If you have traveled to a foreign country after President Obama signed HR 515 / International Megan’s Law into law on February 8, 2016, please complete this survey to help gather details about the effects of this legislation. We will also share this data with the RTAG group for incorporation into their travel matrix. Thank you.
Go to International Travel Survey
Are there still any actions taken against the IML, and what happens if the IML is lifted, will registrants still be required to do the 21 day notification? will the angel watch cease their operation of sending out alert notices to the country about a registrant having a criminal record, and claiming the risk of recidivism? will a registrant be able to travel to the country he was denied entry from in the past, but be able to clear through immigrations upon arrival? What will happen, if the IML is lifted?
The challenge to IML is in the courts, now as an appeal to the decision to dismiss it by Judge Phyllis Hamilton. I have not seen the appeal, itself. Perhaps Janice could post it.
Since the practice of notifying countries of the sex offender status of its citizens by the U.S. Government predated the passage of IML, and under an authority which remains mysterious and, to our minds, highly questionable from a legal or constitutional standpoint, then any overturning of IML may well NOT result in a cessation of these alerts to foreign countries and, hence, we may well continue to be refused entry at their borders. It will only be if the judge who decides this case rules against both IML as well as the practices which predated it that we may enjoy complete relief from foreign notifications.
In the absence of such a comprehensive ruling, the obligation to provide 21 day advance notice will then depend upon the state in which you are domiciled and as a result of its conformance to the Adam Walsh Act although such notifications to ones state may still be required but not necessarily communicated to foreign countries. Yes, very complicated.
Subsequent attempts to reenter countries you may have once been refused as a result of American notifications to that country will be subject to that country’s policies and, it must be noted, the discretion of the immigration agent considering your entry upon arrival. Officials on-duty at ports of entry often have a very wide latitude to deny entry to visitors. Many countries take into consideration the facts of someone having ever been refused entry into their country at one time. They are capable of keeping records of such refused earlier attempts (and embarkation cards we may be required to complete routinely ask about such earlier refusals) and, since they, alone, get to determine eligibility of travelers to enter their countries, and not the U.S. Government, then this will necessarily mean that your successful entry will not be entirely predictable.
Essentially, once the U.S. has chosen to share facts about us with a country it can never fully ensure that that country will then “unknow” those facts and that any remedy which the U.S. might make to its erstwhile policy (i.e. if it does ever fully reverse the policy of advance notice) will not ensure that damage to your reputation as a traveler that has already been done can ever be undone.
In short, any rights restored to us by the U.S. government confer no responsibilities upon foreign governments to let us in. This can be seen, from our government’s vantage point, as a particularly clever “feature” of IML which (they believe) fully insulates them from responsibility for the harms which might befall us, their citizens.
This make the IML regime and the secret regime which it appears to have statutorially legitimated particularly insidious. This is also why I have made no attempts at foreign travel since I first read that foreign notifications were about to begin some years ago (in an INTERPOL press release which subsequently disappeared), not wanting to leave a permanent record of refused entry attempts that might hinder my travel in the future and after the possible overturning of these policies.
For this reason, I have not been refused entry into any country but neither have I attempted to travel since taking that conscious decision.
Fasten your seat belts; we’re in for a bumpy ride!
Is it possible to recommend changes to be made in the IML? such as when the feds are handing out alert notices to that country, that instead of doing it to inform that a registrant has a criminal record and claiming recidivism, they should recommend to that country that the registrant go through special screening and verification, go through some establish agreement to follow the laws of that country, and let them go about their business along with the “enjoy your visit, stay out of trouble”.
When the IML was passed and signed, was this done legitimately? Was the IML secretly passed just to get the President to signed it and become law? Did the President know about the IML before he signed it?
Is there a link to the exact info in the IML? My question is if a person is not now required to register do will the notices be sent and are they required to give notice? What if the person has deferred adjudication so that it is not in the state database or the FBI database? Any opinion?
Good morning,
My wife and I are planning a vacation to honeymoon to Jamaica in May. I am a RSO from Washington State (20yrs ago) and currently the lowest level 1. I havent been on Probabtion in 10+ years. We are just now getting ready to get our Passports. Is there anything I should know or be aware of? Should I list my anticipated travel? And will I have issue with Jamaican travel?
Thank You,
International Megan’s Law: One Year Later
Washington, Feb 8, 2017
One year to the date of its enactment, Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) reports that the International Megan’s Law is already having the intended effect of reducing the threat of child sex tourism.
