In this International Travel 2020 post, the information is identical to the International Travel 2019 post. We added a new post for 2020 in order to keep the discussion manageable. Please help us by sticking to the topic of International Travel only.
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From 2019: 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
Older Posts
- International Travel 2019 (2019)
- International Travel after IML (2016)
- International Travel – Mexico (2014)
- International Travel (2013)
Greetings all. I came back from a European trip in 2018 and about 1-1/2 months later got the certified letter from Dept. of State. I never picked it up and let it be returned. Fuck ’em, y’know? About a month after that, I and my state senator succeeded in getting myself removed from the PA registry, where I live. I immediately asked Dept. of State to re-instate my passport, but got a snotty letter in return advising me that, too bad, I had to get a new passport. Did it via the express option, and had the thing in 3 days (!). No stamp, as I am a free man.
Emailed with the Angel Watch as well, and was informed that they had informed DoS that I was no longer required to have the stamp in my passport, but that it might change if I relocated to a state where I had to re-register. Cool.
Now, my question is, and perhaps some of you have had this experience and can give a straight answer: Am I now free to travel to Mexico, Central/South America and the UK? Or will Angel Watch or Interpol forever be sending notices about me in advance?
Thanks folks!
Well, beside, when you submit the 21-day travel notice, you provide your flight number. If your plan is to book and cancel, you had better keep documentation of that original booking so you can verify that you intended to travel but changed your mind. Otherwise, if you put down just any flight number, it would likely be viewed as intentional deception.
I am more interested in how we notify the USMS/State Dept. about immediate travel. I’d love to hop a flight to somewhere on short notice (say 2 or 3 days), but where’s the DOJ/USMS form for that? So my travel is certainly hindered – I can’t on-the-spur-of-the-moment, up & fly off to Europe, can I?? 😒
@M C
Just information:
I deliver diesel fuel for a company out of the Bay Area. CA.
I am a 288a. RSO, on my 4.5 yr of 5 years parole
We provide on site diesel fueling for several construction companies.
One of our customers is doing construction at SFO airport.
In order for me to deliver fuel on site, I had to go through criminal back ground
check, fingerprinting etc. to obtain Security Clearance from TSA, DOJ/FBI
I passed, I was issued my Badge pass and can enter through the security check points un-escorted.
I don’t work for the Airport, but I am cleared by TSA
How long did the global Entry application take for once submitted? Its been like two weeks, no interview yet.
I wish the list was more accurate!
You know that we can travel to all of the non-UK European Caribbean, but you only list the Dutch ones at the bottom of the the Island Chain -Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao!
Please list ALL of Europe’s non-UK Caribbean, and Worldwide Territories, because we are indeed allowed to travel to, and enter, every single one of their far flung territories!
What countries are we allowed to travel to in Africa, and are we allowed to travel to Russia?
As to what countries I have been to since leaving the U.S. in early 2019…. Hong Kong twice (maxing out my 90 days both times)… Europe (in between the two Hong Kong stays) – Stockholm for a month (absolutely loved my stay there!), Kobenhavn (for a week), and Napoli (for 7 1/2 weeks)! I have been in Nepal since leaving Hong Kong on January 1st! My 90 days stay will be up on March 30th, but as there won’t be any flights leaving Nepal until, at the earliest, April 8th, immigration told me that all tourist vidas have been extended indefinitely! Oh… And this is one of only a few countries where almost no foreigner wears a mask. The locals are scared you know what, but as there have not been any positive tests announced here in gorgeous Pokhara, we walk around mask free! DEFINITELY look into coming here to Nepal! With the exception of Kathmandu’s dirty air, the rest of the country is MINDBLOWINGLY BREATHTAKING!
Hello, I’m an intermittent reader of this and other forums, but I’ve never posted anything (until now). Several questions below, so please bear with me. I have 1.5 years supervision time left and then I can travel, and I’ve been making tentative plans for years. Of course, the goalpost keeps moving. I have been to several Central and South American countries in the past and planned to go back, but now that I’m on the registry and have to report my international travel 21 days in advance most of those countries are now a no go as reported in the travel matrix as well as various traveler accounts posted online. Down south it appears as though Guatemala is one of the few countries still letting us in. This has been on my list anyway so I am thinking about it.
