We have updated our main International Travel section. It features:
- List of Schengen Nations (allowing entry to registrants);
- Resources (including a CA DOJ Travel Notification Form); and
- User Submitted Travel Reports.
This post is linked from the Main Menu at the top of the site.
1. The 26 Schengen Nations (which allow registrants to visit)
As an agreement, Schengen was signed among the five out of ten countries of the European Union members back then, on the 14th June 1985. Under the Schengen agreement, travelling from one Schengen country to another is done without any passport and immigration controls or any other formalities previously required.
Austria
Belgium
Czech republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Note: US Citizens are visa exempt when visiting the Schengen area for up to 90 days in a 180 day period (List of Countries, Section B or map). The European Commission is proposing creating a European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) for such travelers, beginning in 2021 – which may or may not take criminal convictions into account. ETIAS Fact Sheet April 2018 – July 2018
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2. Resources
Forms
Publications
- RTAG Travel Matrix
- IML Dispatch (SMART Office, Feb 2016)
- ETIAS
Old Posts
- International Travel after IML (2016)
- International Travel – Mexico (2014)
- International Travel (2013)
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Does anyone know about travel to Boliva? I may need to go there for work
Hey guys,
I’m currently a tier 3 (lifetime) registrant in MI for a CSC 3rd degree. It is not against a minor, so I don’t anticipate having a marked passport.
My question is, does Michigan take you off the registry once you move out of the country? That would mean I’d be off the national registry as well right? I plan on leaving here as soon as I get off parole next year and want to be free to travel as much as possible.
I know certain countries have access to the US database so I’m sol with those, but would like to see countries that normally don’t allow RSOs/SOs to enter, like South Korea.
My plan is to tell the state I’m leaving for good to say, Hong Kong or some European country. Would they take me off the registry then? Or would I have to file some request after I arrive at my destination country?
Afterwards, I figured it’d be safe to fly into South Korea or Singapore which normally don’t allow registrants in.
Has anyone taken a cruise to the Bahamas and had any issues or is it off limits to us?
Got invited to join some friends in Nov 2020 but before I say NO or YES I want to check it out
Hi all. Going on a cruise in June. I am not on IML or CA Megan’s Law. I still plan on submitting my 21 day notice, but I was wondering how they find out about whether or not someone is registered. Hope I dont have to tell my family I cant go. Thanks.
I guess I’m confused. How are you not on IML or CA Registration and required to give 21 day notice? If you’re a registrant somewhere you’re on IML and if you are not then what is the reason you need to give 21 day notice?
Interesting experience today. I’m hoping for anyone’s in the know input. I’m planning a trip to travel internationally. I recently applied for and received a new passport. The passport arrived without any marking. I gave my 21 day advanced notice today. I provided my itinerary, flight numbers and dates of travel as required. He entered the information into the notes section of my SOR record on the computer. The clerk at the sheriff dept stamped and signed my itinerary and handed it back. He stated that was all there was to it. This seems simplistic for something of such a huge consequence if incorrect. I’m not complaining, just making sure that is all I have to do. I have not traveled in many years. Anyone have any insight?
Ugh. One of my good friends just announced his wedding schedule for this summer. It’s a destination wedding. In Mexico.
Guess I’m out.
@Don’t tread on me — Have a good time, and relax. The advice you’ve gotten here is being on the safe side. I think you’ll find that no one in the other countries cares. You’ll find that when you come back, you’ll have your bags searched and they’ll ask you some questions, but that’s about it, then you’re done. The more you travel, the more you’ll get used to it.
Even though I will be coming off my State’s registration (PA) (state conviction- not federal) this Oct I think I will stay put and not travel outside my state or even the country until the day I die.
The laws seem so complicated about the registration requirements that attorney’s have problems interpreting the laws of travel to states and other country’s.
One slip up on a planned travel to even another state can send you back to prison. Just not worth it to me.
I’m staying put. Retired and working part time.
This whole thing beat me down. Just not worth the chance.
This is kind of a general question. I hope this is the appropriate section to post it for my fellow international & domestic travelers. I plan to move to a state where my offense is not considered a child sex crime, therefore I will automatically be placed in tier 1 and my info won’t be publicized on their website. However, my current state has me placed on lifetime for the same offense (Of course my address and everthing else is publicized)
The question is will I still be required to update my new state’s address with the registry in my old state? If I don’t, will I get in trouble with the feds? I don’t care if I get in trouble with my old state because I don’t plan on setting foot in this state ever again. I just don’t want some private snoopers like family watchdog or city-data getting hold of my new address from the old state and disseminating it on their websites…apps and alerts and all. You know the story. I want to stay anonymous in my new state of residence. So thank you. That’s my question and I hope someone can answer it.
