Top 10 Tips for Travelers

1. Make sure you have a signed, valid passport (and visas, if required). Also, before you go, fill in the emergency information page of your passport!
2. Read the Consular Information Sheets (and Public Announcements or Travel Warnings, if applicable) for the countries you plan to visit. (See "Consular Information Program" section for more details.)
3. Familiarize yourself with local laws and customs of the countries to which you are traveling. Remember, the U.S. Constitution does not follow you! While in a foreign country, you are subject to its laws.

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Passport Information

Who Needs a Passport?
A U.S. citizen needs a passport to depart or enter the United States and to enter and depart most foreign countries. Currently, exceptions include short-term travel by cruise ships departing a US port and sailing to Mexico, Canada, and some countries in the Caribbean, where a U.S. birth certificate or other proof of U.S. citizenship may be accepted. These exemptions are soon going to expire. If you are traveling internationally by air in order to board a cruise ship after December 31,2006 you will now need a passport. All cruises traveling outside the United States after December 31 2007 will require a passport.

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