Message for U.S. Citizens: Voting in U.S. Elections from Overseas

Message for U.S. Citizens: Voting in U.S. Elections from Overseas – U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Japan

Skip to main content

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know 

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Travel Advisory Level 1: Exercise Normal Caution Travel Advisory Level 1: Reissued after periodic review without changes. Read More…

Worldwide Caution: The Department of State advises Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution.

Worldwide Caution

The Department of State advises Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution.

Americans in the Middle East should follow the latest guidance from the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.

Americans who need assistance: call 24/7 at +1-202-501-4444 (from abroad) and +1-888-407-4747 (from the U.S. and Canada)

Read alerts for U.S. Citizens

Local Emergency Information and Contacts

Visit Travel.State.gov for More Information

Be an Active Voter by taking the necessary steps to vote in the 2026 U.S. elections. Voter registration deadlines vary by state. Some states require voters to be registered 30 days before an election. Check the Federal Voting Assistance Program website (www.FVAP.gov) to find more information on the deadline in your state. Whether you are a first-time voter or have voted absentee in previous elections, you should complete a Voter Registration and Absentee Ballot Request (FPCA) each year to ensure you are able to participate in elections as an overseas absentee voter.

You can drop off your FPCA with the Voting Officer in the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy or any U.S. consulate during normal working hours to be returned to your local election officials free of charge, or you can mail it directly at your own expense.

If you have already completed a FPCA in 2026, check your state’s voter registration verification website, or contact your local election office, to check the status of your absentee ballot request. Using the FPCA ensures that your state will send your ballot to you at least 45 days before the election.

Once your ballot arrives, complete it without delay. Once you have completed your ballot, you can return it to your local election officials free of charge by dropping it off at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate or mail it directly at your own expense. Transit time to the United States can take up to 21 days.

Please note that election materials only need to contain sufficient U.S. postage or be placed in a postage-paid envelope. Printable postage-paid envelope templates are available on FVAP’s website.

Complete a Voter Registration and Absentee Ballot Request (FPCA)
The FPCA allows you to register to vote and request your absentee ballot in one step. If you submit an FPCA, your local election officials will send you an absentee ballot for all elections for federal offices (presidential and state primaries, run-off, special, and the November general elections) that take place that calendar year. Local election officials in all U.S. states and territories accept the FPCA.

The online voting assistant available at FVAP.gov is an easy way to complete the FPCA. It will ask you questions specific to your state and will generate a printable FPCA, for you to print and sign.

Submit the FPCA
You can return your FPCA to your local election officials free of charge via the nearest embassy or consulate. Make sure you have proper U.S. postage affixed to the FPCA or place it in a postage-paid envelope, and drop it off at the U.S. Embassy or any U.S. consulate.

You may also choose to mail it directly to your local election officials at your own expense. Some states allow voters to submit the FPCA via email as well. See FVAP’s Voting Assistance Guide for specifics on all states.

Receive Your Ballot
After submitting your FPCA, most states have an online portal where you can confirm your registration and ballot delivery information. States are required to send ballots 45 days before an election for federal office to any overseas U.S. citizen who has completed an FPCA. Return Your Ballot
As with the FPCA, you can return your voted ballot to your local election officials via the U.S. Embassy or any U.S. consulate. Make sure you have proper U.S. postage affixed to the FPCA or place it in a postage-paid envelope. Or you can mail it directly at your own expense. Please note that transit time can take up to 21 days.

Some states also accept voted ballots via email. See FVAP’s Voting Assistance Guide for more details on your state.

Learn more at the Federal Voting Assistance Program’s (FVAP) website, FVAP.gov. To receive information by email about election dates and deadlines, subscribe to FVAP’s Voting Alerts (vote@fvap.gov). FVAP also shares Voting Alerts via Facebook and X.

We use cookies to make our website work better and improve your experience. By continuing to use the site, you agree to our privacy policy.

The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.

The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.

The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.

The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.

We use cookies to make our website work better and improve your experience. By continuing to use the site, you agree to our privacy policy.

The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.

The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.

The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.

The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.

