This post is intended as a place for discussions about International Travel ONLY.
For more information and previous discussions on the topic, please see International Travel 2020 and International Travel 2019.
In this International Travel 2021 post, the information is identical to the International Travel 2020 post. We added a new post for 2021 in order to keep the discussion manageable. Please help us by sticking to the topic of International Travel only.
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From 2020: 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 sometime 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 2020 (2020)
- International Travel 2019 (2019)
- International Travel after IML (2016)
- International Travel – Mexico (2014)
- International Travel (2013)
If an RSO is living overseas for years and travelling between schengen and non schengen and their passport nears expiration, can they renew at a US Embassy without returning to the states ? Thanks.
Just wanted to inform that my husband and I got back from a short trip to St. Martin and he gave his notice and had no issues. It was a wonderful trip- beautiful island and friendly people.
He got pulled into secondary upon return but the officers were nice and expeditious. That was in Dulles.
I was convicted state of one misdemeanor count of cp and am about to get off the registry. I should be clear of sorna requirements as well due to a clean record. I know I can get an unmarked passport once off my question is, does anyone know if warnings are still sent out even though I don’t have to give 21 days notice? And will I still get secondary whenever I come back to the US?
Put this in General, but likely belongs here.
Quote of the day describing IML…”…an irrational and costly system holding U.S. citizens prisoners in their own country.”
Lee, G. (2021), Prisoners in their own country: A cultural criminological study of International Megan’s Law and its impacts on U.S. registrant mobility (Masters thesis, Utrecht University, Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance)
ETIAS European Travel Information (Schengen Countries):
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/global-hr/pages/europe-etias-electronic-authorization.aspx
Are there any RSO’s that are travelling on non-US passports? What has your experience been?
Hello … I am about to secure a Canadian lawyer to complete the Application for criminal rehabilitation to enter Canada. Before I do, has anyone on the registry for LIFE been SUCCESSFUL in completing the application and has entered Canada?
Would an RSO traveling on an EU-country passport have an issue going to London? Do they take your fingerprints upon entry? I just want to try and get some new clients at an industry-related conference over there. Would it be easier to apply for a work-visa just to go for a week? Would the UK even entertain letting me in? How about coming in from Ireland?
⭐ No problem entering France with IML-marked U.S. passport.⭐
🇨🇵 I just visited Paris-CDG airport last week. No problems at all. The customs-border officer glanced at the notification page, shrugged, stamped my passport and said, in English, “Have a good visit!” 😁
My passport was revoked just before COVID started. HAS ANYONE APPEALED A REVOCATION? I plan to apply for a passport soon. When I do, I plan to appeal, including in my application convincing psychological evaluations, documents, testimonials, the fact that I am 75 years old with a hands off crime that happened in 2006 without any crimes since then… along with other facts that will show I am not a threat. Since I have never read on these pages that a person has made an appeal, I thought … why not try!!! Again… has anyone appealed their revocation?
Hello,
Does anyone have any info for traveling to Hungary or any other European countries. Have there been any complications for SO. I’d be looking to travel mid Oct 2021
Kyle
Here’s a must see interview by Registry Matters with Steven Whitsett.
Recent travel report for Austria: all good. I am fully vaccinated, have been for about 6 months now. Non-contact, <10yr old felony offense involving a minor, non-CP, no incarceration. I did have the 21-day notice. Spent a week in Vienna and Graz, no questions on entry. Submitting an RTAG report too.
UKRAINE is 100% OPEN for travel.
I bought my tickets, told the Pennsylvania State Police I was leaving and going to Ukraine.
They asked where but because I was convicted prior to 2012, I said none of your fucking business (literally).
Got on the plane at JFK, there are NO passport checks from JFK other than to make sure the passport is VALID. They scan it under a key reader and match you to your face.
I spent almost 20 minutes at the metal detector talking to the kid that ran it.
The airport and ICE have NO IDEA who is leaving the United States, they simply check the bar code to make sure the passport is 100% real.
I know this because I traveled WITHOUT a stamp on page 27 in my passport…
The US State Department screwed up.
When I landed in Ukraine, I got off the plane and walked right through the airport.
There was NO passport check, no police, no security guards.
Time from getting off plane to outside airport?
About 5 minutes.
Once in Ukraine.
My passport didn’t even get an arrival stamp, only an exit stamp when I left 5 MONTHS (yes 5 months) later.
No one cared.
Ukraine, Kyiv is AMAZING!
I rented an apartment in downtown Kyiv for $275 USD a month and it was considered a luxury apartment.
Okay, I’ll apologize in advance if this has already been discussed, but if it was, I missed it.
After several cancelled and postponed trips due to Covid-19, it looks like we are finally going to be able to travel next month. So I downloaded the CA-DOJ 21-day notice form from the link at the top of this page, and typed it up very nicely, signed it, and then drove to my registration location to turn it in.
They said, “We can’t take this form – this is the old form.” So they gave me a new form to fill out (by hand, of course).
This form is from the US Marshals Service (or whatever their official name is), and it is quite a different form from the one linked above that we have been using in California.
There is very little travel information requested. They ask where you are leaving from, date you are leaving, how you are traveling (air, ship, car, etc), what country you are going to, where you are returning to, and the date you are returning. There are no flight numbers requested, no addresses, no cities. I think it does ask for a contact number while you are gone, so I just put my cell phone number.