Smith, who authored the bill, met today with a delegation from Thailand who expressed deep gratitude for the enactment of the law. During the meeting, Ambassador Pisan Manawapat, joined by representatives from the Royal Thai Police force, indicated that in Thailand alone, over 160 convicted sex offenders were caught trying to enter the country. Worldwide reports indicate that 1,780 notifications of pedophile travel have been sent by 64 countries, with a particular emphasis on countries known to be primary destinations for child sex tourism.
“This important legislation allows governments, in the U.S. and around the globe, to know when convicted pedophiles on sex-offender registries are traveling to other countries,” said Smith. “Information is power and the interest of protecting children remains at the core of both federal and state Megan’s Laws.”
the rest here: http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=400124
I have a question about the notification system why would the US Government not inform a registrant about the alert notices being sent out when they submit their travel information for notification, when they are going to be refused entry into a country?
I’m surprised that no one has written about this yet. The European Parliament just voted to rescind the visa-free reciprocity agreement with the U.S. I have heard some pundits claiming that it is a response to Trump’s immigration travel bans, but that is not the case. Actually, back in 2014, the U.S. (along with Canada, Australia, and a couple other countries) started denying automatic visas for travel from Bulgaria, Poland, and a few other eastern European countries that are part of the Schengen region. This was due to security concerns. The European Parliament confronted the issue and set a deadline for compliance. All the other countries changed their policy, but not the U.S. We have now passed the deadline and the Parliament has decided to enforce U.S. travelers to get a visa before traveling to Europe. They say it will take two months to implement, and will last a minimum of one year. Longer if the U.S. doesn’t comply.
The Economic Council of Europe does not want this to happen, nor does the European authorities for tourism, because they expect that it will reduce U.S. tourism and cause a great economic problem for Europe.
Bottom line is this: Our ability to travel to Europe may soon be curtailed. All we can hope is that the EC can somehow stop this from happening. I doubt that the U.S. government is going to back down.
Hi. I just sent in my application to renew my passport which expired last year. Wish me luck. I will report back to see if it comes with any “special” markings. I don’t want to book my flight to Spain and France until I get my passport.
My questions if anyone knows. I live in CA, do we HAVE to give a 21-day notice to our local law enforcement? Fortunately the officer that handles the registrations in my city has been okay in working with. Also, anyone know of any restrictions in entering Spain or France and traveling within those countries? Lastly, looking at booking by tickets and some have layovers in London – will it be a problem if I have a layover in London?
Just thinking about it stresses me out. I have an exchange student from France staying with me and have agreed to go visit him and his family in France this summer. Only going for about 15 days.
Any info would be greatly appreciated. Also, can email me at reachconnectempower at gmail dot com
One day some countries are going to wake up and realize the devastation of the “angel watch” operation and does nothing good, and the IML will be stopped,
@DRob
My husband ( a registrant) and I flew to Barcelona with a side trip flight to Paris with absolutely no problems. After embarking the plane and going through Customs, it was a relief to hear ” welcome to Spain”.
Upon returning home the US customs told my husband he had to go over to a windowed office ( no reason given) . He sat in the office for about 7 min, where they ran his passport again, handed it back to him and said ” here you go, you are cleared”. No reason given, no questions asked, no inspection of luggage etc. I guess this is what is referred to as secondary inspection?
At any rate, enjoy your vacation! Barcelona is amazing.
P
*Question for travelers* I am trying to plan a cruise for my mom while she’s still able (80 yrs. old, & neither of us have been on a cruise). She lives in Texas and wants to go out of Galveston. Aside from US territories, I’m concerned about being turned back, embarrassed when we land for short forays ashore. Do you think I’d risk a problem if I get off at, say, Bahamas or another Caribbean country? Appreciate any advice.
You do not have to go ashore to get in trouble. I traveled on a cruise to Alaska with a stop on the return in British Columbia. We were not going to get off th ship since there was not a lot of time; anyway, I got a letter to come to the casino as soon as we docked. There were about 15 of us. I got taken to the Canadian Customs office and had to sit there for two hours and then was threatened with arrest for ‘illegally’ entering the country. Two officers went to our stateroom and search it and our luggage. I was then releaed and told NOT to return to Canada. So be careful and check before you leave.
We have a trip coming up from US-Paris-Budapest. Will we have any issues into our destination Budapest? I have to provide the 21 days notice due to Megan’s law. Thanks!
