International Travel 2019

I will be traveling to Croatia soon and I have not had any luck finding any information about whether sex offenders can enter the country. Does anyone have any experience with traveling to the country of Croatia? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Here is our scheduled trip, leaving in about 4 weeks:

Turkey: Just changing planes on the way there – on the way back we have a 7 hour layover (possible visit downtown Istanbul if there are no issues?) (?)

Greece: Schengen so no expected problems

Macedonia (maybe part of Greece?)

Albania: (?)

Montenegro: (?)

Bosnia-Herzegovina: (?)

Croatia: No problems expected due to fine reports from Steve!

Slovenia: Schengen plus been here before – no problems expected

Hungary: Schengen plus been here before – no problems expected

Serbia: (?)

Bulgaria: (?)

If anyone has info on the question-marked locations, we would appreciate hearing it!

Thanks!

Still love to hear if anyone has any recent experience with Portugal. Wife and I have have a big trip there coming up next month, and all signs point to no trouble, but it’s nerve-wracking.

Me and my wife are headed to Spain in late September. We were in Hungary, Czech Republic, and Romania last year and since we live in Texas (a non-SORNA compliant state) I tried to contact the deputy in the county I report in, and having never received a call back, I just mailed him a certified letter about 30 days before I flew out. He spoke to me about it in my annual registration, and suggested (and it was just a suggestion, because he has no authority in the federal scheme) that I fill out some sort of form on federal site telling them where I was going and when. I told him that I would look into it. I tried looking for the link, but could not find it. I really don’t think there is any legal obligation to fill out some sort of online deal with federal law enforcement for a person leaving from a non-SORNA state. So I was just going to do what I did last time. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

I have only loosely followed this thread because I really had no desire to travel internationally. I work in the nonprofit sector and about a month ago, the president of the organization worked out some kind of deal with a travel agency to take the entire board down to Cabo San Lucas for a mid-year retreat. My boss doesn’t know details, but she knows I royally screwed up with the law in my youth and it also reared its ugly head this past year when I was denied a clearance to take the organization on a tour of one of California counties’ emergency operations centers. And fortunately, nobody within the organization asked questions beyond the fact that I had some trouble with the law in the past and they’re not comfortable giving me access. But back to the Cabo thing… this was a potential problem I did NOT want to see play out. I talked with my boss without getting into specifics and said I can’t go to Mexico because of my past. She was completely understanding and went to bat for me to figure out how we could save face. So, it had never come up about employees traveling internationally and a policy decision was made on the spot that employees are not permitted to travel out of country, which was conveyed to the client nonprofit organization. The client respected and accepted our “policy.”

That said, I probably COULD have averted an awkward scene the way the travel plans were laid out, but I had no desire to test the waters. The plan was that all those taking the trip would need to make sure their passports were up to date. We were then to travel by shuttle across the border to the Tijuana Airport and take a flight from Tijuana to Los Cabos. As guests of the country’s travel and tourism bureau, it probably would have been uneventful. But I live a law abiding life and have no desire to take chances that would jeopardize the life I’ve built for myself over the past 30 years post-conviction.

But I did some research and would like to offer some advice if ANY of you find yourself in a similar situation. Check your employee/employment agreement if it exists. If your job position does not state that international travel is included, your employer cannot force you to, and you can simply state you do not feel comfortable or safe traveling outside of the United States. Beyond that, I would hope that you have an open dialogue with your employer that you have a “checkered” past and that a very, very rare occasion might pop up that affects your ability to carry out an unusual job expectation. I do understand how blessed I am to have found an employer and her business partner who understand sometimes we make monumental mistakes but they do not define who we are as individuals, and if you are not working for someone like this, keep your resume fresh and polished until you do.

I’ve dodged major bullets for 29 years now, some close enough that I could figuratively hear whizzing by my head. For those of you who have put your mistakes in the past, I wish the same for you.

And in closing, I will only say it is regrettable that I could not join my clients in Cabo San Lucas. Perhaps things will change in the future, but for now, they are what they are.

And one final bit of advice. If you DO have international travel planned, I would suggest investing in travel insurance. I don’t know if it would be covered, but if you find your entire vacation trip ruined because some country’s interior ministry decides they don’t want to allow you entry, you are not staring at a gaping hole in your bank account for nothing.

Sawasdee,
This message is to those that know me and helped me through my time on the registry.
Been back home here in Ubon for almost a month and things are going well. No problems and family is good.
I still have some anxieties towards certain feelings, but hoping that will pass.
To those travelling or planning to move abroad, it’s so comforting to realize that U.S. and its puppets( Britain, Ireland, Australia) are the exemption and not the norm. The rest of the world looks at us as people, not sub human.
I was told be Thai immigration “Just don’t break our laws and you will be welcome here.” Will be travelling to Hong Kong on business soon, and that’s where some anxiety comes from. Anyway, to Micheal , Thomas, and everyone else, You are in my daily prayers. Thx for pushing me and holding my hand when I couldn’t see a way out.

I’ve been gone for a little while. Can anyone dispute this statement yet?

“No one with a marked passport has had their travel affected in any way.”

Thanks.

Over at RTAG someone mentioned they were questioned by a US Marshall upon returning to the US because he had not disclosed all his travel locations. First I’ve heard about something like this happening.

This was the post on August 17 from James: “Just got back home from Asia, I had got my girlfriend pregnant just found out also, was hassled extra hard coming back into the country by customs and had to talk to a US marshall because I didn’t give them my full itinerary and everywhere I was going to be, I want to marry my GF but I know due to Adam Walsh act this is near impossible but with her being pregnant how could I go about registering my child as a US citizen?i heard that’s huge hurdle to overcome as well, why would they want to keep you away from your family? Really need Help!”

Anyone able to get more details about either this incident or other similar ones?

Just transited through the new Istanbul airport and arrived in Athens with no issues. The next challenge will be entering nine more countries in the next two weeks, seven of which are not Schengen countries (marked Passport). I’ll try to post any problems if they come up.