Here are a few questions:
The international travel requirements for those of us on the registry states that we have to report various details about a planned international trip, including specific dates, destination, itinerary, and so on. If I go to a small Central American country like Guatemala where the neighboring countries are so close, what if I want to go next door to Honduras or Mexico? Do I also have to report this before I leave the US? I wouldn’t be going to Mexico from the US, but from Guatemala, and it would be a land crossing, not by air. Even if I did have to report the crossing before leaving the US, Is the Mexican border control organized enough that when I try to walk across the border at a rural crossing, they will have access to my nasty info when I hand them my passport?
One last question. Most people report problems when travelling by plane or cruise ship. What if I get down to San Diego or somewhere in Texas and just walk across with everyone else who is commuting by foot? Of course, I would report this 21 days in advance, but would they have the same urgency at the border that they have when you arrive by plane. A friend of mine walked across at San Diego about 10 years ago and he said it was so chaotic and busy that if you were a well dressed American they hardly paid any attention. He said he just went through without showing his passport to anyone. Of course I wouldn’t advocate this, but his example just shows that it is much less organized than when arriving by air. Thank you for any clarifications or travel experiences you can provide
RSO here with 1.5 years left on parole. I do plan to move overseas once this is done, INDEFINITELY. From what has been posted here as well as on RTAG, it seems like Hong Kong doesn’t care about RSOs as of now.
I’m trying to see if my plan is feasible. I’ll give the 21-day notice that I’m leaving for good and only destination I know of for now is Hong Kong. Will they then take me off of the registry, both state (Michigan), and federal lists? I really do intend on never coming back to the USA. If so, will I be able to enter a country that normally turns away RSOs, like South Korea (among others)?
Only reason I can think of for me to even enter the States is if someone died or got married. Other than that, I don’t ever want to step foot again in this messed up hell-hole of a country. Trying to see if my travel ability will “open” up for the most part when I leave with zero intentions of coming back.
I’ve lived overseas for over 4 years and I know how nice it is abroad. I want to confirm my avenue to get as much of my freedom back as possible is doable.
Thanks!
IML seems to provide different definitions of “sex offender” in its various sections. IOW it seems that not all the provisions apply to Everyone (green notices, branded passport, 21-day notice requirement).
The definition of sex offender provided under Section 6 of IML (the “Notice of Travel” section – “Requirement That Sex Offenders Provide International Travel Related Information To Sex Offender Registries”) says, “Whoever–(1) is required to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (42 U.S.C. 16901 et seq.)… As such, the notice provision appears to only apply to those who are required to register under SORNA (federal requirement and not merely another jurisdiction).
Does this mean that even if you’re listed on a state registry but you’re past your required federal term of registration per your particular tier, then you’re not required to give the 21-day notice per SORNA?
(I’m listed in Florida where I was charged while on vacation back in the 90s, but not in my home state because the offense was/is not a covered offense in my home state).
Thank you.
Does anyone know if travel to Venezuela would be scrutinized other then at the political level? Does anyone have any experience going there? I looked at the site with the travel matrix but it’s not on it. In fact it hasn’t been updated, both the matrix and the comments. Just wanted to know. Thanks ahead of time!!
It would seem from a textual reading of SORNA that the 21-day notice requirement in particular doesn’t apply if you’re no longer federally required to register under Federal SORNA (due to the expiration of your term per your tier) and you don’t have a separate State obligation to notify the state of intended intl travel (e.g., bc the state is not SORNA compliant or because you’re not required to register with your state of residence).
In my case with Florida, I’m “listed” for life per their policy, and accordingly I’ll probably have a branded passport and green notices sent out because SORNA applies these two requirements on the basis of either a conviction EVER or the fact of being listed on a registry (see below SORNA text snippets).
My federal obligation to register (which is recognized as a separate duty from a state duty to register) ended 10 years after my sentencing on my federal Tier 1 offense – in 2008. But because my state’s Supreme Court held that under the state constitution citizens of the state have greater privacy rights than under the federal constitution the state would not participate in the federal SORNA, even when under federal law a person was required to register. The state opinion noted that as long as the person was in Maryland this federal obligation would not be enforced where there wasn’t a state duty to register. Amazing thing, really.
But perhaps a more accurate way to look at my being listed in florida that they haven’t “removed” me from the registry after initially listing me as SORNA requires – not that I’m an actual registrant there since I don’t have any connection to that state.
Federal SORNA, however, makes it explicit in the guidelines, that SORNA itself doesn’t require states to continue to list anyone no longer having a connection to the state, and certainly not to update registration information once the registrant leaves. This is a dubious Florida practice. Florida itself doesn’t require updating the registry details once someone leaves the state. I can only surmise that their policy is revenge, because it certainly is not required by federal SORNA nor does it serve any public safety purpose within Florida.
