Assisting and Evacuating U.S. Citizens Abroad During International Crises

Updated March 6, 2026

Assisting and Evacuating U.S. Citizens Abroad During

International Crises

Congress has mandated that the U.S. Department of State

(DOS; the Department) provide consular services to

American citizens around the world. Such services include

disseminating information regarding any major disaster or

incident abroad affecting the safety of U.S. citizens and,

when their lives are endangered by such crises, facilitating

their safe and efficient evacuation. DOS scaled up consular

assistance to U.S. citizens across the Middle East after the

United States and Israel launched military operations

against Iran on February 28, 2026. Members of Congress

are conducting oversight of DOS’s consular response and in

some cases have expressed criticism of the timeliness and

extent of DOS consular assistance. Some press reports have

described factors that are complicating DOS’s work in this

area, including airport and airspace closures and flight

cancellations throughout the region, along with Iranian

attacks targeting U.S. overseas posts in Saudi Arabia, the

United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait.

Travel Information and the STEP

Program

Section 43 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of

1956 (P.L. 84-885; 22 U.S.C. §2715; the BAA) requires

DOS to share information on any major disaster or incident

overseas affecting the health and safety of U.S. citizens.

DOS carries out this responsibility through the Consular

Information Program (CIP), which includes a range of

products intended to inform U.S. citizens worldwide of

potential threats to their health or safety and the availability

of consular services (see Table 1).

DOS disseminates CIP products through several means,

including the Bureau of Consular Affairs’ website for U.S.

citizens traveling abroad (http://travel.state.gov) and the

Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). STEP is a

digital service through which U.S. citizens traveling or

living abroad can provide their contact information to

receive CIP products applicable to any countries they

select. While STEP helps overseas posts locate U.S.

citizens in an emergency, U.S. citizens are not required to

enroll, and DOS generally does not have the means to

determine the precise number of U.S. citizens in a foreign

country. CIP products are further disseminated through the

websites of relevant overseas posts, DOS’s social media

accounts, and systems of U.S. citizen volunteers, or

“wardens,” who pass information to other U.S. citizens.

DOS had issued varying travel guidance for different

Middle East countries prior to February 28 and has issued

several CIP products following the onset of U.S. military

operations against Iran. For example, after combat

operations began on February 28, DOS released a

Worldwide Caution advising U.S. citizens in the Middle

East to exercise increased caution and follow security

guidance issued by the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.

The Worldwide Caution added that U.S. citizens “may

experience travel disruptions due to periodic airspace

closures.” That same day, U.S. embassies across the Middle

East began issuing Security Alerts providing guidance to

U.S. citizens. Some Members of Congress and other

stakeholders criticized the timeliness and clarity of DOS’s

initial response, arguing that the Department should have

begun communicating with U.S. citizens in the region about

the evolving security situation there, including by urging

them to register with STEP, prior to the start of U.S.

military operations. Comments attributed to Administration

officials have noted that DOS has long maintained guidance

urging U.S. citizens to refrain from traveling to some but

not all countries in the Middle East.

Table 1. Selected Consular Information Program

(CIP) Products

Product

Description

Worldwide

Caution

DOS’s Worldwide Caution, published on

travel.state.gov, is updated to provide U.S.

citizens information on universal travel risks.

Travel

Advisory

Travel Advisories are issued for every country

and include guidance regarding country-specific

security concerns. Each Travel Advisory is

designated at an overall Level ranging from

Level 1 (Exercise Normal Precautions) to Level

4 (Do Not Travel).

Alerts

(including

Security

Alerts)

Overseas posts create alerts to notify U.S.

citizens within their jurisdiction of relevant

safety and security information, often in

response to significant events. Depending on

the nature of the risk outlined in the Alert,

DOS may label it a Security Alert,

Demonstration Alert, Weather Alert, or

Health Alert.

Source: U.S Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual.

Overseas Evacuations

Section 103 of the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and

Antiterrorism Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-399; 22 U.S.C. §4802)

requires DOS to “develop and implement policies and

programs to provide for the safe and efficient evacuation

of…private United States citizens when their lives are

endangered.” In addition, Section 4 of the BAA (22 U.S.C.

§2671) authorizes expenditures for the evacuation of

“private United States citizens or third-country nationals, on

a reimbursable basis to the maximum extent practicable.”

Private U.S. citizens thus generally have been responsible

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Assisting and Evacuating U.S. Citizens Abroad During International Crises

for a portion of the cost for their evacuation. The BAA

limits the scope of repayment to “a reasonable commercial

air fare immediately prior to the events giving rise to the

evacuation.”

In practice, when DOS has recommended that private U.S.

citizens leave a country, it has advised them to evacuate

using existing commercial transportation options whenever

possible. This policy was reflected in a Security Alert the

U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, issued on February 28,

which said that “[DOS] urges U.S. citizens to depart

Lebanon now while commercial options remain available”

and later in a region-wide security update issued March 2.