Well Good Morning and i have just returned from a 5 day cruise to Cabo from LA. I was relatively nervous but had done extensive research from others here and elsewhere on what to do pre travel and what to expect. Full disclosure: my incident was in 2007 and i have been off parole since 2012. Also: I am a woman and even though I believe in feminist ideologies, I also believe that women for obvious reasons do not have the same stigma attached as men (not relevant to this discussion but thought I would share). I have been on 3 cruises prior to 2016 and was denied Carnival after that with a letter and phone call and returned my money. This cruise was on Norwegian. I gave the 21 day notice “over the phone” to my registering agency and she did not ask for anything but the dates and destination. All she said was thank you and ill “put this in the computer”. I didnt ask anything else because another person here had mentioned that we dont need to give our full life story or share too many details. OK, so getting on the ship was no problem. I have a passport in my maiden name but chose to use my Calif ID and my birth certificate, as I am married and that name obviously is my Legal name now. NO problems boarding. 2 days in, I get a call from the assistant someone saying that they failed to get my proper travel documents upon boarding and would need to retrieve them and make copies. Keep in mind, I knew this was BS. I was quite irritated but I also know the cruise line itself doesnt truly care, this is Angel Watch or whoever confused. So the cruise line was really, really nice. They acted like they knew nothing, anyway. The Weird part was the cruise line said because my passport was my True traveling document that I would have to change my name on-board to my maiden name. I was livid because that is no longer my name and I felt like they were pressuring me to be someone im not, if that makes any sense but whatever I did it. So Cabo was no big deal, I got off and on without any problem whatsoever. But I knew, just knew they were going to F with me upon return. So getting off the ship, my name was on some manifesto. There was a gal waiting who escorted me down to customs like a criminal (mind you crime 13 years ago), and the officers looked at my passport (non-legal name) and asked me to go in the back and searched my luggage. I have to say Everyone the whole time was very nice, discreet, and polite. The officers were nice and joked that at least I skipped the line and this would only take a minute and Never asked me about the incident or was an RSO or anything like that. So the thing is I was aware that all of these things could happen and I was expecting it and I was with my husband so maybe that is why everyone was so respectful, Im not sure. But I know this small incident will NOT deter me from traveling. I dont always check this, if someone has any other questions. But I thank Everyone who shares their travel experience because it was super helpful to me on being hyper-aware of expectations.
Hello All
I just received my new passporr, a renewal, and it has NO MARKING. I’m very confused because I thought it would. I am going to Europe in March for 2 weeks. I hope there is no issue upon my return. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Just FYI I have 2 passports, EU and US and ONLY use my US one for returning to US.
@ Rob: Be sure to submit your 21-day advance travel notification. And keep one or two copies of the form with you when you are travelling because it is especially helpful to have it on hand when you are going through U.S. Customs upon your return to the U.S.
Going to Cape Town this summer. Anyone with experience traveling as a registrant to South Africa? Or any other African countries for that matter. I just don’t hear about that continent on this forum. I also heard Kigali Rwanda is nice.
Thank you all for your feedback. I like Will Allen’s fine suggestion about first establishing residency at a temporary address in my new state and notifying my former state before moving on to establish a permanent address in my new state. That was part of my original plan anyways. To temporarily rent a room in Boston before buying a home in western Massachusetts where the cost of living is lower. But for now I am stuck in Wisconsin on lifetime GPS until my supervision is up in two years. Once that happens, the DOC will take the bracelet whenever I decide to leave this sorry state. Some of you may already know that a former AG of WI gave the state DOC the power to interpret each cp count as a separate offense. Because I was convicted on two counts (2 photos) I’m considered a repeat offender subject to lifetime registration with GPS on or off of supervision. But I’m not waiting around for our class action to sort things out.
There is nothing really on RTAG about South Africa. However, if I were to guess, since it’s a former British colony it probably has alot of British legal influence in their legal system. And they do appear to have a Registry. That means it’s probably similar to UK travel.