In my home state, the offense was never considered a covered sex crime and thus I’m not on the registry here.
Therefore if I were to approach my local registry shop to report my intl travel, I don’t know how they would react..
SORNA has different provisions for green notices, branded passports, and the 21-day notice requirement. Surprisingly, not each of these three concerns might apply to everyone. Different sections of IML have different definitions of who it applies to. In some cases it is “offense based” – if you committed the offense, it applies to you. In other sections, it is “status based” – if you are registered as a sex offender, it applies to you.
The definitions section of IML contains the following definition, “Covered sex offender.–Except as otherwise provided, the term “covered sex offender” means an individual who is a sex offender by reason of having been convicted of a sex offense against a minor.” That would seem “offense based”.
However, under Section 5 (the “Green Notice” Section) it says, “In this section, the term “sex offender” means– (1) a sex offender under SORNA; or (2) a person required to register under the sex offender registration program of any jurisdiction or included in the National Sex Offender Registry. That would seem “status based”. So, according to (our) interpretation of IML, you are covered by the law if you have ever been convicted (including withhold of adjudication) of a qualifying offense, but under Section 5, if you are no longer required to register, they won’t send out green notices on you.
Section 6 of IML (the “Notice of Travel” section – “Requirement That Sex Offenders Provide International Travel Related Information To Sex Offender Registries”) says, “Whoever–(1) is required to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (42 U.S.C. 16901 et seq.)… As such, the notice provision appears to only apply to those who are required to register under SORNA (federal requirement and not merely another jurisdiction).
Finally, Section 8 of IML covers the “UNIQUE PASSPORT IDENTIFIERS FOR COVERED SEX OFFENDERS.” While the title suggests the identifiers apply to “covered sex offenders” as defined in the definition section of IML (and would be “offense based”), Section 8 has it’s own definition of “covered sex offender”, which is: “(1) the term `covered sex offender’ means an individual who–(A) is a sex offender, as defined in section 4(f) of the International Megan’s Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders; and (B) is currently required to register under the sex offender registration program of any jurisdiction;” In other words, the “branded passport” would apply to registrants currently required to register under the sex offender registration program of any jurisdiction who have a conviction against a minor.
⭐⭐ Real ID and ETIAS Postponed ⭐⭐
Implementation of Europe’s ETIAS program has been delayed until late 2022 with a 6 month grace period added.
https://www.latimes.com/travel/story/2020-04-01/real-id-european-authorization-visit
@MLinCA I don’t believe you about Germany. If you want a long term visa to study or work in Germany or other EU country, they’ll request a POLICE CLEARANCE from your home country. Therefore felony sex offenders are excluded. If you can prove otherwise, put the evidence out there. Not some anecdotal youtube video that doesn’t give specifics. I’ve seen a handful of registered sex offenders get on this forum and say they are permanently living in some country overseas but either they don’t tell you where they’re living or their legal path to reach that goal. All countries have a legal path for longterm work, study, and retirement visas and very few countries issue longterm visas without a police clearance from an applicant’s home country. And for citizenship in another country? Your chance of that is even more remote for a person with a felony background, let alone a felony sex offense with a green notice advisory.
Thanks all for the input re domestic and intl travel for past offenders not subject to SORNA nor required to register in their own state but still listed in another state for life without updates.
Despite all the appreciated input, this is still not exactly clear.. it’d be very helpful if the presenters at the next ACSOL conference, whenever they’re able to hold it, could clarify this issue.. esp since the discussion at the 2019 conference on this was murky.
Question about Canada: I heard that Canada, like many commonwealth countries, has a criminal rehabilitation admission system that allows for “spent convictions” to be based on 10 years after completion of sentence, but what if we’re still on the registry after that? Has anyone on the registry been able to get into Canada 10 after the completion of their sentence? Or does Canada (like Britain) have a blanket ban on registered sex offenders entering the country? No matter how far back they completed their sentence.
🇬🇧 Great Britain 🇬🇧 A couple years ago, I had booked a flight to Europe that was going to have a brief layover in Dublin. I made many phone calls and sent many emails and finally was able to directly contact the head of Irish Border Police at the Dublin International Airport. I was told that, ultimately, the decision was up to the individual border agent as to whether I would be allowed to continue on to Europe or would be sent back to the United States. (Unwilling to take that risk of a ruined vacation, I booked a different flight that took me directly to Europe.)
Here’s a potentially significant and helpful segment from a SCOTUS holding interpreting SORNA, from the Nichols case.
