Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department decides, based on
all relevant information, to recommend that Americans avoid travel to a certain
country. Countries where avoidance of travel is recommended will have Travel
Warnings as well as Consular Information Sheets.
Public Announcements are a means to disseminate information about
terrorist threats and other relatively short-term and/or trans-national
conditions posing significant risks to the security of American travelers. They
are made any time there is a perceived threat and usually have Americans as a
particular target group. In the past, Public Announcements have been issued to
deal with short-term coups, bomb threats to airlines, violence by terrorists and
anniversary dates of specific terrorist events.
Consular Information Sheets are available for every country of the
world. They include such information as location of the U.S. Embassy or
Consulate in the subject country, unusual immigration practices, health
conditions, minor political disturbances, unusual currency and entry
regulations, crime and security information, and drug penalties. If an unstable
condition exists in a country that is not severe enough to warrant a Travel
Warning, a description of the condition(s) may be included under an optional
section entitled "Safety/Security." On limited occasions, we also
restate in this section any U.S. Embassy advice given to official employees.
Consular Information Sheets generally do not include advice, but present
information in a factual manner so the traveler can make his or her own
decisions concerning travel to a particular country.