Please supply your recent experiences with traveling abroad using the format below plus your comment / narrative. This is intended to collect experiences AT THE PORT OF ENTRY IN THE FOREIGN COUNTRY – Fall 2013 and later and being detained, denied or allowed in. NOT about re-entering the US and secondary inspection.
It is assumed that there were no issues before Fall 2013 / early 2014 and that there is always a secondary inspection in some form upon returning to the United States.
In the interest of organization please copy and paste the list and write your details between / over the ***. Any comments should be in direct response to the country in question.
1. Destination Country: ***
1a.Does this country require a Visa?: *** yes / no ***
1b.If Visa required, was the application denied (reasons): *** yes / no (reasons) ***
2. Date of Travel: *** Fall 2013 or later ***
3. Issues: *** denied entry / detained / etc ***
3a.If denied, was there a reason given?: ***
4. Currently registered: *** yes / no ***
4a.If yes, on public web site: *** yes / no ***
4b.If no longer required to register, reason for termination: *** Expiration / Court Order / Other ***
5. Offense child related: *** yes / no ***
6. Offense Level: *** Misdemeanor / Felony ***
7. Conviction expunged or dismissed: *** yes / no ***
8. State of registration (current or former): ***
Tanya , can you elaborate and answer the questions in the TOP of the thread for everyone. We are having a hard time knowing who is getting turned away because we have bits and pieces of information. What do you mean by you sign the paper once a year ??
Please elaborate on questions posted at top .
I have the means to hire an attorney regarding this that could benefit all here but I need to know what’s going on .
My most recent international travel:
1) destination country: Netherlands
2) date: Aug 2014
3) was admitted, no special treatment
4) currently registered, not on public web site
5) yes, child related
6) felony (federal)
7) not expunged
8) registration up-to-date
David , would you provide your email ? I will contact an attorney it we still have no consistency here. Just see the thr most post with the Netherlands. What’s the rhyme or reason ? When I meet with an attorney I want facts – unkown. That is when you get taken advantage of.
http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/652194.pdf
Read this gov document. This pretty much lays it all out. Anyone with a child related sex offense is being flagged. If you have not been flagged either your crime is not child related or you slipped through the cracks. It’s a long 50 pages to read but page 27 really zeros in on all of this.
Yes exactly ! @tiredofhiding
The million dollar question is finally answered. After spending much time on the phone with Ice and Interpol here is how it works.
If you live in a Sorna state and must self report – Interpol will flag your travel each and everytime you self report your travel destination. Regardless of the crime you will never get in ! Unless the country for some reason is having a good day and decides to let you visit but that’s unlikely !
Ice on the other hand flags every rso with a child related crime , yes even pornography and so called victemless crimes.
The only way you will be able to travel is to not live in a sorna state AND not have commuted a child related crime. I am now 100 percent sure about this after spending hours on the phone with both agencies.
There might be ways to fight these notifications but you’ll have to find a good lawyer and it will cost money.
So, are you guys suggesting that those individuals with non child related (Sexual Battery/misdemeanor/expunged/non child related/19 years ago/summary probation) should be able to travel internationally? I’ve been to Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Philippines and the Cayman Islands prior to this crack down? I’ve attempted to obtain a Certificate of Rehab in OC some years back, but the DA was a total NUT and she did anything and everything to get my request denied. The incident occurred in LA and I received Summary Probation! I’m going to attempt to obtain one again, but I will be residing in LA and attempting to obtain this in LA, which I believe isn’t to political ect. I’m married to a woman who is from another Country and her parents reside there. Both parents are elderly and no longer able to travel. As such, if these travel restrictions remain in place or I’m no longer capable of traveling to this country, I would essentially be prohibited from visiting relatives forever? I will submit this information when requesting the Certificate. No issues prior or after. The only other hope I have is this Tiered System is passed.
Are you in california ? If so you have no reason to tell anyone your traveling and Ice won’t flag you bc it isn’t child related. From what I understand you will not have a problem or should not based on all the info I have gathered.