Might this holding snippet (below) resolve the issue of whether registrants who move out of states that fail to remove them from the registry, and are not required to register in their new State, nonetheless continue to be “Registrants” in for SORNA/IML purposes?
We have had questions here on this from people who have left Florida long ago, for example, and are not presently required to register in their new jurisdiction -and whether on the basis of Florida continuing to list them they might nonetheless be considered to still be “registrants” under SORNA. This holding snippet would appear to resolve that in favor of not falling under the category of “registrant” for the purpose of federal IML and the Notice of Travel provision.
“The Government resists [this] straightforward reading of the statutory text, arguing instead that once an offender registers in a jurisdiction, “that jurisdiction necessarily remains ‘involved pursuant to subsection (a),’ because the offender continues to appear on its registry as a current resident.” Brief for United States 24. But §16913(a) lists only three possibilities for an “involved” jurisdiction: “where the offender resides, where the offender is an employee, and where the offender is a student.” Notably absent is “where the offender appears on a registry.” We decline the Government’s invitation to add an extra clause to the text of §16913(a). As we long ago remarked in another context, “[w]hat the government asks is not a construction of a statute, but, in effect, an enlargement of it by the court, so that what was omitted, presumably by inadvertence, may be included within its scope. To supply omissions transcends the judicial function.” Iselin v. United States, 270 U. S. 245, 251 (1926) . Just so here.”
This just in out of Florida. According to this holding, those of us from out of state who left Florida on probation after being sentenced shouldnt have been placed on the registry in the first place?
Accordingly IML would not apply, nor much of SORNA -assuming there’s no separate State requirement to register on the basis of live/work/study.
.. according to this holding “sex offenders” don’t go on the registry in Florida until AFTER they are released from supervision and all sanctions.
This could indeed be huge, if I’m reading this correctly.
Here’s the case – https://floridaactioncommittee.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Florida-v.-James.pdf
I consulted my situation with a Florida attny specializing in SOR matters and he said that I do NOT owe the Feds this 21-day notice because the statute in effect says that the Notice provision under IML doesnt apply to individuals not required under SORNA to register. Since my offense is Tier 1, my SORNA registration obligation ended in 2015 -15 years after my release from sanction. I had thought that my SORNA term has ended back in 2008 with credit for having a clean record, but this lawyer said I didn’t qualify for this credit because I never underwent sex ofender treatment as the provision requires. (The State psych doctor who evaluated me concluded I wasn’t a candidate for this treatment).
However, if you’re still required to register in your home state or another state that requires you to actively maintain your registration info current, then check with them about this requirement.
In my case, since I live in Maryland and my Florida offense is not a covered offense in MD, I’m not required to notify any entity of my international travel plans. Florida, the lawyer said, does NOT have continuing jurisdiction over me and so I shouldn’t try to notify them.
I feel very very fortunate that at least I get this break.
Wondering still if I’ll get the “X” upon my return stateside … And have to go through Secondary screening. Hope not but since I still appear on the NATIONAL registry because Florida won’t remove me, this is a possibility it seems to me.
(I’m currently exploring options to be removed from Florida with this attorney .. he said I should consider taking a psycho sexual evaluation to support a petition for removal. Agh).
I appreciate everyone’s help and support!
Dear Wondering:
I drove Northern Spain, France and the Pyrenees a couple of years ago…I thought of posting the fun little travel video…but probably not my best idea of the day. Let me say instead…N. Spain, S. France, Pyrenees, Fabulous beyond compare, (to me).
If in Barcelona, try to get down to Terragona, the actual ancient capital of Roman Spain, nicer than Barcelona, again to me, only 60 miles to the South. I had low expectations for this trip, (ex wife had a bad break up with someone and asked me to come help her run her restaurant…when done with that headed north) drove along France from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, strangely loved Lourdes where I stopped by accident but then joined the procession of the sick and lame for healing….God knows I could use some healing…lol.
In any case, the ancient kingdoms of Aragon and Castile, just great as was the Atlantic coast.
Your trip will be different than mine, of course, but freely wander to discover whatever if you can…the area will not disappoint…oh, be sure to hit Carcassonne in S. France…Stunning!
Best Wishes, James I
I think that Wondering’s journey to Valencia, Ibiza and Mallorca sound’s just fine. One of my regrets of my time in Spain was never being able to make it south of Zaragoza, and not seeing Valencia, etc. I think Mike G will have a great time also…mostly because he seems to have a good attitude towards all of the pluses and minuses of traveling.
