Travel Advisory Levels 1 to 4

The U.S. scale has four levels and their names are the definition: Exercise Normal Precautions, Exercise Increased Caution, Reconsider Travel, Do Not Travel. Each is an instruction about how much attention to pay, not a score out of four. The useful skill is reading what sits underneath a level, and knowing that other governments rate the same country on scales of their own that do not line up.

What You Need to Know

Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions

The lowest level, and the one applied to most of Western Europe, Japan, Australia and much of the Caribbean. It does not mean there is no risk; it means the risk is comparable to ordinary life. Normal precautions still means watching your belongings in a crowded station.

Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

There are identifiable risks worth adjusting your behavior for, and the text says what they are: street crime in particular districts, periodic demonstrations, a specific fraud pattern. Level 2 covers a very wide range of countries and is the level most travelers will meet.

Level 3: Reconsider Travel

Serious risks. The State Department is advising you to weigh whether the trip is worth taking, which many people still reasonably conclude that it is, particularly where the rating is driven by conditions in a region they will not enter. This is the level where reading the regional detail stops being optional.

Level 4: Do Not Travel

The strongest advice the State Department gives. It signals a serious risk to life or safety, and usually that the U.S. government’s ability to assist Americans there is very limited or absent. It is still advice rather than a legal ban.

The same country, different scales

Canada publishes four risk levels with its own wording: take normal security precautions, exercise a high degree of caution, avoid non-essential travel, and avoid all travel. The United Kingdom and New Zealand publish their own again. The scales do not map onto each other cleanly, and two governments can and do rate the same country differently, because they are weighing risks to their own citizens with their own consular capacity in mind. Where they disagree, read both.

What to Do Before Your Trip

• Find the level, then immediately read the paragraph under it.
• Look for a regional exception, which large countries usually carry.
• Read the risk indicators if the advisory is Level 3 or 4.
• Compare with Canada or the U.K. for the same country.
• Note the date, and check again before you go.

Important Considerations

The distribution is not what most people expect. Levels 1 and 2 together account for the large majority of destinations, and Levels 3 and 4 for a small minority. The impression that most of the world is dangerous does not survive contact with the actual list.

Levels also move in both directions, and more often than the news would suggest, because they respond to elections, weather seasons, health events and specific incidents. A country rated 3 last year may be 2 today. The date on the advisory is the first thing to look at.

Health notices are a separate system with its own four levels, published by the CDC, and a country can sit at a different level on each. They are measuring different things and neither supersedes the other.

Tips for Group Travelers

• Quote the level with its wording, not as a number alone.
• Name the regions the itinerary enters and their specific ratings.
• Show a second government’s view when the levels differ.
• Re-check a week out and tell the group either way.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Treating the number as a score rather than an instruction.
• Applying a country rating to a region it was not written about.
• Assuming other governments agree.
• Confusing a health notice level with an advisory level.
• Reading a rating without its date.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the four U.S. travel advisory levels?

Level 1 Exercise Normal Precautions, Level 2 Exercise Increased Caution, Level 3 Reconsider Travel, and Level 4 Do Not Travel. The wording is the definition: each level is an instruction about how much attention to pay, and the text underneath explains what drove it.

Do other countries use the same levels?

No. Canada uses four levels with different wording, from take normal security precautions to avoid all travel, and the United Kingdom and New Zealand publish their own. The scales do not map neatly, and two governments can rate the same country differently because each is weighing risk to its own citizens and its own capacity to help them.

Is Level 2 a reason to worry?

Not in itself. Level 2 covers a very wide range of destinations and simply means there are identifiable risks worth adjusting for. What matters is which risks: the paragraph under the level names them, and a Level 2 for street crime calls for different behavior than a Level 2 for periodic demonstrations.

Can one part of a country have a different level?

Yes, and in large countries it commonly does. Advisories frequently assign a higher level to a specific region, and that internal detail is usually the most decision-relevant part of the document. A country-level rating applied to an area the size of several U.S. states is a blunt instrument.

Related Travel Tips

• Safety and security, the section this guide belongs to.
• Understanding U.S. Travel Advisories. What the documents are.
• Understanding Travel Advisories. Where this sits in planning.
• What Travel Insurance Covers. Why a published advisory affects cover.

Plan Your Trip With LABUSA Travel

A level applies to a country and a trip happens in particular places on particular dates. LABUSA Travel reads the regional detail against the actual route rather than the country name.

Talk with a LABUSA Travel advisor about a trip you are considering, or browse our destination guides for a specific country.

Verify Before You Travel

The four levels and each country’s current rating are published by the U.S. Department of State. Canada’s four-tier scale is published by Global Affairs Canada, and further independent assessments by the U.K. FCDO and New Zealand’s SafeTravel. Ratings change without notice.