the local police and ambulance numbers in our guide to emergency numbers.

A short checklist

• Enroll in STEP for your country of residence and for each trip outside it.
• Add an emergency contact and keep it current.
• Save the 24-hour number and your embassy's after-hours number in your phone.
• Keep a scan of your passport photo page in secure cloud storage and a paper copy with your documents to carry.
• Bookmark your embassy's US citizen services page and read it once before you need it.

Common questions

Is STEP free? Yes. The State Department does not charge for STEP. Sign up only at mytravel.state.gov, and ignore any site that asks you to pay.

I enrolled in STEP years ago. Am I still enrolled? Not if you enrolled before September 16, 2024, when the State Department launched the new system. Enroll again at mytravel.state.gov.

Do I need a US phone number to use STEP? No. A guest subscription needs only an email address. A Login.gov account needs multi-factor authentication, and Login.gov offers methods such as authentication apps and security keys that do not use a US phone.

Will the embassy get me out of jail if I am arrested? No. Consular officers can visit you, give you a list of local lawyers, contact family with your permission and check that you are treated fairly. They cannot get you released, give legal advice or pay your fees.

Can the embassy lend me money if I am stranded? Embassies do not give or lend money directly. They can help family or friends send you funds and, in limited cases, the State Department may offer a repatriation loan that you must repay.