When commercial travel options have not been available,

DOS in some cases has arranged charter flights or

facilitated other travel options.

Some Members of Congress and other observers have

expressed concern that DOS failed to promptly offer

sufficient travel assistance to U.S. citizens after U.S. and

Israeli military operations against Iran began, noting that

immediate airport closures and flight cancellations quickly

constrained the availability of commercial travel options.

On March 3, DOS announced that it was facilitating charter

flights from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi

Arabia, and Jordan for U.S. citizens. DOS also said that

commercial aviation options remained available in the

UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Egypt, adding that it was

helping U.S. citizens book commercial flights to depart

those countries. For U.S. citizens in countries such as Israel

that lacked commercial aviation availability, DOS indicated

that it was facilitating other forms of travel, including

ground transportation. On March 6, DOS said that a 24/7

Task Force it established to provide consular services in the

region had helped over 13,000 Americans, including

through offering security guidance and travel assistance.

Funding

DOS’s Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA), which administers

the CIP and facilitates overseas evacuations, is funded

through the Consular and Border Security Programs

(CBSP) account. Congress has not funded this account

through annual appropriations. Instead, Congress has

authorized CA to collect and deposit consular fees (fees

charged for consular services, including the adjudication of

U.S. passport and visa applications) into CBSP, which CA

has expended for consular services and other programs.

Congress separately has funded DOS’s overseas evacuation

flights through the Emergencies in the Diplomatic and

Consular Service (EDCS) account, also known as the “K

Fund.” DOS has been able to further fund emergency

evacuations using transfer authorities provided by

Congress. For example, Congress in recent DOS

appropriations laws authorized DOS to transfer and merge

funds appropriated to the Diplomatic Programs; Embassy

Security, Construction, and Maintenance; and EDCS

accounts for evacuations.

Statutory Reimbursement Requirement. DOS has said

that it intends to “waive any statutory requirement for

American citizens to reimburse the government for travel

expenses” related to their evacuation from the Middle East.

Section 4 of the BAA, which prescribes the requirement

that private U.S. citizens reimburse DOS for evacuation

assistance, does not include explicit waiver authority.

However, it does provide that U.S. citizens reimburse DOS

only “to the maximum extent practicable.” Congress could

consider legislation to amend or strike the BAA

reimbursement requirement or similar provisions, or leave

such provisions unchanged. H.R. 270, introduced in

January 2025, would authorize the Secretary of State, when

providing repatriation loans to U.S. citizens, “to waive costs

of activities relating to [their] evacuation when their lives

are endangered by war or acts of terrorism” (this measure

does not directly address the crisis evacuation loans DOS

often provides under such circumstances). A bill introduced

in the 117th Congress (H.R. 8807) sought to strike the

reimbursement requirement altogether. Other bills

introduced in past Congresses aimed to waive the

reimbursement requirement for specific contingencies. For

example, H.R. 5102 and H.R. 6754 (both introduced in the

117th Congress) sought to waive the reimbursement

requirement for prescribed periods with respect to

evacuations from Afghanistan and Ukraine, respectively.

Evacuation Planning and Funding Availability. As of

March 6, DOS estimated that “nearly 24,000” American

citizens (not all of whom required evacuation assistance

from DOS) had safely returned to the United States from

the Middle East since February 28. However, one press

report estimated that up to 1 million U.S. citizens may

reside in the region. If conflict in the Middle East continues,

Congress may confer with DOS regarding the details of its

planning and funding availability to facilitate large numbers

of evacuations. Congress may also consider whether or not

to increase funding for the EDCS account, including in a

potential future supplemental appropriations measure, or

provide additional transfer authorities to DOS.

Timeliness and Extent of Consular Support. Some

Members of Congress and other observers have noted

concerns about the timeliness and extent of DOS consular

support to U.S. citizens in the Middle East. Members may

seek to engage with DOS and/or conduct outreach to

constituents who experienced difficulties evacuating from

the Middle East to gather details to inform oversight efforts

and legislation. Such legislation could seek to change

elements of the process through which DOS provides

consular assistance during overseas crises. For example,

future legislation could stipulate triggers, potentially

including a DOS-ordered departure of embassy staff from a

country, that would require DOS to subsequently issue

guidance urging U.S. citizens to depart the country and/or

offer evacuation assistance.

Cory R. Gill, Analyst in Foreign Affairs

Issues Facing Congress

IF11548

As Congress continues to conduct oversight of DOS’s

provision of consular assistance to U.S. citizens in the

Middle East, it may consider the following issues.

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Assisting and Evacuating U.S. Citizens Abroad During International Crises

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