My mom and I found something she likes and both stops are in the Bahamas. Does anyone have experience with Bahamas, as I’d rather look to Plan B. (not one yet) if there’s a good chance they’ll stop me. Thanks…
Posted this on other Int Travel after IML site but this is more active and my comments might be useful to more people:
Been a long time, but thought I’d update. I wrote in June about no problem flying into Portugal.
After six weeks, I flew into Amsterdam to pick up my car shipped from US.
I’ve driven thru Schengen countries with no problem, obviously, as there are no border customs. Into Romania (non-Schengen), Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, and back to Romania. All fine, no problems.
Prices are extremely low and there are millions of things to see. The Istrian peninsula (maybe 100 sq miles) has beaches, castles, caves, Roman ruins, 16th century Venetian-style city centers, vineyards, mountains, even dinosaur footprints!…you get the idea…all crammed together. And you can buy a nice 1 bedroom Condo in Pula for about $65k. 90 day rule though…90 day visa in country, 90 days out, then repeat.
Albania has 12 months in and 90 days out. In Sarande, you can buy a beautiful Condo with a spectacular view for about $50k. And a monster seafood feast in a fine waterfront restaurant for $8!
It’s so pleasant not to have to put up with all the crap in the US. I miss my family and friends, but I’ll just buy their airfare and bring them over for visits. Really don’t plan on coming back, at least until the US pulls its collective head out of its ass.
Seen from afar, America’s hypocrisy is hard to comprehend. Europe is not perfect, but in our cases, light years ahead of the puritanical, unforgiving, “good Christian” nation that the US has become. A brief example…when you’re driving between towns (and many of the Balkan drivers here are unbelievably stupid! – side note) you will see a guy pulled over, peeing on the side of the road, with his junk fully exposed for all the world to see…no attempt to cover or shield from the passing cars and possible “children,” and neither he nor they could care less. Natural bodily function. In the US, he would be arrested on the spot and his conviction, no matter how minimal, would label him a sex offender! Bravo America! Another evil doer punished for life! In Europe, he was just a guy that couldn’t hold it until the next town!
Donald Trump is not the cause, just a symptom. When will we ever learn!
Has anyone been to Bahamas? I want to take my 80 yr. old mom on a cruise, and since the Puerto Rico stop-off cruises are 7 days (too much for her), I’m planning a 4 day cruise with 2 stop-overs, both in Bahamas. Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines say we don’t need passports for those stops as long as we have birth certificates and driver’s licenses.
Has anyone been to Bahamas and think I’ll be okay on this? The stops are only for 3-4 hours, but I would hate to get turned back. Advice would be most appreciated.
How about Frankfurt, is that okay for just connection/transfer, while the destination is somewhere else in Europe?
For those that get into Europe okay, do you have to give 21 notice or not?
If US notifies the destination country in Europe and since EU has so many countries. Does that mean US notifies the entire EU system or just specific country? I’d think the EU system is widespread. For instance, if your destination is German and you give notice to US gov. that you will be going there, do they send the notice to Germany only or the EU system? I’m afraid to visit then get denied and when ML is lifted, I’m banned from entire EU countries, if that makes sense.
Was corresponding with an expat in Romania. He has two (2) U.S. Passports. He obtained the 2nd one from U.S. embassy in Bucharest. Reason given is that if you travel to any Arab country and then try to travel to Israel, you will be denied entry when they see the stamp on your passport.
Many countries allow you stay 90 days then have to leave country for 180 days before allowed back in. With 2 Passports you can go back and forth every 90 days.
My trip to Amsterdam, Cologne, Paris, and Barcelona is coming up in two weeks. I have been calling the officer in charge of 290 registrations here in my city and have left messages with no return call. Should I be worried that I didn’t get to file a 21-day notice? My understanding is that there isn’t a law in CA that I MUST, but I was doing it as a courtesy. Any thoughts?
Mexico cruise question…We, my family, want to plan a cruise from Los Angeles to Mexico for the 5 day cruise. I am a 290 in CA and need to know what I can do , if anything, to get permission to cruise to Mexico?
Who can I contact? etc.
Thanks
I have a question, had any registrants that travel internationally that did the 21 day notification ever made it through when alert notices have been sent out? And is the alert notice the real cause for all denial of entry into a country? And are there any significant investigations of the alert notices being sent out by the “angel watch”?