The IRRITATING part is that you must list all the sexual related crimes you have been convicted of, dates of conviction, jurisdiction of the offenses, AND list the ages and sex of all your victims, and what your relationship is to each victim.
For me, this was traumatizing, it was 27 years ago, and I don’t know if I got the dates right from memory. I’m half expecting a call from my registering agency telling me my form has been rejected by the US Marshals Service due to inadequate or incomplete information, and that I am therefore not allowed to travel.
Okay, I know I am being pessimistic again, but they wouldn’t even give me a copy of my filled out form (which doesn’t even require a signature), so I have nothing to take with me to prove that I gave notice. I guess I will just take my filled out copy of the form they wouldn’t take so they can see that an effort was made.
Just arrived back at LAX airport today after a vacation in France.
I was sent to secondary and CPB processed five foreign nationals while they had me sit and wait for no reason at all. I was still left waiting for another 10 minutes after everyone else had been processed. Then they searched my bags and I was finally told I could leave after an entirely pointless 1 hour delay. So tomorrow I will be filing a complaint. I’m tired of this bullshit harassment! 😡
My ten year registration requirement for a gross misdemeanor against a minor in Washington State expired July 25th, 2021, but it took two to three weeks for it to work its way through the state patrol and be officially removed. After checking a few times, and paying the $11 for each background check, it finally disappeared. I then applied for a US passport September 23, 2021 and received the Next Generation Passport today in the mail (due to expediting). It took less than four weeks.
When the passport arrived, I immediately turned to the back page, which there are only 26 pages in the new passport (but 19 blank pages for visas/stamps), and found no designation to my great surprise and pleasure. Just to make sure, I read through every word on every page to ensure there was not something I missed. Of course they likely have the information embedded in a chip somewhere, so I may not be home free.
The passport is needed as part of my application for admissibility into Canada, which I am currently working on. Now I need the FBI and UT state background checks and I am ready to submit. My attorney told me it could take two years to get a decision from Canadian immigration, but if granted, it removes the criminal inadmissibility and takes away the discretion at the border for the prior past conviction.
Hello,
As a PFR I’m to enter into the republic of Turkey for a few days to meet up with fiancée and daughter. Has anyone had any negative experience with that or been turned down cuz of background from entering Turkey? They do require an electronic visa which already applied and approved for that but I’m just curious once I get there at custom check if there’d be a different outcome?
Thank you for the reply I received concerning entering Turkey. I apologize I don’t remember who contacted me but appreciate their response. Knowing you guys didn’t have any trouble entering Turkey. Before you went on the trip did you guys attempt to contact customs about your entrance into their country? I already applied for the e visa and have the approval document for that, so that should be enough outside of the notification process and COVID requirements. Should I attempt to contact customs and ask them too? Did you guys do the same thing? A part of me thinks that I don’t want to give them a reason to deny my entry if I communicate to customs in Turkey ahead of my trip just to ask them about how they would respond. My passport does not have any physical writing on it that indicates my offense. Just was curious if you guys had any advice or experience with that
Thank you!
I have a passport without the stamp. I am aware that my passport should have the stamp but the way I see it is, I was not asked if I was a sex offender on the application so do not expect me to offer the information. I plan on moving to Frankfurt in Feb. First stop is Libson and then to Madrid all by plan. I hear Columbia is turning SOs away due to the notification system but what if I entered from Germany? Would Columbia put me on a plane and send me to America if I am coming from Germany? Also, has anyone be able to enter Columbia without the stamp?
Guy, I am trying to start a group on Whatsapp to document my travels internationally.. I need others who are interested to join as well!! Let me know if interested ASAP! I leave for Portugal in Feb.
Just as an FYI, my wife and I flew to Athens, Greece, with a stopover in Amsterdam, and had no issues. I do have the marked passport, and did give 21 day notice with the stupid new US marshal’s travel form.
We have been in Greece for about a week. We expect to be in Greece for another 10 days, and then spend a week in northern Spain.
I will update if we have any issues at all.
Hello my good registrants and ONLY my good registrants (because unfortunately there are very few who are counterproductive to our goal). I am planning on traveling all across Europe starting in February and I do NOT plan on returning to the US unless for very important reasons. I am trying to start a WhatsApp group so that I can answer questions about international travel and provide assistance on what/where NOT to do/go internationally. As you all know, there are way too many grey areas with the registry requirements about what registrants can and cannot do or go. The goal of my group is to answer most of those questions by actually going through the process. I will be recording every encounter via voice or video just about every step of the way so that you all can hear what was said and which questions are answered by law enforcement. Are you interested in participating? Please comment and let’s talk about how we can eliminate all these grey areas with the registry so we can live a productive life. Again, the group will be a WhatsApp group so that I can communicate more frequently as I travel internationally starting in February!!
For Texas residents
If I am reading correct, I could send email to the registration that I will be traveling within 21 days and see what they will say and if they require any information from me.
Does that mean I could avoid giving my passport information?
If so, then I have better chance not getting those green notices or having my passport flagged If they dont upload that information on local registry and the national registry.
Here is the source – https://smart.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh231/files/media/document/texas.pdf
I am due for passport renewal and wont mention my conviction. If I get a revocation letter for my travels then I will follow the process. Otherwise I will enjoy as much freedom I can get before I get flagged down.
Does ANYONE else have any stories about being pulled off of a flight for NOT having the identifier in your passport? I am documenting answers so please be honest and give details..