Around and Round We Go

As you begin to plan and act on your traveling journey, there are few things that you would need to consider, and one of them is a travel advisory.

“What is a travel advisory?” you might ask. Well, the simple answer is the travel warning/alert/permission the government give to different countries for the US citizens to travel. They have the levels from 1 (use normal precaution) to 4 (Do Not Travel). The travel advisories for each country are listed in the site below.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html/.

“Why does a travel advisory matter?”

A simple explanation is that certain programs and industries follow those advisories because they are issued by the government. If a country is in a level 4 (Do Not Travel), you could possibly still travel there but there is more work to be done. Whether it is you getting more paperwork approval before traveling, having to catch an international connection flight, tougher immigration process for departure and arrivals with visas, or planning for different emergencies before traveling, you would most likely have an increase difficulty to get to your destination. Majority of that information will be on the travel advisory, and whatever isn’t on the travel advisory will be on the embassy/consulate website for that country, which should be connected on the advisory page down toward the bottom. Those two site typically need to get pair together due to the visa portion happening on the embassy website. Use both for the most information.

scholarship opportunities?

This travel advisory is very important when it come to government scholarships, fellowships, and grants for abroad opportunity. As a person who might be applying for different scholarships, like the Gilman, Fulbright, Boren, etc., you would need to check to see if the country of interest is acceptable because most of these grants are contingent of you going to destination that is less than a level 3. I remember when I applied for Gilman in 2021, a lot of countries were level 4 due to COVID. I wasn’t able to pick my country due to that level, so please be aware and plan for possible alternatives. Side Note: For these opportunities level 4 is a HARD NO, they will not accept your case or pleas.

When it comes to planning, most people pick destinations that falls within the guidelines. I am making this article as a heads-up if you pick an uncommon destination, want reassurance on your destination, or plan on going long-term. If in doubt, just look at the site.