DoD Foreign Travel Reporting Form: Unofficial Intake vs DISS

Important: This page is an educational summary for Facility Security Officers and cleared contractor programs. It is not legal advice, not official DCSA or CDSE guidance, and not a government form. Always follow current SEAD 3, Industrial Security Letters, DISS job aids, customer or SCI/SAP rules, and your company procedures.

People looking for a DoD foreign travel reporting form usually need a way to notify security before unofficial foreign travel. For cleared contractors under Department of Defense cognizance, that intake is almost never a single government PDF the employee files into DISS. The traveler reports to the Facility Security Officer (FSO) or assigned designee. The FSO records the required information in the Defense Information System for Security (DISS) or its successor.

This page explains that split: the unofficial foreign travel reporting form (your internal intake) versus the DISS record (the system of record). It is written for FSO teams. If you hold a clearance and need to report a trip, start with your FSO's instructions. A companion article covers reporting foreign travel when you hold a security clearance.

What people mean by a DoD foreign travel reporting form

Search results mix several different documents:

• An internal foreign travel notification form or intake template a company uses to collect itinerary, passport, companion, and contact details.
• The fields an FSO later enters in DISS (individual entry or Mass Foreign Travel bulk upload).
• Service-specific forms used by uniformed personnel (for example, an Army foreign travel form tied to that service's personnel system).
• Customer, SCI, or SAP add-on questionnaires that sit on top of the SEAD 3 baseline.

For National Industrial Security Program (NISP) contractors, the first item is an administrative aid. The second is the official reporting path under DCSA industrial-security guidance. They are related, but they are not the same document.

Unofficial foreign travel reporting form vs DISS

An unofficial foreign travel reporting form is the intake layer: a Word file, a PDF, a spreadsheet, a ticketing form, or a workflow system. It exists so the FSO can review a complete package before departure, brief when required, and keep an audit trail. It is not a substitute for DISS.

DISS is where the contractor representative records unofficial foreign travel for covered individuals. Employees generally do not submit the DISS record themselves. DCSA also provides a bulk-upload path; contractors using it still collect timely notice from travelers and must submit aggregated reports on the intervals current DCSA guidance requires (commonly not exceeding 30 days for bulk tools).

TravelSEAD can replace a paper or inbox-based intake with a structured workflow and a DISS-oriented export. It does not replace DISS, DCSA, CDSE, or official government channels.

What FSOs collect on a security clearance foreign travel reporting form

DCSA's unofficial foreign travel job aid identifies core data elements. Your process may require more. A usable intake — whether you call it a foreign travel reporting form, a notification form, or a SEAD 3 template — should give the traveler a structured way to provide:

1. Complete itinerary: countries, travel dates, modes, and carriers; cities or lodging when your procedure needs them.
2. Passport or travel-document details: name, issuing country, document number, issue date, and expiration, when needed for DISS.
3. Foreign national travel companions: names, nationalities when requested, and relationship or association.
4. Planned foreign contacts: expected contact with foreign governments, companies, or citizens, including purpose and nature.
5. Emergency contact: name, address or location, telephone number, and relationship.

The FSO or designee then reviews destination risk, coordinates any required defensive briefing, and records the trip in DISS. After return, the same record should capture itinerary deviations, reportable contacts or incidents, and a debrief when your procedure requires one.

Handle passport numbers and other personal information only through approved systems. An intake form is not a reason to send that data over an unapproved email or chat channel.

Army foreign travel form vs contractor reporting

An Army foreign travel form (or another military service's leave or foreign-travel package) is a service personnel process. It is not the NISP contractor process, and it is not what an FSO submits in DISS for a cleared employee of a defense contractor.

If you support Army or other DoD customers, you may still see travelers mix the two. Keep the distinction in your Standard Practice Procedures: contractor personnel report unofficial foreign travel to the FSO; the FSO follows SEAD 3 / DCSA industrial-security guidance and any extra customer or program rules. Do not treat a soldier's form as a drop-in replacement for contractor intake, and do not tell travelers that a commercial tool is an official Army or DoD form.

Download an intake template or checklist

If you still need a document-based foreign travel reporting form, use an editable intake template and a one-page process checklist. Neither file is an official DCSA form.

• SEAD 3 reporting template — Word file for pre-travel details, FSO review, DISS tracking, and post-travel updates. Direct download: sead-3-fso-reporting-template.docx.
• SEAD 3 foreign travel checklist — field guide plus a printable PDF. Direct download: TravelSEAD-SEAD3-Foreign-Travel-Checklist.pdf.
• SEAD 3 reporting requirements — who is covered, deadlines, exceptions, and post-travel duties.

Customize any template with your company name, approved submission method, and program-specific questions before you issue it.

Frequently asked questions

Is there one official DoD foreign travel reporting form for contractors?

No single public PDF is the official contractor submission. DCSA publishes SEAD 3 unofficial foreign travel guidance and DISS tools. The contractor representative records the report in DISS. Internal forms are intake aids.

Is a foreign travel notification form the same as DISS?

No. Notification or intake is how the traveler tells the FSO. DISS is where the FSO or designee records the report. Keep both steps; do not treat a completed Word file as the DISS record.

Can cleared employees fill DISS themselves?

For cleared contractors under DCSA guidance, employees report information to the FSO or assigned designee. The contractor representative submits the report in DISS or the successor system.

Does this replace DCSA or CDSE training?

No. Use current DCSA industrial-security resources and any CDSE or company training your program requires. This page is unofficial background for FSO operations.

Related FSO resources

• SEAD 3 reporting requirements — Who reports unofficial foreign travel, what to submit, deadlines, and who enters the record in DISS.
• SEAD 3 foreign travel checklist — Pre-travel intake, debriefs, DISS handoff, and a one-page printable PDF for FSO teams.
• SEAD 3 reporting template — Editable Word intake template for unofficial foreign travel — not an official DCSA form.
• Reporting foreign travel with a security clearance — What cleared employees should report, what to do if a trip was missed, and how that reaches the FSO.

If you run unofficial foreign travel reporting for a cleared contractor, see TravelSEAD for Facility Security Officers. TravelSEAD is a commercial workflow tool. It does not replace DISS, DCSA, CDSE, or other official reporting channels.

Official references

• DCSA: SEAD 3 Unofficial Foreign Travel Reporting
• DCSA: SEAD 3 Unofficial Foreign Travel Reporting and Activities Checklist
• DCSA: ISL 2021-02, SEAD 3 Clarification and Guidance
• ODNI: Security Executive Agent Directive 3

Validate intake forms against current official guidance and customer-specific requirements before use.