U.S. Embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

If you are a U.S. citizen with an emergency, you can contact the embassy 24 hours a day. Emergency contact numbers for the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa are as follows:

• For after-hours emergencies, on weekends or on holidays, please call +243 81-556-0151/152 and ask to speak to the Duty Officer.
• For emergencies, during business hours, please call +243 97-261-6145 or +243 81-884-4609, Monday through Thursday, 07:30 am to 5:15 pm, or Friday, 07:30 am to 12:30 pm.

The Department of State assists U.S. citizens imprisoned overseas and works to ensure their fair and humane treatment.

The Department of State helps the family and friends of U.S. citizens who die abroad. We inform the U.S. citizen’s next-of-kin of the death and we provide information on arrangements for local burial or the return of remains to the United States and on disposition of estates and personal effects. We also issue a Consular Report of Death Abroad, an official record of death.

The Embassy can assist family and friends in the event of the death of a U.S. citizen in DRC. For disposition of remains report on DRC, please go to disposition of remains (PDF 274 KB).

The Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues works to resolve and prevent cases of international parental child abduction and to help children and families involved in abduction cases. For more information, see our international parental child abduction page on travel.state.gov.

The Department of State helps U.S. citizens who are victims of crime overseas. We connect crime victims with police and other services and provide information and resources to assist with physical, emotional, and/or financial injuries from crime.

Are you a U.S. citizen who needs a passport?

Intercountry Adoptions and Exit Permits Suspended

We will continue to engage with the Congolese government on these issues. For questions about this notice or adoption-related visa processing, please email the Office of Children’s Issues at adoption@state.gov.

If you have a child outside the United States the child may have acquired U.S. citizenship at birth if the requirements under the Immigration and Nationality Act have been met as of the time of your child’s birth. To determine whether your child acquired U.S. citizenship at birth and to document that, you can apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) for your child. You may also choose to just apply for a U.S. passport for your child, although one benefit of a CRBA is that, unlike the U.S. passport, it does not expire and may be used as proof of acquisition of U.S. citizenship at birth. A full validity, unexpired U.S. passport is also proof of U.S. citizenship.

Generally, immediate family members may accompany passport or CRBA applicants to their appointment interviews at a U.S. embassy or consulate, and all minor children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

U.S. embassy and consulate personnel cannot perform marriages. Depending on the local law, civil or religious officials generally perform marriages. If your marriage overseas was performed in accordance with local law, it is valid in the country where it took place. Whether your marriage is recognized elsewhere depends on the laws of that place.

If you get married abroad and need to know if your marriage will be recognized in the United States and what documentation may be needed, contact the office of the Attorney General of your state of residence in the United States.