This problem needs to be fixed for everyone. My crime was child related and I have takin at least 20 cruises out of California and porto Rico with no problem between 1999-2012. I and very afraid to take my family out again. I travel with a large family of many 15 and can’t take that chance of being returned. I have registed for 18 years now on this vigilante hit list.
Right, Im in California.
I have been with my Fiancé for three years. She is from Thailand. I have been there twice with no issues until January 2014. I was already approved by the Thai Consulate in Chicago. While I was in flight to Thailand, I had a connection through S. Korea and passes through there with no problem!! Once I arrived through Thailand, I was detained. I could not speak to my fiance. I was put on a flight back home. My FOIA report from ICE stated that I was reported while in flight. I am wondering if there is anyone who is ready to build a class action lawsuit? I have paid my crime. I am off the SOR for twelve years. I have established an engagement with my fiance. I want to sue for plane ticket, and damages. I am so hurt right now, and I don’t want to lose my fiance.
In response to a prior post by Jim C, it should be known that just because a consulate issues a visa to a traveler does not guarantee that a traveler will be permitted to enter the particular foreign country upon arrival at the port of entry.
Authorities that govern consulates, immigration and national security are separate.
There are two forces at work in foreign countries that deny entry to registered sex offenders. Those two forces are (1) the country’s national/federal police (U.S. Marshals equivalent), and (2) the country’s immigration. The travel alert notices are received by the national/federal police of the particular country, which then the national/federal police present the notification to immigration upon the traveler’s arrival at the port of entry. It is at the sole discretion of immigration on whether to grant, or to not grant the traveler entry into the country.
I also understand that official visa issuing entities of certain countries do have access to INTERPOL records, which if the registered sex offender record is on file with INTERPOL, and the database is checked by the foreign country visa issuing entity, the visa application will most likely be rejected.
As I mentioned earlier, if you are not a registered sex offender but have encountered a problem entering a foreign country or being able to obtain a visa, you should contact the National Sex Offender Targeting Center to correct the problem because it is most likely a situation where the shared database was not properly updated by the state.
Thank you for your report Advocate Voice. I did forward my email to you. I know for a fact I was reported to Thailand during my flight according to the FOIA. I would have been stopped in S Korea on the way through Thailand. I just want to get my money back and be paid for damages. I could understand if they tried stopping me the first time I went. I was not informed before leaving. I could have delayed my flight to try to fix this. I was detained like I was some kind of fugitive on the run. They wanted me to sign documents in foreign language. I was scared out of my mind. I could not see my fiance. I committed no crime. I wasn’t under any kind of investigation. I was shocked being stopped and detained. I would like to sue all the departments involved. It took less than a week to report my crime. Yet it is taking me a year to get an answer. AND I STILL HAVE NO ANSWER!! I need a quick response because I don’t want to lose her.
Wonderin
If she travels here on a Visa, she has to have a sponsor. Someone she knows her there and here. That would be me. And now that I did research, it is hard sex offenders to get married because you can’t have this type of background. All around, my life is destroyed. There is honestly no help for this situation. There would have to be a class action before anyone hears our plea. Where do we go from here? Where does life begin? I am not asking for people to feel bad for me. I am just asking, how are we supposed to live. I have called every depart art mentioned of the government and no one has an answer for me.
A fiancé visa will be denied if you have been on the registry, know 2 people that tried this and both denied. So their wife , girlfriend are stuck in their own country.
wonderin, most of the denials started when the Adam Walsh Act came into law in 2006, some slipped by early on because back ground checks had probably already been done. When you do a visa petition for your spouse or girlfriend you will have a back ground check done, if you are on the registry or have been it will show up and the Adam Walsh act kicks in., I wish you well but this is something you need to think about, fair?, no but a law that was put in place because of the inaction of the many. Even the men I knew did everything to override the denial, had evaluation, letters from their former PO,s etc and still had the same result.
