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 2022, International Travel 2021, International Travel 2020 and International Travel 2019.
In this International Travel 2023 post, the information is identical to the International Travel 2022 post. We added a new post for 2023 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 activation of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) for such travelers, beginning sometime in 2023 – 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 2022 (2022)
- International Travel 2021 (2021)
- International Travel 2020 (2020)
- International Travel 2019 (2019)
- International Travel after IML (2016)
- International Travel – Mexico (2014)
- International Travel 2013 (2013)
almost one month ago I contacted DHS -Intl Megan’s Law group to ask if I’m still required to have a marked passport and/or provide the 21-day notice. I haven’t heard back. I did attach the signed Identity Certification form as required and also my Sentencing Order with the particulars of my offense..
Been Four weeks almost…yet no reply. Has anyone successfully received a response from DHS? How long did it take to hear back?
Thank you!
What do you mean by a layover? Obviously if you are planning on going through customs staying in London for a day or night that’s a total no-go. Even if you’re only changing to a connecting flight it’s often true that you have to go through customs to get to the other airline for the domestic flight. You’ll have to check this by phone with the airlines but even they may not be sure. You may be kept in a transit area and not have to go through customs when going from one flight to the other in which case you’ll probably be okay but to make life easy just don’t go through London or to London ever!
I’m hoping someone can give me a response since I hate calling and talking to LAPD, I even dread that one phone call u make every year for my annual appointment. I am going to Europe for 4 weeks and I want to know if I can just send in my 21 day notice form, certified mail w/ return receipt, or do I have to make an appointment and drop it off in person. I’d rather spend the money with USPS than go to LAPD one more day than I have to! I am in the valley and register 1 a year in Van Nuys, been doing it 19 years now. Thank you!
Just an FYI:
“Today, CBP has more than 600 officers and agriculture specialists stationed at 15 Preclearance locations in 6 countries: Dublin and Shannon in Ireland; Aruba; Bermuda; Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates; Nassau in the Bahamas; and Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Victoria, and Winnipeg in Canada.”
I went through Customs (Secondary, of course) in Toronto in 2019. It was a little worse than the average Secondary. They insisted that our checked through baggage be pulled off the plane and brought to them to be searched. 2+ hours later, a couple of bags showed up, but they weren’t ours, so they gave up and let us go (I pity the people whose bags they were).
The only slight advantage to going through Customs outside the U.S. is that your flight to the U.S. is now a domestic flight, so you can walk off the plane and right out the door.
Much ado about nothing!
For weeks I’ve been sweating about what I might experience coming back into the United States after having lived in Europe for almost seven years.
I booked back in May and registered with all the pre-flight information, passport, etc.
When I got to JFK I had already downloaded MPC and when the plane landed I submitted the form, followed the correct line to security. Scanned the barcode on the app and showed my passport. No questions whatsoever, just a welcome back.
I was astonished!
I was removed from the New York state registry on July the 31st 2023. I received a letter from the registry indicating “sex offender registration completed”. It was cc’d to the original sentencing court in New York.
I was a L1 offender without a designation for 20 years.
Hi all,
Again, thanks for the feedback about the travel itinerary I will be turning into my NYS Sora office.
Next question, I am doing due diligence and came across the Federal govt’s SMART, the U.S. Dept of Justice’s Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking. Under their SORNA: Information Required for Notice of International Travel page is says the following:
“Title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), requires that registered sex offenders inform registry officials of any intended travel outside of the United States at least 21 days prior to the start of that travel. Pursuant to the National Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration and Notification, information about such intended travel is specifically required to be transmitted to the U.S. Marshals Service.”
OK, got that. I will be doing that for my New York State SORA registry office in Albany, since mine was a New York State crime, not federal.
Is this says I also need to send this to the U.S. Marshall’s Service as well? Or is the NYS SORA responsible for “transmitting” that information.
Bottom line question, aside from the the NYS SORA itinerary I am going to send, am I required to notify ANYONE else?
Thanks!
DR in Yonkers.
I have some unfortunate news to report. There was a discussion on the status of Hong Kong which was started by a vague comment that Janice made on a conference call. I decided to continue with my plans and fly to Hong Kong because it allowed me to be near my girlfriend. I had a direct flight and after arriving and approaching passport control, they sent me to another area where several people were waiting. Over about 7 hours I was taken to various offices and asked many questions, but I spent about 4 hours in their holding area without any of my things, not even my reading glasses.
