Title 22 — Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-73not60

§2729 State Department Records of Overseas Deaths of United States Citizens From Nonnatural Causes

Title 22 › Chapter 38— DEPARTMENT OF STATE › § 2729

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must collect, as fully as possible, certain facts about every United States citizen who dies abroad from a nonnatural cause on or after September 30, 2002. That includes the date of death, where it happened (like the state or city if known), the cause and circumstances (and a note if it was terrorism), and any other details the Secretary requires. The Secretary must keep this information in a database. Starting three months after September 30, 2002, the Secretary must post the database online on the Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs website, shown by country. The posted data will cover deaths since September 30, 2002, or the past three calendar years, whichever is shorter, and it must be 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 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60