Cookie Settings Cookie Settings

{“uid”:”bbd2784b-638d-4200-a15d-1459914b8d5b”,”name”:”Would you help us improve our website”,”description”:””,”sections”:[{“uid”:”ba11a96f-e7be-4a0a-ad60-7527763c2944″,”title”:”Note: This feature is strictly for feedback about your experience using the website.”,”description”:””,”blocks”:[{“typeId”:”content:paragraph”,”uid”:”72536567-3f47-4692-b1b3-01bf04368f6f”,”title”:””,”description”:””,”category”:”content”,”content”:{“value”:”Please take a few moments to provide us with your valuable feedback.
Note: This feature is strictly for feedback about your experience using the website. All other questions and feedback will be disregarded.
“,”type”:”paragraph”,”options”:{“alignment”:”start”},”value_raw”:[{“type”:”paragraph”,”children”:[{“text”:”Please take a few moments to provide us with your valuable feedback. “}]},{“type”:”paragraph”,”children”:[{“text”:”Note: This feature is strictly for feedback about your experience using the website. All other questions and feedback will be disregarded.”}]},{“type”:”paragraph”,”children”:[{“text”:””}]}]},”title_raw”:””,”translations”:[]},{“typeId”:”question:multiple-choices”,”uid”:”5f0c6707-186e-4820-98dd-c994cde3d193″,”title”:”1. What was your primary reason for visiting the site today? Select all that apply.”,”description”:””,”category”:”question”,”field”:{“type”:”multiple-choices”,”uid”:”5f0c6707-186e-4820-98dd-c994cde3d193″,”options”:{“choices”:[{“uid”:”ed7cc39d-101e-44da-ac45-8ee9d05cf507″,”label”:”Alerts for U.S. Citizens”},{“uid”:”108962c6-e789-49dd-9f1f-7f71dc492633″,”label”:”Visas information”},{“uid”:”45f07d95-60d9-4441-ab58-ae676a2c33dc”,”label”:”Passport information”},{“uid”:”81dfc450-5cca-45cc-ae71-542545129b12″,”label”:”Notarials information”},{“uid”:”2f7f0b14-8a66-4a56-9984-c95f4ad24ae0″,”label”:”Hours and location information”},{“uid”:”338fa248-735d-4224-93f2-d8a564dd23c6″,”label”:”Job opportunities”},{“uid”:”59fe83a4-cc9b-467f-a29e-6d078154a4ee”,”label”:”Business opportunities”},{“uid”:”419bbe23-b57e-45e8-ae8a-0016a519c1dd”,”label”:”Education and exchange information”}],”distribution”:”vertical”},”validations”:{“required”:{“enabled”:false,”options”:{},”messages”:[]},”minSelection”:{“enabled”:false,”options”:{“value”:0},”messages”:[]},”maxSelection”:{“enabled”:false,”options”:{“value”:0},”messages”:[]}}},”title_raw”:[{“type”:”paragraph”,”children”:[{“text”:”1. What was your primary reason for visiting the site today? Select all that apply.”}]}],”translations”:[]},{“typeId”:”question:multiple-choices”,”uid”:”5c33284d-49ae-4953-8eb7-115c57023f5f”,”title”:”2. Were you able to complete your intended tasks?”,”description”:””,”category”:”question”,”field”:{“type”:”multiple-choices”,”uid”:”5c33284d-49ae-4953-8eb7-115c57023f5f”,”options”:{“choices”:[{“uid”:”e626644d-6f3d-4fd3-95f2-302130c42654″,”label”:”Yes”},{“uid”:”3835ef62-b0f2-40a3-8c4b-95e833c54099″,”label”:”No”}],”distribution”:”vertical”},”validations”:{“required”:{“enabled”:false,”options”:{},”messages”:[]},”minSelection”:{“enabled”:false,”options”:{“value”:0},”messages”:[]},”maxSelection”:{“enabled”:false,”options”:{“value”:0},”messages”:[]}}},”title_raw”:[{“type”:”paragraph”,”children”:[{“text”:”2. Were you able to complete your intended tasks?”