They asked all the usual questions and I had a good answer to every one of them but it didn’t matter. They wanted to know why I wanted to go and I replied that I got a great deal on a frequent flyer trip specifically to Hong Kong and I decided to make a vacation out of it before continuing on to see my girlfriend. I showed them my outgoing fight info, my hotel, my money. They even wanted to see messages to my girlfriend confirming when and where I was eventually planning to travel to meet her. I showed them everything. I was well dressed (on purpose), respectful, didn’t act agitated at all, but it didn’t matter. Through a series of overlapping questions they learned that I earned my airline miles from a good job that I had that involved travel. They even wanted to know the company name and they looked it up. They eventually denied me and forced me to buy a ticket back with the same airline. An airline representative came and waited until I made the reservation. I asked to buy a ticket out that night to my ultimate destination but they said I had to return on the same airline. I asked the airline representative and he insisted that the airline had no say in this, but instead they were being directed by immigration to take me back. The only good thing was that he said I could buy a ticket for any flight back over the next three months and he would change it to later that night and that saved a lot of money, but still, my ticket was about $1000.
No one at immigration could tell me anything, but after asking multiple times they finally got a supervisor who said he would tell me why I was being refused entry. When he finally arrived he would only say that he was following immigration protocol and he couldn’t verify that this had anything to do with a notice from the USA.
I had two very big suitcases loaded with things for my plan to stay long-term with my girlfriend. They took me to a private area within customs and two women spent at least 30 minutes examining every part of everything I had. They wanted to know what each thing was and they opened everything or individually scanned items that were sealed. At the end they could not recluse my bag so they asked me to do it.
I am just now starting to recover. Two 14 hour direct flights and 7 hours in detention. I can’t sleep sitting up so I didn’t sleep a minute for a few days. When i returned I was sent to secondary (LAX) but they only asked if I was traveling alone and then released me. When the first guy pulled up my info he seemed very confused until I told him that I was denied entry into Hong Kong. They didn’t stamp my passport with a denial which is good. He was looking at my info and said that they send all this stuff to the destination so he wasn’t surprised that I was denied entry. That was at 11pm and I had reserved a rental car for the next morning so I tried to sleep on benches in the airport until then but was unsuccessful.
I mentioned in an earlier post that I was considering using miles to reserve a backup flight a few days after my Hong Kong trip just in case they refused me. I followed through and did this. When I turned in my 21 day notice I told them about both trips, which confused them but they understood my reasoning when I explained. The trip would have been fully refundable. Now I have several days before I leave for Europe on plan B.
This whole experience has been expensive, very frustrating, and quite sad. The country that I ultimately want to go to is not on the OK list, but I was able to enter last year, so I still have hope that I can return and stay for several years or longer. Yes, I have the visa situation planned out and it is good. I’ll reveal this location at another time in the future
I am very discouraged that the one ‘safe’ entry point in Asia may be gone and if plan B doesn’t work they my girlfriend and I may be stuck apart. She has been unable to get to the US and the only option would be to meet in another country that we can both get into.
I have another time sensitive question as I will be scheduling another flight in about 3 days. I am finding that I am limited on which airlines I can use because of my baggage. Flying to Europe or HK was no problem, but so many airlines going to my destination charge $300 or more for a second checked bag. A few of the cheaper option go through Oman or Kuwait. Actually The Kuwait route is the cheapest. Can anyone think of a reason why I shouldn’t consider either of those. I checked and I don’t need a transit visa. Last year I flew through Dubai with no problems. Any thoughts are appreciated
At the very least after 20 years, no further convictions of anything, no longer a PFR, the government should not be allowed to send any info about you to other countries. Complete governmental overreach.
Question -if one flies to Thailand directly from Europe and therefore without providing the advance travel notice to our state registration system, yet is still denied entry, where would they send us back to -the USA, back to Europe, or any country of our choosing?
Some commenters here suggest that the problem could be the 21-day travel notice, which then triggers a Notice to the destination country… yet some have disputed that the advance travel notification is the only trigger for a Notice from “Angel” Watch to be sent to our travel destinations.
