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
So, has anyone received a passport identifier yet? I am living as an expat and I am not required to register here. I am wondering if I will receive a passport identifier
I’m still waiting on this as well. Are you stuck on a state registry too?
Something that I think is being missed on this thread is changes in sex offender laws in various countries. Often we make plans for travel based only upon whether registrants will be allowed into the country, but there should be other considerations. Consider this fact: Poland is part of the EU and Schengen. Registrants can go there, but did you know that the harshest sex offender laws of Europe may be found in Poland since 2010. It is law in Poland that a sexual assault against a child under age 15, or in the case of incest, or repeated crimes, can be forcibly castrated. It is the only European country that allows this. Some others, like France, Spain, and Czech Republic allow for voluntary castration, but in Poland it can be forced. EVEN IF ONE HAS COMPLETED THEIR SENTENCE. Let’s say that an applicable registrant goes to Poland on vacation and gets arrested for some non-sex related crime (say getting into a fistfight in a pub), could that registrant be in danger of having this law applied against them? I don’t know, but I wouldn’t want to find out. Poland also has two SORegistries. One with limited accessibility and another one that is public (child related offenses would be on the public). Do you know the reporting requirements in Poland? I don’t. Here is a link about the castration law. https://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2010/06/chemical_castration_poland
I think we need a full workup of sex offender laws to go along with the RTAG information and other information that we glean from registrants reporting their travels. Foreign sex offender laws are in flux, and we need to know the risks before making travel decisions.
U.S. Customs/Border Control agents will now need to have reasonable suspicion of a crime before they search your electronic device:
http://www.wbur.org/npr/576139303/u-s-customs-and-border-patrol-sets-new-rules-for-searching-electronic-devices
I haven’t had occasion to go out of the country for the past couple of decades. When I do, I may take a cell phone and/or tablet with me, maybe even a cheap laptop or notebook computer, but nothing valuable or expensive. In some countries, it might be easier to simply buy whatever I need once I get there. Probably something cheap, as it might have to be disposable.
I figure that anything of value on the device I can sync or upload to cloud storage before I return. Then I can leave the device in the foreign country with family or friends (maybe gift it or have them hold it for me for my next visit), wipe or reimage it and ship it back home, or wipe/reimage and carry it back with me.
I’m thinking a wiped device might seem suspicious, so maybe better to take something cheap, and don’t bring it back. It may add a few hundred to the cost of a trip, but I would consider it worth it if it saved me the indignity of having my device searched upon reentry.
Advice, anyone?
I’ve waited this long to book several trips to Europe for work this spring and summer. Should I book them? Keep waiting on a letter from State Dept?
On another note: has anyone while visiting Schengen countries and after filing full itineraries with hotel names in AWA compliant states been visited by local cops at the hotels they listed?
Geez what a screwed up situation.
Just a comment on the phone conversation… if you have an iPhone with an iTunes account…
Create a travel iTunes account, travel gmail account, etc.
Set it all up and test before you go.
When you leave back up your phone (your regular itunes account).
Then factory reset and log into your travel itunes account and restore the backup created when you set it up.
When you arrive, you can restore back to your regular account.
Use the travel account when you come home, with just the nice ‘church’ pictures, etc.
I have not tested this, but seems like it would work.
Anyone tried anything like this?…
-Frank
I forgot to mention that I missed my flight!!🤤 So despite my best efforts to submit a 21-day-in-advance travel itinerary before my trip, the flight number and departure date changed. I informed the record’s person at the police department – via email – AFTER arriving in Europe and she said it was “no problem”.
So there you have it – a flight change NOT 21 days prior – but the very day of – my departing flight ….. providing the information AFTER my flight occurred ….. and being told that it was “no problem”.
So if this is “no problem” and since Angel Watch already has the airline passenger manifests (which they’ve long used for the green notices), what is the point of our submitting a 21-day-in-advance travel itinerary?? I appreciate the records officer’s understanding, but the truth is that that very understanding itself cinfirms the fact the 21-day-in-advance-notification is unnecessary! There’s no good reason for it!!! This charade is just another way for them to jerk our chains!! 😡
I was just curious if there was anyone here who has traveled internationally after getting off the hit list? If so, did you try to inform anyone that you were leaving. I’m lucky to be in that boat and was just curious if I would have to do anything if I ever had the chance to take a trip to Europe. Thanks
I have been lurking this site for a long time, but I’d like someone to interpret this clause excerpted from International Megan’s Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders in layman’s term. I personally do not comprehend the mumbo jumbo. I am aware that you all are not an attorney or a legal analyst.
Section 3 (10) (C)
Foreign convictions; offenses involving consensual sexual conduct — The limitations contained in subparagraphs (B) and (C) of section 111(5) of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 USC 16911(5)) shall apply with respect to a sex offense against a minor for purpose of this Act to the same extent and in the same manner as such limitations apply with respect to a sex offense for purposes of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.
Excerpt from the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 – 34 USC 20911 (5)(C) (Old code: 42 USC 16911 (5)(C))
(C) Offenses involving consensual sexual conduct
An offense involving consensual sexual conduct is not a sex offense for the purposes of this subchapter if the victim was an adult, unless the adult was under the custodial authority of the offender at the time of the offense, or if the victim was at least 13 years old and the offender was not more than 4 years older than the victim.