}]}],”translations”:[]},{“typeId”:”content:paragraph”,”uid”:”56648b5c-f6a0-4cf7-bb6e-61813d36f2b2″,”title”:””,”description”:””,”category”:”content”,”content”:{“value”:”* Please see our Contact Us page for more information on how to reach us.”,”type”:”paragraph”,”options”:{“alignment”:”start”},”value_raw”:[{“type”:”paragraph”,”children”:[{“text”:”* Please see our Contact Us page for more information on how to reach us.”}]}]},”title_raw”:””,”translations”:[]},{“typeId”:”question:multiple-choices”,”uid”:”e4c7daa7-8002-4717-884b-3900fcec6c65″,”title”:”3. Would you help us improve our website? Select all that apply”,”description”:””,”category”:”question”,”field”:{“type”:”multiple-choices”,”uid”:”e4c7daa7-8002-4717-884b-3900fcec6c65″,”options”:{“choices”:[{“uid”:”f24ff132-f3d0-4763-977a-f34e3983d51c”,”label”:”Something is broken”},{“uid”:”868932e9-3d7e-47cb-a494-07321c50a30b”,”label”:”There are spelling errors or grammatical errors”},{“uid”:”21945a4f-b6e6-4389-9d03-d95c0a0b5a6c”,”label”:”Information is wrong or outdated”},{“uid”:”e36e91ed-953d-4fcb-9810-0ad74a930b0d”,”label”:”I can\u2019t find the information I need”}],”distribution”:”vertical”},”validations”:{“required”:{“enabled”:false,”options”:{},”messages”:[]},”minSelection”:{“enabled”:false,”options”:{“value”:0},”messages”:[]},”maxSelection”:{“enabled”:false,”options”:{“value”:0},”messages”:[]}}},”title_raw”:[{“type”:”paragraph”,”children”:[{“text”:”3. Would you help us improve our website? Select all that apply”}]}],”translations”:[]},{“typeId”:”question:scale”,”uid”:”719c8389-fb56-4a0c-aab0-18af5e2e2dad”,”title”:”4. On a scale of 1-5, how likely are you to recommend this website to others?”,”description”:””,”category”:”question”,”field”:{“type”:”scale”,”uid”:”719c8389-fb56-4a0c-aab0-18af5e2e2dad”,”options”:{“scale”:5,”labels”:{“least”:”Not at all likely”,”most”:”Extremely likely”}},”validations”:{“required”:{“enabled”:false,”options”:{},”messages”:[]}}},”title_raw”:[{“type”:”paragraph”,”children”:[{“text”:”4. On a scale of 1-5, how likely are you to recommend this website to others?”}]}],”translations”:[]}],”action”:”next”,”next_section_uid”:null,”conditions”:[],”translations”:[],”index”:0}],”settings”:{“contents”:{“welcome”:{“enabled”:false,”title”:”Welcome”,”blocks”:[{“typeId”:”content:paragraph”,”uid”:”1b1d937a-ca16-4714-b806-b4e6b1215e32″,”title”:””,”description”:””,”category”:”content”,”content”:{“value”:”Note: This feature is strictly for feedback about your experience using the website.
All other questions and feedback will be disregarded. Thank you for your understanding.
You are visiting a website that just underwent a redesign. Please take a few moments to provide us with your valuable feedback.
“,”type”:”paragraph”,”options”:{“alignment”:”start”},”value_raw”:[{“type”:”paragraph”,”children”:[{“text”:”Note: This feature is strictly for feedback about your experience using the website.”}]},{“type”:”paragraph”,”children”:[{“text”:”All other questions and feedback will be disregarded. Thank you for your understanding.”}]},{“type”:”paragraph”,”children”:[{“text”:””}]},{“type”:”paragraph”,”children”:[{“text”:”You are visiting a website that just underwent a redesign. Please take a few moments to provide us with your valuable feedback.”}]},{“type”:”paragraph”,”children”:[{“text”:””}]}]},”title_raw”:””,”translations”:[]}],”translations”:[]},”thankyou”:{“enabled”:true,”title”:”Thank you!”,”blocks”:[{“typeId”:”content:title”,”uid”:”2124848b-59d5-41c1-b101-51244732f2fb”,”content”:{“value”:”Thank you!”,”options”:{“size”:”h2″},”type”:”title”,”value_raw”:[{“type”:”paragraph”,”children”:[{“text”:”Thank you!”