I suppose one stands a better chance of entering prohibited countries if one doesn’t have to provide the advance notice of travel….which would be the case for someone not currently required to register, or if still registered then by first flying into an easy-to-get-into country and then from there booking to Asia without providing advance notice of travel to our registry office. That would Seem logical enough. But has this scenario been tested?
The IML itself says that Notices are sent if still required to register somewhere in the USA. If no longer required to register anywhere then you don’t have to provide advance travel notice (nor have a marked passport, for that matter).
To me anyways if you’re no longer required to register and therefore don’t have to provide advance notice of travel, nor carry a marked passport, this scenario would seem to be low risk for getting denied entry on the basis of a government notice being sent to the destination country,
does anyone know if without a marked passport and without having to provide the advance notice one stands a better chance of avoiding green notices and getting into countries other than Europe? Asia in particular?
Does Mexico have access to USA criminal records when they scan the passport upon entry?
…we are really feeling our way in a black box of information and policies. Any informed comments on this topic would be greatly appreciated!
thank you.
On Official Accountability’s latest video, he interviewed somebody who got swarmed by a bunch of US Marshalls before departing on an international flight. They took his electronic equipment and promised to return the stuff after it was sent off to a facility to be analyzed. Now I’m aware that agents often stop registered people before they leave the country, but can they confiscate their stuff too? I can see them doing it to people entering the country, but this guy didn’t even board the plane. If agents can stop and search someone’s belongings in the gate area, what’s stopping them from having that the right to walk around the airport demanding to search at random anyone’s belongings
Interesting statements about INTERPOL from Wikipedia: “An encrypted Internet-based worldwide communications network allows Interpol agents and member countries to contact each other at any time. Known as I-24/7, the network offers constant access to Interpol’s databases.[34] While the National Central Bureaus are the primary access sites to the network, some member countries have expanded it to key areas such as airports and border access points. Member countries can also access each other’s criminal databases via the I-24/7 system.”
This is very likely the system of communications the U.S. uses to notify foreign countries of our intended travel. It seems highly likely, in fact, rather than simply rely upon emails which can go unread or which can fail to be read in a timely manner. Undoubtedly, I-24/7 also tends to alert recipients with a greater sense of urgency than an email could. So, while I think that INTERPOL provides the means by which the U.S. notifies foreign governments, it is not in the form of a “Green Notice” that it does so, it is in the form of these INTERPOL-facilitated messages. “Angel Watch” almost certainly has a node on this I-24/7 Network.
Keep in mind, however, that some countries’ “criminal records databases” are, themselves, made available to some countries by I-24/7, without, apparently, any explicit notice being sent. This is something we should not lose sight of.
Included in that is identifying information e.g. photos, DNA, fingerprints and probably facial or iris scans. Member states can, however, choose with whom that information (about their own citizens) can be shared. Some countries can be individually excluded by other countries as they see fit. Generally speaking (but with some exceptions, e.g. state-sponsored terrorists) each country controls information about their own citizens in choosing to make it available and to whom.
Information from the website visaguide.world:
Here is a list of countries that don’t allow convicted felons to enter:
China, Cuba, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Macau, New Zealand, South Africa, Taiwan, & the United Kingdom
The countries listed below do not ask you to provide your criminal history upfront but still have active laws prohibiting felons from entering the country. This means that while you don’t have to provide evidence of your criminal history, you will be denied entry if your history is discovered.
Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Egypt, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Peru, Singapore, South Korea, Tanzania, Dominican Republic, Philippines, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, & the United Arab Emirates
Note that this website only talked about felonies, not sexual offenses.
We have only been to one country from the first group (Israel) but are hoping to visit others.
We have managed to visit 5 of the countries from the second group but have plans to visit more.
Obviously, any notice from the U.S. regarding us would likely result in denied entry.
Paris is so chill. Both times that I have flown here directly from the US I only spend about 30 seconds at Passport Control. I don’t know if they get the notification but they don’t take any time to contemplate it. They just stamp it and move on
Back in ‘98 I pled “no contest” to a 3rd degree felony sex offense involving a minor and was sentence to 3 years probation (lewd exhibition).
The judge “withheld adjudication” of guilt, not formally finding me “guilty.” Accordingly I have my full civil rights.
question – do you suppose that for purpose of flying internationally they would send notices out for me as a convicted felon? I’m not a *convicted* felon.
I don’t have to register in my home state, though I still appear in Florida’s registry with no updates since ‘05.