Does it mean a person, who is a guilty of a sex offense against a minor but it was consensual, does not have to receive a special marked passport and submit a 21-day travel notification? Please clarify this if you can.
Thanks.
What the IML should have done instead of just sending advance notifications to prevent registrants from ever traveling and entering a country thinking they’ll commit future crime, instead do the notification process of travel but without advance notices being sent out to foreign government agencies, but let registrants travel freely and unmolested, but if that person gets caught in some criminal activity overseas and the US government is notified, then that’s when the notices should’ve got sent out about the individual that was caught, which should’ve been the least thing for the IML. Other then that, the IML is unconstitutional and punishment.
I was refused to enter today Santo Domingo (DR). I went to DR 2016 and 2017 without any problems. Nobody explained the reason. It says you not allowed to enter. Do you know where I can find the reason?
Let me ask AJ a question since he responded while I was still typing my reply…;>}}
Has anyone filed a request through INTERPOL? (or has it been denied as confidential at the request of the US Government?)
Heck, if this were possible, a simple request for information to INTERPOL, I think I’d like to see what they are sending out on moi.
Have other people filed such a request?
Thanks
Best Wishes, James
I officially made a donation to RTAG in hopes in the efforts to fight the IML.
Was looking to take a beach vacation with my wife. Anyone know about getting into Belize as an SO? What about places in the Caribbean like the Bahamas or St Lucia? I know the Dominican Republic and Jamaica are out of the question.
Also wondering what it’s like to enter the US through Atlanta or Charlotte. I’m not able to fly directly to my home state from there and wanted to know if it’ll be easy or will they take a really long time and humiliate me like they do in Miami.
Thanks for any advice!
I heard that Belize was Okay…but that was maybe 12~18 months ago…so who knows now?
I would like to go back to Belize myself…if it were a cheap flight it might be worth the risk of being turned back.
But there are two of you, double the price, maybe you fly ahead by one day?
This is a very tough decision.
I wish you well…but Belize is probably problematic.
If not, let us know…it is a great place to visit.
Best Wishes, James
Some countries allow registrants entry into the country but that could change.
Well, the time has come for us to throw caution to the wind. We leave tomorrow for a 14 day tour of Central Europe.
The tour begins in London, and my wife booked our airline tickets to there without checking with me. After I convinced her that was a bad idea, she got me a new ticket where I fly directly to Amsterdam and join the tour there.
I haven’t received any certified letters. I uploaded my passport information to the airline and to the tour company, and so far, nothing has happened.
I will be holding my breathe until I clear customs in Amsterdam; after that, I think we will be good to go.
I did give my 21 day notice, with flight numbers, and a list of countries we will be visiting. I don’t know what Angel Watch will do with that, but only time will tell.
My wife has grudgingly agreed to continue on if I get turned away at some point, so if there are no posts from me for the next two weeks after tomorrow, all is probably good!
(Actually, maybe I will try to post from there if everything seems okay.)
Just as @James, @Relief, and others predicted, I had no trouble entering Amsterdam to start our 14 day middle European tour.
Although my passport was scanned at LAX when I checked my bag at the curb, and again in Philadelphia as I boarded my connecting flight, nothing happened. When I went through Passport Control after getting off the plane in Amsterdam, they took my passport, opened it to an empty page, stamped it, and handed it back. That was it. I think even the “Red Letter” passport wouldn’t have been noticed in this case.
Based on past experience, I doubt my passport will be looked at again by government in the next seven countries we visit. Of course my hotel wanted to see it when I checked in.
I’ll update later if anything unusual happens.
Update on my trip to Europe, referenced above:
I am happy to report that I have had no trouble at all during my trip. I traveled from Netherlands to Germany, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, Italy, Switzerland, and France. In almost every case, we just drove across the border, as if you were driving from California to Nevada. The only time there was a Passport Check was driving from Hungary into Austria, and then all they did was look at my passport picture to see if it was me.
The final challenge will come tomorrow when I fly from Paris to London, change planes, and fly to Los Angles. If I make it through Heathrow unscathed, then all will be good.
Of course, I’ll have to go through Secondary Inspection in LA, which can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours, depending on what kind of mood they are in. It may be tougher this time since my wife isn’t on the same flight. She arrives in LA two hours before me, and will be waiting for me in the airport.
I’ll try to post the final update from home this weekend.
Question about coming back into the US…
Do they take your phone and any electronic devices you have for inspection?
If so, I assume you have to unlock?
Can anyone describe the experience?
5 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour.. etc.
Of has anyone had their phone taken and not returned….
TY
Does anyone know exactly what they check or use if applying for a passport. What makes an individual have an identifier. Do they check just the DOJ registry website and the state u are from website or do they check your whole criminal record. Im off my states registry and I checked the DOJ registry website and my name doesn’t appear on there either. Just curious because I’m looking into applying for a passport and wanted to know if I will have an identifier or not.
If your crime was expunged, but you still have to register per CA law, how could they put a unique identifier that says you were “convicted” of a sex offense involving a minor? Doesn’t expungement mean the conviction was set aside?
What’s going on with that second IML lawsuit this organization filed. Never heard another word about it–I thought we were to be heard in Feb of this year???
flying out soon to europe- no stamp, wish me luck. gave 21 day notice etc.
Thanks to all especially Mike G for lots of info.