Title 22 — Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-73
§2729 State Department records of overseas deaths of United States citizens from nonnatural causes
Title 22 › Chapter CHAPTER 38— - DEPARTMENT OF STATE › § 2729
Summary
The Secretary must collect, for U.S. citizens who die abroad from nonnatural causes on or after September 30, 2002, the date, place (state/province, city if known), cause and circumstances (including if it was terrorism), and other required info. That data must go into a database and be posted by country on the Consular Affairs site starting three months later, showing deaths since then or for the past three years, and updated at least every six months.
Full Legal Text
Title 22, §2729
Foreign Relations and Intercourse — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)The Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, collect, with respect to each foreign country, the following information with respect to each United States citizen who dies in that country from a nonnatural cause on or after September 30, 2002:
(1)The date of death.
(2)The locality where the death occurred (including the state or province and municipality, if available).
(3)The cause of death, including information on the circumstances of the death, and including, if the death resulted from an act of terrorism, a statement disclosing that information.
(4)Such other information as the Secretary shall prescribe.
(b)The Secretary shall establish and maintain a database containing the information collected under subsection (a).
(c)Beginning three months after September 30, 2002, the Secretary, shall make available, on a country-by-country basis, on the Internet website of the Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, the information from the database described in subsection (b) with respect to deaths occurring since September 30, 2002, or occurring during the preceding three calendar years, whichever period is shorter. The information shall be updated at least every six months.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
22 U.S.C. § 2729
Title 22 — Foreign Relations and Intercourse
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73