I have travel most everywhere, but especially in Latin America, 100 times in Mexico, trips to Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, 20 times in Brazil, twice in Argentina, etc….and so I reluctantly went to Spain thinking of it being a re-hashed version of where I’ve been south of the US border….and it wasn’t, not at all, it was…for me, magical…maybe because I had such low expectations.
This is not to disparage Latin America, and I deeply miss the generous people and wonderful times I’ve had there…and deeply, deeply resent my ability to Re-visit being curtailed, but it it what it is is. I comply. Sigh….
Still, I had to admit that Spain was not at all like Latin America…if only to be able to stand in a foggy wind in the high mountain pass where the Battle of Roncevaux Pass took place (824 AD)…Where Roland fell in ambushed battle, one of f Charlemagne’s main captains, (see Song of Roland).
Hearing the wolves calling and howling in the distance….shivers down my spine.
Only travel can give you accidental but amazing experiences like this.
Just a note to Wondering…take a simple snorkeling kit with you…easy enough, a mask, snorkel and light water shoes…the water may be good or bad in Ibiza and Mallorca, but you won’t know unless you can get under the surface…try it, its fun.
Best Wishes, James I
Can we go to Rusia?
To St Maarten in the Caribbean? I believe St Maarten is officially Dutch.
Thanks..
Dear Wondering:
I believe that both the Dutch and French Caribbean is open to RSO’s in the same way that Tahiti, French Polynesia, is open to us.
However, a serious caution, I do not know anyone, or any report, that the above is true at the present time. Someone needs test this to be certain. The RTAG Matrix says this advice is good….but I’d like to see something current.
I have my eyes on Bonaire….but no one will know for sure until someone tries these areas of the Caribbean.
https://www.tourismbonaire.com/
I was supposed to leave for Sicily yesterday and would have been in Rome today except for this damned Coronavirus. FWIW, (not much), but this pandemic has me a little freaked out…I have several underlying conditions….so I am more concerned than most maybe. I think I’ll travel again soon, but my life is acceptable as it is now…so, I don’t know. How much risk am I willing to take on? Could I really being traveling to Italy every three months just to get out of this damned United States? All difficult questions.
But I wish you well.
James I
@ M C Thanks – I also saw the article about the proposed ban on SO traveling to Russia but I didn’t find anything on whether the proposal was actually adopted. I’d love to visit St Petersburg next spring provided the COVD situation allows..
Wondering about something else .. recently we had a discussion here of whether someone who’s listed in the state of original charge but not in the home state, and whose federal registration term has elapsed per their tier, was still required to provide the 21-Day Notice of intended travel per SORNA. I contacted a Fla attny who specializes in SOR matters, and he said there’s no federal Notice requirement because my tier term has elapsed. The only question is whether my State might separately require this notice, and the answer in my case is no because my Florida offense is not a covered registry offense in my home state of Maryland.
But now the question that I have is whether I should still expect to go through “secondary” upon arrival back in Baltimore. Keep in my that I’m still listed in Florida, for life unless we win our removal petition which we are making this summer after my 20-year anniversary from the end of court sanctions (probation and fine). And I wonder if on this Florida “revenge listing” basis alone I’d still be flagged to go through secondary, or whether perhaps the secondary screening applies only if you’re still under Federal SORNA required to register..
This would all be moot if we win my petition this summer, but I’ve learned not to get my hopes up on most things in life let alone SOR matters..
Also, as I mentioned I’m hoping to travel to Spain 🇪🇸 next February, and suddenly I’m feeling like flying from Spain to a Greek island since it wouldn’t be too long a flight and the fares are very low. What if I don’t decide on this until after I’m in Spain? And then book the flight to Greece while I’m out in Spain.. And then fly back home to Balt directly from Greece.. wondering if there might be any red flags to consider with this.
My thought on the above scenario of flying to Greece from Spain is that it won’t pose an issue with regard to SORNA because I’m past the Notice requirement, just like in the case of my original trip from BWI to Valencia… but what about the Green Notice to Greece? I believe it’s been mentioned here that Green Notices are triggered for flights originating from the USA..
Thanks as always..
I’m looking info permanent residency in European countries and wonder about implications of IML and 21-day notice. Forget the specifics of long term residency and just assume for argument sake that I now have permanent residency in Germany or similar country. If I live over there permanently, but still have to register in US if I go back, can I freely travel from Germany (my new home) to France, Belgium, and other places or do I have to give 21 day notice back in US? It would seem kind of silly because I would be taking train, bus, or car and wouldn’t be showing passport or going through any border checkpoints? Just wondering what the requirements would be? Thanks