Information for Travelers

Safety

Personal Safety and U.S. Embassy Support

This summary highlights some of the main ways you can help yourself stay safe while in the DRC and what help the US Embassy can provide in the event of situations affecting Americans living or traveling in the DRC. 

What You Can Do:

• Check the travel websites.
• Keep an eye on news reports of any problems in the area(s) where you live or travel.
• Make sure your passport is valid and contains necessary visas for the DRC and other countries you might need to transit in case of emergency. Fill in the next of kin details in your passport.
• Take local, trusted advice about what is safe and unsafe, usual and unusual, and follow this advice.
• American citizens should register with the Consular section and should keep this information up-to-date. Keep in touch.
• Leave copies of your important documents with trusted family and/or friends.
• Have adequate emergency funds on hand or immediately accessible.
• Get to know the areas in which you live and travel.  Find out about, and adhere to, local laws and customs.
• Avoid large crowds and demonstrations.
• Pay attention to what’s going on around you.
• Prepare, practice and share your own emergency plan in advance of a crisis.
• In case of civil unrest or infrastructure breakdown, be prepared to remain in your own personal safe haven for 3-5 days.
• Have adequate supplies of food, water, medicines and other emergency supplies on hand.

What We Can Do:

• Communicate information that has been determined to be reliable as clearly and quickly as possible to all registered Americans and update it as needed.
• Determine as soon as possible what help can be provided in the event of major crises such as natural disaster, large-scale accident, conflict or terrorism and assist American citizens in taking advantage of the available options.
• Provide emergency travel assistance loans, if necessary, in the event of the need to repatriate or evacuate American citizens.
• Relay messages about your welfare and whereabouts to family and friends in accordance with your Privacy Act waiver instructions.
• Provide updates on the local crisis to the Department of State for the information of family and friends outside of the DRC.

What We Can't Do:

• Provide personal protection and security services to individual American citizens, NGOs or private businesses.
• Provide individual search and rescue missions.
• Assist non-American citizens, except as noted below.

Who We Can Help:

• Emergency assistance, including help with evacuation is provided to all U.S. citizens.
• In an evacuation, travel-eligible aliens may accompany minor U.S. citizen children. Bona fide alien family members may be assisted; decisions concerning third country nationals will be made based on the nature of the crisis and availability of resources.