State Dept. Polls on Smarter Traveler Safety Enrollment Updates
Published Date: 1/22/2026
Notice
Summary
The U.S. Department of State wants your feedback on updating the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP), which helps Americans abroad stay safe by sharing travel info. If you’re a U.S. citizen or non-citizen national who travels, this affects you! They’re asking for comments by March 23, 2026, and it won’t cost you anything to participate—just about 5 minutes to update your info.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Enroll Travel Plans for Emergency Help
The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) lets U.S. nationals enroll travel plans or subscribe to travel messages so U.S. embassies and consulates can contact you during an emergency, natural disaster, or international crisis. The program applies to U.S. citizens, U.S. non-citizen nationals, and third-country nationals who use the service.
Voluntary Enrollment — 5 Minutes to Update
Signing up for or updating STEP is voluntary and done online. The Department estimates each response takes about 5 minutes and there is no fee; the collection estimates 1,750,000 respondents and a total burden of 145,833 hours.
Paper Form Reactivation Under Consideration
The Department says the paper version of the STEP form is not in use now but they are seeking to reactivate the paper form to coincide with third-party enrollment capability in STEP's software. This would change how the form is made available alongside the current online-only submissions.
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