Being charged with 2 photos and calling it a repeat offense is as RETARDED a NOTION as a Bank Robber going out of a bank with one money bag and then going for a second trip calling it a New Crime or HABITUAL OFFENDER!
Definetly the LAND OF THE SEE AND HOME OF THE DEPRAVED!
“SEE …DEPRAVED””
Thank you all! That’s why I love this forum. It has fine people with a wealth of information. I noticed some varying opinion on this issue, but here is what I summize from all the responses. When I move to Massachusetts, I definitely have to register my 1st address with Mass and my former state of Wisconsin. But if I move to a 2nd addresss, I definetely have to register the addresss with Mass, but not right away with WI. However, down the road, Wisconsin may send me a threatening letter telling me to update my 2nd address in Mass. But this leads back my original question. Will I get in trouble with the feds or the state of WI? I don’t plan on stepping foot in this crappy state ever again, but if my evasion is an exraditable offense, that’s a different story.
There was this case a while back where a former WI lifetime resident moved to Connecticut, but Wisconsin still required him to pay the $100 annual price club fee. The plaintiff sued WI but he lost because the reasoning was he was not held criminally liable for not paying the fee as well as other Wisconsiin RSO lifetime rules such as restrictions for being around a minor. The court concluded the plaintiff couldn’t possibly be expected to follow every rule of his former state while living in his new state which has its own rules. Now I still don’t know if this covers updating addresses with that state. Thank you all.
@ M.C
Yes, i received whats called the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act. The case is dismissed, and no judgement of conviction is entered, however, you still have to register if you were sentenced prior to October 1, 2004. If you were sentenced after that date, then you don’t have to register. The state also took away some of the offenses of which you would no longer qualify for the Youthful trainee act, after October 1, 2004. But anyway, you cannot find me on a background check, nor could you call the court. They would tell you there is no record.
However, when an employee searches the registry, well there it is. It shows ‘Convicted’ on the website, but I do not have a conviction. Its pretty much untruthful. The good thing is that when employers see this, they are BAFFLED, once they see my court papers that says “Sealed, non-public, and no conviction”. Doesn’t make since to them, therefore, of all the searches on the registry, yes employers ask, but once i show them my ‘Non-Public’ record, which specifically says ‘dismissed’, ‘no judgment of conviction’, I get hired. So it is a benefit, but I would like to in the future be able to travel internationally. I have not gotten my passport yet, because of all the stories I hear on here. Why would i want to put myself through embarrassment on a plane, or even on a cruise (although i boarded carnival in 2014 and 2015, with no issues, NOR secondary inspection upon return). Rather odd, as my information is clearly publicly listed on the website. But as far as a passport, yeah, I’m good for now. No thanks
This thread used to discuss International Travel…. but I guess a lot has changed.🤔
I’m assuming this can bar Registrants who need medical procedure from entering as well. Or see a sick parent or loved one residing in that country.
This is so wrong for so many reasons…
@Lucky,
I was unaware of this specific decision so I did go and read it. It seems that the WI DOC has acknowledged that the registration requirements for someone no longer in the state is unenforceable but it seems clear that they still intend to attempt to enforce it. The court made no decision on the enforceability except to say that someone who no longer is in the state lacks standing to challenge the $100 registration fee and registration requirements and that the fee is not considered a fine which would, if a fine, be punitive.
@Bill,
A few, but not all of these places that are off limits to RSO will make exceptions on “humanitarian grounds.” So with a sick family member, you may be granted an exception. Canada is one for example who almost always will make this exception but you may have to specifically ask for it to be made and be able to provide proof.
@LUCKY,
I don’t THINK but I certainly can’t guarantee that EITAS would create a complete bar to RSO travel to Schengen countries. It seems that if green notices are sent now and they are not baring entry there would be no change under EITAS. i do believe however that EITAS could make it more difficult. The questions about criminal history have been set https://www.etias.us/security-questions-in-the-etias-form/. It looks like they set the bar for EITAS and sex offenses against children at 10 years as part of the questions they will ask. Therefore, you do not have to answer in the affirmative if the offense is more than 10 years old. They appear to utilize only their databases for data verification so if you have not committed a crime there your denial is extremely unlikely after the 10 years. If its less than 10 years, maybe you get denied. Either way, you do have an appeal right if you are denied and I suspect that appealing with the right spin would get most RSO’s access.
⭐ More information about ETIAS under new topic/section “International Travel 2020”.⭐