I have talked to almost every government body and no one is helping me. I don’t want to lose my fiance, so what is the next step. What do I have to do to get some kind of right answer. Everybody on here has all these sites to look at and all these answers. But at the all these speculation answers, THERE IS NO SOLUTION. Who do I talk to next?? I JUST WANT TO LOSE MY FIANCE. I might have to go to the media. I am tired of being held down and being punished my whole life. I know people say, you should have not done the crime. True. Being able to admit your crime, completed the registration, did counseling. Already started a life with my fiance and 3 trips later, A DAMN LETTER FROM ICE TO THAILAND WARNING THE OF MY CRIME? When is there a line drawn?? I am sick of reading and speculation. When can a class action lawsuit begin??
The question has come up of whether a sex offender can go to another country. My advice is to stay home and tour the USA. The US Marshals have a program now that notifies the country of your final destination that you are on your way there when they scan your passport at the departure airport.
They don’t look at your crime or how long you have been out of prison, or how long ago your crime was. They send the information to INTERPOL and they forward that same information to your final destination country and say that there is a sex offender arriving in your country that has the possibility to re-offend his past crimes.
As soon as you arrive in immigration at your destination, you come up on an alert list; they will call all the other immigration officers over to look at their computer screen where your alert showed up. Then you will be taken to the supervisor who has the power to say yes or no. The next step that will happen is you will be taken to the transfer desk where you will be buying a ticket home on the same plane that you just got off of after traveling for more than 24 hours.
I even had an immigrant spousal visa into the country and was denied entry based on the alert. Their constitution even says that I should be allowed into the country because I am lawfully married to a natural born citizen of that country.
Well, here I sit in the USA, not with my wife where I belong. I have been with her for the last 6 years, in and out of her country. Now, I’m thinking to myself that she has done nothing to warrant this abuse. She is a strong woman and I love her with all my heart, but I can’t cause her anymore pain. She doesn’t deserve it, she deserves better than me.
All talk…no action. How can we start a class action lawsuit? That’s what we should do. Any thoughts? Thailand requires a sponsor here in the USA that knows the Thai Citizen. That is one of the requirements in Thailand to interview for the tourist visa.
im in the same boat I was denied entry to the Philippines aug 31 2014 after 7 times in 6 years in and out of the country and marrying my wife there in 2009. I purchased land and built a home. im in the processes of the paper work for the spousal visa and know we will be denied. my crime was against a child and was 19 years ago. we need to challenge this law as a group. do we not have the right to the wife of our own choosing. is this not in our constitution.
Tim
I agree. I am off the registration. I am going to fight this. If you find out anything or I find out anything, I will let you know.
To all, never stop fighting for yourself and your family. I am posting this from the Philippines where I am spending Christmas with my family. After being denied entry twice from the SO alerts sent by the US, we have successfully lifted the exclusion against my name. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas at CA RSOL and encouraging all to keep the hope alive in 2015
My wife appeared personally at the PI Immigration Commissioner’s office and filed to lift the exclusion order. Took several times and many follow-ups as we were denied three times. We found that in-country lawyers were not effective. For success, your spouse or family member is the most effective with your support. All US officials we contacted declined or refused to help us.
My girlfriend called from Cebu and wished me a merry christmas. All I can do is sit here and cry because of what I have done. I miss her so much. Can’t they see the lives they are destroying.
I’ve previously posted about my travel and experiences of going into the “tourist zones” of Mexico. This area is south of the California border, just to the southern part of Ensenada. To date, I’ve never had a problem.
I’m going to try a step by step approach to extending my travel within Mexico; next month I’ll apply for a travel or tourist type permit in Mexico. Often called a FMM, this is obtainable from any immigration office south of the border or from any airline that travels into Mexico. Well, nix the airline part, because we all know what happens when we fly from the US into most any country. I’ve checked the FMM form which I’ll fill out in the Rosarito immigration office, pay the $20 fee and all is good. The current form asks no questions about background or criminal history, only where I plan to travel and the dates. It does, however, ask for my passport number OR another form of ID, which will be my CDL and birth certificate. The FMM is good for 180 days or until you leave Mexico.
Thus far, all of this is legal and above board, no law breaking here. When the FMM is granted, I can then travel freely withing Mexico, say for example, a flight from TJ to Cancun…Stay tuned for further developments. By doing so, the reporting by the US Marshall’s service for public safety, international safety, world peace and the end of pet hostilities and animal rights becomes a non-issue. Maybe.