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 2021, International Travel 2020 and International Travel 2019.
In this International Travel 2022 post, the information is identical to the International Travel 2021 post. We added a new post for 2022 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 2021 (2021)
- International Travel 2020 (2020)
- International Travel 2019 (2019)
- International Travel after IML (2016)
- International Travel – Mexico (2014)
- International Travel (2013)
Happy 2023 Travel wishes to all. ✈️
@ Notorious DIK: Here’s what the
entire[ETIAS] website says:“Criminal activity questions will pertain to the preceding ten years while any terrorism-related offences will cover the last twenty. As things stand this is the information that will be required in relation to criminal convictions:
……Rape…… Human traffickingSex crimes against children“I hope that helps to clarify any confusion. Only looking 10 years back. 👍🏻
Croatia officially a Schengen country.
I have been asking around and around and no one has been able to definitively answer this question, and even the federal agencies tasked with enforcing IML have refused to answer this question when I asked them directly. I’m hoping there are some legal eagles on here that can answer this.
Scenario:
I give my 21-day notice and fly to Switzerland. While in Switzerland, on a Friday, I learn of a concert that will be held that Saturday in Rome, Italy. This is where the text of IML is super important:
National Sex Offender Targeting Center
“In 2011, the SORNA Supplemental Guidelines added a requirement to SORNA’s baseline standards that jurisdictions were required to have their offenders inform them of any intended international travel at least 21 days prior to that travel taking place.”
The word “intended” is, in my opinion, the most important word in this law.
So back to the scenario. I am in Switzerland and on a Friday I learn of a concert that will be held in Rome the next day. I never intended to go to Italy. My intention was to fly to Switzerland and then back to the U.S. Upon learning of this concert in Rome however, I book airfare/train fare (that same Friday) to go to Rome to attend this concert AND I notified my local police department via email and phone call, that same Friday, that I would be going to Rome the next day. So I am not submitting a 21-day notice because I had never intended to travel to Rome. I only decided to travel to Rome at the last minute after learning of the concert.
I asked 3 separate individuals who work in the USMS, NSOTC, and AW whether I would be violating federal law seeing that I reported my intended travel, which was to Switzerland, at least 21 days prior to traveling but I did not notify anyone at least 21 days prior to going to Rome because I never intended to go to Rome, and 21-day notice is only required when there is intended international travel. About a year ago, I was communicating with all 3 people back and forth and they were responding to my other questions but when I asked them this very same question, 2 stopped responding, and the third sent me the boilerplate 21-day notice text from IML that I posed above. When I pressed him on the intended travel question, this third person also stopped responding.
So my question is, in this specific scenario, am I still in violation of federal law if I travel to Rome even if I never had any intention to travel to Rome?
This issue has come up many, many times on this forum, and the answer is always the same. You give only one 21 day notice for the country (or countries) you plan to travel to, and an “outline” of your itinerary while there. Once you arrive in the first given country in your plans, you can do ANYTHING you want. You’re free to change your mind. You don’t have to do a single thing you stated on your initial itinerary. You can stay in a different city, purchase another airline ticket, go to a different country, stay at a different hotel–you can do what you want. As far as IML notification purposes, they are done with you. They were done with you as soon as you landed in the first country in your plans. So please don’t try and contact them and update your itinerary. As long as you made ALL of your arrangements for Italy after landing in Switzerland, you should be fine. If you had made any of those arrangements before leaving the US, and you didn’t report your plans to go to Italy, then you may get in trouble. So that’s basically it. Anyone is free dispute what I said, but I’m certain I’m right because for many years, travelling registrants on this forum have been doing the exact same thing I said without facing any problems with the feds. (As a side note, if you’re from NY or WI, you have to continue updating you plans and registering with your state’s while you’re abroad)
@ Invictus: Let’s make this very simple: when I travel to Europe, I submitted 21-day Advance Travel Notification indicating the country I’m going to and the cities/villages I intend to visit. But, very importantly, at the bottom of the form, I always add that I might also visit Spain, Italy, Germany, etc, etc. I list, in writing, every single country that I might possibly have a whim to visit. By doing so, I am fully compliant: I have provided notification – in advance – that I might visit these countries. Seriously, it’s not complicated. 🤷🏻♂️
Does anyone know about the laws and regulations about actually MOVING to another country? I am thinking that in the next 3-5 years (we’ve have had enough of the insanity in the U.S. and it’s only going to get worse), I will want to move to some country in Europe to fully retire with my wife and perhaps my kids as well. I am thinking of Belgium, Netherlands, countries that are on this Schengen list.
That said, I would assume I would need to apply directly to the destination country, via their consulate, well in advance of our intentions to move permanently, show that we have the financial means to support ourselves, etc.
And assuming that the country would respond positively, here comes my question:
Will I have any difficulty leaving the country in terms of the registry? I will be on the registry for the next 10 years, but will possibly move before then. Can the U.S. forbid me to permanently leave the U.S. because I am on the registry?
And is THIS the only place to go for good information about our rights and restrictions because we are on the registry? Is there a list of good, reliable resources of information about the spectrum of issues?
I’m returning to the states via JFK and then changing planes for Chicago. Do I do the customs/secondary in New York or when I land at O’Hare?
Do you have to give a 21-day notice if you are not on parole or probation and your crime was not against a child? If you do have to give notice, who do you notify? I’m in California
I have the notorious sentence on the back of my passport. Will the government revoke my passport, requiring me to apply for a new passport with the statement on the front page. Has anyone had this happened?
Has anyone traveled to Dubai recently? I’m currently living overseas and interested in a short trip.