I contacted DHS, by the way, and they responded that I don’t need a passport with the marker nor to provide the 21-day notice despite Florida’s listing of me with no updates since ‘05. I provided DHS the original order of probation/sentencing document in my case.
Any thoughts as to what I might expect upon returning from international flights? I’d presume DHS/Customs entered notations in their internal records reflecting my email to them with the attached sentencing document and their determination that I don’t need a marked passport nor to provide the 21-day notice.
The email response I got was signed “Angel Watch.”
hello! Question-might it be a good idea to book last minute as far as Notices? (I’m now off the registry-no marker on my passport, no advance notice).
and sorry if previously covered topic!
Hi all,
Just a quick update on our trip to Europe this fall. I contacted New York State SO office to get the name of the person I should send the travel information to, including a letter the departure, arrival, flight #s, passport #, copy of the passport and copy of the tickets. I had called about a month ago and the person who answered instructed me to do this.
When I emailed today to ask what specific person to mail it to, they responded to forget the letter and copy of my passport, and to instead fill out a National Sex Offender Targeting Center “Notification of International Travel of Sex Offender” Form, which is essentially the U.S. Marshall’s Service. The person at NYS SORA who responded to my email said to fill it out with my name, passport #, travel dates, flight #s, cities and dates we are visiting, scan it and send it back to them, they will send it to the US Marshall’s Service. They said no need to send a letter, copy of flights, or passport. So, that is exactly what I did, and I made sure to get a confirmation email that they received the form. So, I think I’m done.
So, for any NY state residents who plan to travel outside of the country, I would call NYS SORA first to confirm that what I just did was correct. I am not surprised that there’s such a difference in the instructions so far. It’s clear the right hand may not know what the left hand is doing.
Onward…
As a Jewish [Person Forced to Register] from NY. Does anyone know if it is hard to get citizenship in Israel?
Does anyone who if Angel watch still send notices if one is removed from the registry when traveling overseas?
On a YouTube video about travel to the Greek islands the presenters complained about long lines just for passport checks prior to boarding a ferry they took from the greek mainland to a little greek island (“Kastellotizo”).
The couple in the video had gone to other Greek islands such as Mykonos and Naxos but didn’t mention anything about passport checks with regard to ferry trips to those.
Interestingly the young woman also complained that a lot of times her encounters with customs in different countries dont go smoothly because she carries a Brazilian passport. Her passport is often scrutinized and they ask her a lot questions before stamping it and letting her through. That was the case this time too. Her husband, in contrast, always breezes through with his British passport.
I wonder … do passport checks to board sea ferries such as to the Greek islands include a scanning? Is this another layer of scrutiny to possibly be concerned about?
[here’s the vid btw, in case anyone is interested in watching it – https://youtu.be/4Ds3YboEqyc ]
After 20 years on the NYS registry for child porn possession and having my passport revoked 01/2020 I tested my new passport last week with a trip from JFK to YYZ (New York to Toronto).
Upon arrival to Canada, I was asked my purpose of travel, “getting my first passport stamp” was my reply. Canadian Border Agent said: “here you go, welcome to Canada”
I spent 2 hours in Toronto before returning back to the airport for my return flight back to NY. US Customs and Border Protection has a “Pre-Clearance” post in Toronto, and 14 other locations globally. I cleared customs for my first time ever NOT being held for secondary inspection.
Has anyone traveled to Israel? Some websites say that sex offenders are not admitted.
Do yourself and your family a huge favor. Contact the immigration department of the country you wish to visit, give them all details they ask of you, and if they approve your entry, then you will have something in your hand to present to the their front-line customs people upon landing. No need whatsoever to allow anyone to rally the rah-rah groups prior to your arrival. I simply do not see any use in purchasing an entire travel itinerary, only to have someone from here blow it all out of the water before you ever got there.
The records are there. You either explain your side or someone you wouldn’t trust to care for your dog will do it for you.
ACSOL received a report today that a person required to register was recently denied entry in Hong Kong.
Travel to Italy
Has anyone that has to register, traveled to Italy this year? I traveled to the UK in May 2023 and was denied entry. I’m planning to travel to Italy in October 2023. I have contacted the Italian Consulate in Miami and even the US Embassy in Rome and nobody will give me an answer. Any assistance is greatly appreciated.