SEAD 3 Foreign Travel Reporting Requirements

• Who reports? Covered individuals, including cleared contractor employees within the National Industrial Security Program, report to their FSO or assigned designee.
• What travel is covered? Unofficial foreign travel—generally foreign travel that is not in direct support of an established U.S. Government contract.
• When should it be reported? Before departure, except when an emergency or another recognized special circumstance prevents advance reporting.
• Who enters the report in DISS? The cleared contractor's FSO or assigned designee.
• What happens after the trip? The traveler must report itinerary deviations, certain unplanned foreign contacts, legal or customs incidents, and suspicious or counterintelligence-significant events.

SEAD 3 applies broadly to personnel with access to classified information and people in sensitive positions. DCSA's industrial-security guidance uses the term covered individual for contractor personnel who have been granted eligibility for access to classified information through the NISP or are undergoing an eligibility determination.

Someone subject to SEAD 3 only because they occupy a sensitive position—but who is outside the NISP—should obtain instructions from their Government organization or customer.

For cleared contractors under DoD guidance, unofficial foreign travel generally means foreign travel other than travel in direct support of an established U.S. Government contract whose ultimate customer is the U.S. Government.

• Vacations and personal trips outside the United States
• Visiting relatives or friends abroad
• Personal travel added before, during, or after an official trip
• Travel outside the employee's country of residence when the employee resides abroad
• Unplanned personal day trips to Canada or Mexico

Official travel that meets the DoD definition generally is not reportable under this specific foreign-travel requirement. However, a personal or otherwise unofficial portion of the same itinerary may still need to be reported. Additional agency, SCI, SAP, or contractual rules can also apply.

DCSA guidance says Puerto Rico, Guam, and other U.S. possessions and territories are not treated as foreign travel for this purpose.

Before unofficial foreign travel, the cleared employee should provide the FSO or assigned designee with the information required by the organization's process. DCSA's current job aid identifies these core data elements:

1. Complete itinerary: countries to be visited, travel dates, travel modes, and carriers.
2. Passport information: full name, issuing country, passport number, issue date, and expiration date.
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, telephone number, and relationship to the traveler.

The FSO may request additional information based on the destination, customer requirements, access level, contract, or internal security plan.

1. Notify the FSO before departure. The covered individual should submit the required itinerary and supporting information.
2. Record the travel in DISS. The FSO or assigned designee records the report in DISS or the applicable successor system.
3. Review destination risks. The FSO should review applicable U.S. Government threat and travel-advisory information and coordinate a briefing when required.
4. Provide required security information. Coordinate applicable destination advisories and National Counterintelligence and Security Center Safe Travels guidance.

• Deviations from the submitted itinerary
• Unplanned contacts with foreign governments, companies, or citizens when reportable
• Contact with a known or suspected foreign intelligence entity
• Unusual, suspicious, or counterintelligence-significant events
• Foreign legal or customs incidents
• Lost or stolen security-related material or devices, when covered by organizational rules

DCSA guidance requires itinerary deviations to be reported within five business days after return. Events involving suspected intelligence activity, coercion, exploitation, or another immediate security concern should be reported as soon as possible.

Emergency foreign travel

An emergency may prevent full advance reporting or pre-approval. The covered individual should advise their supervisor or management chain—and preferably a security representative—before departure when possible. The complete itinerary is then reported within five business days after return.

Unplanned Canada or Mexico day trips

An unplanned day trip to Canada or Mexico by a person residing in the United States must be reported within five business days after return. Planned personal travel should use the normal pre-travel process.

Travel by employees who reside abroad

Covered contractor employees who reside abroad must report unofficial travel outside their country of residence. Aggregated reporting periods may not exceed 120 days.

Travel that was not reported in advance

If unofficial travel was not reported beforehand and no exception applies, notify the FSO as soon as possible. The delay must not exceed five business days.

Download DCSA's official SEAD 3 Unofficial Foreign Travel Reporting and Activities Checklist.

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