For countries with an elevated risk designation, the Office for Global Health, Safety, and Security will review the trip details submitted to the MSU Global Travel Registry. You may be asked to complete a waiver request.

Any faculty, staff, administrator, or sponsored guest intending to engage in MSU sponsored international travel to a country with an elevated risk designation must submit their trip to the MSU Global Travel Registry as soon as possible.

The Office for Global Health, Safety, and Security will review your trip details and either approve your trip for registration or will inform you that MSU is unable to authorize your travel unless a waiver is obtained.

The waiver request is an online form. Travelers should make use of the following resources as they draft their waiver request:

• U.S. Department of State
• International SOS

Once the waiver request is submitted, the Office for Global Health, Safety, and Security will prepare a security assessment which will be routed, with your waiver request, to the Faculty and Staff Travel Review Committee (FASTR). FASTR will review the assessment and your waiver request and make a recommendation to the traveler, Associate Provost and Dean of International Studies, and the relevant college dean (or direct supervisor for non-college units and administrators). College deans (or direct supervisors for non-college units) will decide if travel is authorized.

The list of extreme risk and elevated risk destinations that require a waiver changes regularly, so bookmark this page and check it frequently. FASTR considers the following sources in determining when a waiver is required: the U.S. Department of State Travel Advisories, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Travel Health Notices, the Office for Global Health, Safety, and Security, and MSU security information provider analysis.

The Office for Global Health, Safety, and Security is happy to answer your questions and guide you through the waiver request process. Please contact us for assistance.

Any proposed student travel to a high risk destination, including students accompanying faculty or staff on trips, will require a student waiver request approved by the Provost. With few exceptions, MSU students will not receive a waiver to travel to an extreme risk country.

Education Abroad programs and participants follow a separate process for securing waivers. 

Acknowledgment of Risk

If your trip is approved by your college dean or management supervisor, with input from the Office for Global Health, Safety, and Security and the FASTR committee, you will be asked to sign an Acknowledgment of Risk form which must be submitted before your departure date. Your college dean or management supervisor's approval for your travel authorization is contingent upon receiving a signed Acknowledgment of Risk. 

A new Acknowledgment of Risk form is requested for each trip.