}]}]},”category”:”content”,”title”:””,”translations”:[],”title_raw”:””},{“typeId”:”content:paragraph”,”uid”:”c33df248-28af-44e5-b60e-3b0537ff7b77″,”content”:{“value”:” Thank you for sharing your feedback!”,”options”:[],”type”:”paragraph”,”value_raw”:[{“type”:”paragraph”,”children”:[{“text”:” Thank you for sharing your feedback!”}]}]},”category”:”content”,”title”:””,”translations”:[],”title_raw”:””}],”translations”:[]}},”design”:{“template”:”default-template”,”colors”:{“primary”:{“base”:”#3474da”,”contrast”:”#FFFFFF”},”secondary”:{“base”:”#364959″,”contrast”:”#FFFFFF”},”background”:{“base”:”#f6f6f6″,”contrast”:”#FFFFFF”},”dark”:{“base”:”#263440″,”contrast”:”#FFFFFF”},”error”:{“base”:”#990000″,”contrast”:”#FFFFFF”},”success”:{“base”:”#90BE6D”,”contrast”:”#FFFFFF”}},”size”:”small”,”space”:”compact”,”radius”:”rounded”,”override”:false},”redirection”:{“enabled”:false,”url”:””,”blank_target”:false},”can_view_entry”:{“enabled”:false},”can_edit_entry”:{“enabled”:false},”language_switcher”:{“enabled”:false,”languages”:[]},”categories”:{“enabled”:false,”items”:[]},”expressions”:{“start-survey”:””,”entry-received-thank-you-for-participating-in-this-survey”:””,”submit-another-entry”:””,”submit”:””,”submitting”:””,”next”:””,”previous”:””,”reset”:””,”cancel”:””,”view”:””,”print”:””,”edit-entry”:””,”other”:””,”choose”:””,”done”:””,”start-over”:””,”this-survey-is-not-available-at-the-moment”:””,”this-survey-is-limited-to-authenticated-users”:””,”must-be-one-of-allowedvalues”:””,”some-fields-are-invalid-please-check-the-fields-below”:””,”required”:””,”must-be-a-valid-email”:””,”minimum-is-min”:””,”maximum-is-max”:””,”must-be-a-date-before-time”:””,”must-be-a-date-after-time”:””,”must-be-numeric”:””,”must-be-a-valid-date-format”:””,”must-be-between-min-and-max”:””,”must-be-a-valid-uploaded-file”:””,”file-type-must-be-allowedtypes”:””}},”url”:”https:\/\/jp.usembassy.gov\/survey\/bbd2784b-638d-4200-a15d-1459914b8d5b\/”} :host { –color-primary: #3474da; –color-primary-dark: hsl(216, 69%, 42%); –color-primary-light: hsl(216, 69%, 97%); –color-primary-alpha: rgba(52, 116, 218, 0.250000); –color-primary-contrast: #FFFFFF; –color-secondary: #364959; –color-secondary-dark: hsl(207, 24%, 23%); –color-secondary-contrast: #FFFFFF; –color-secondary-alpha: rgba(54, 73, 89, 0.250000); –color-secondary-light: hsl(207, 24%, 52%); –color-success: #90BE6D; –color-success-dark: hsl(94, 38%, 47%); –color-success-light: hsl(94, 38%, 77%); –color-error: #990000; –color-error-dark: hsl(0, 100%, 24%); –color-error-alpha: rgba(153, 0, 0, 0.250000); –color-error-light: hsl(0, 100%, 57%); –color-background: #f6f6f6; –color-background-dark: hsl(0, 0%, 77%); –color-background-contrast: #FFFFFF; –color-background-light: hsl(0, 0%, 100%); –color-dark: #263440; –color-dark-contrast: #FFFFFF; –color-dark-alpha: rgba(38, 52, 64, 0.050000); –size: var(–size-small); –space: var(–space-compact); –radius: var(–radius-rounded); }

Note: This feature is strictly for feedback about your experience using the website.
All other questions and feedback will be disregarded. Thank you for your understanding.

You are visiting a website that just underwent a redesign. Please take a few moments to provide us with your valuable feedback.

Start survey

Thank you!

Thank you for sharing your feedback!

Submit another entry
Edit Entry