When you travel abroad, the odds are in your favor that you will have a safe and incident-free trip. However, crime and violence, as well as unexpected difficulties, do happen to U.S. citizens in all parts of the world. No one is better able to tell you this than the U.S. consular officers who work in more than 250 U.S. embassies and consulates around the globe. Every day of the year, U.S. embassies and consulates receive calls from American citizens in distress.

Thankfully, most problems can be solved over the phone or by a visit to the Consular Section of the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. But, there are less fortunate occasions when U.S. diplomats are called on to meet U.S. citizens at foreign police stations, hospitals, and prisons and even at morgues. In these cases, the assistance that diplomats can offer is specific but limited.

In the hope of helping you avoid serious difficulties during your travel abroad, we have prepared a section dedicated to travel security. You can see a list of the different articles and tips related to travel security by clicking here.