International Travel 2024

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 2023, International Travel 2022, International Travel 2021, International Travel 2020 and International Travel 2019.

In this International Travel 2024 post, the information is identical to the International Travel 2023 post. We added a new post for 2024 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:

  1. List of Schengen Nations (allowing entry to registrants);
  2. Resources (including a CA DOJ Travel Notification Form); and
  3. 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 2018July 2018

2. Resources

Forms

Publications

Older Posts

 

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⭐⭐ Add two Countries to Schengen Agreement!⭐⭐

Two additional countries are being added to the Schengen Agreement list:

Two countries add to Europe’s borderless Schengen Area

Bulgaria 🇧🇬
Romania 🇷🇴

OK. There have been several posts describing police/border patrol questioning/harassment in Spain, but has anyone actually been turned away and not allow to enter? My wife and I will be traveling to Spain, arrive in Schengen in Germany and a domestic flight on to Barcelona. I have a marked passport (in back) and live in a non-SORNA state where we are not required to give a 21-day notice (only 3 days). I have never had any problems anywhere in Europe.

Flew back to try and file for my PR over here(if you know you know, it’s somewhere on the website in the comments)

Anywho, basically couldn’t apply this year due to not updating a couple documents previously and the short amount of time we will be here this trip. (Not enough leave saved up)

But my visa will be ready to collect next week so I’ll be good for another year. Asked about the PR and citizenship stuff while at immigration and they said the police reports would be local as I’m married to a local. If I were on another type of visa it would need to be an FBI check.

Even so, by the law, as long as you weren’t imprisoned more than a year you can still qualify for citizenship.

Sorry if previously mentioned and covered. How about going to points in Latin America from Aruba? Initially book a flight to the island and then from there go by air to say Brazil or Uruguay or Argentina. Then travel within the Continent by train or car or bus or air.. any red flags 🚩, any concerns?

Is Aruba still good for us? I sure hope so.

** I carry an unmarked passport, and don’t have to provide the advance notice of travel (but I’m still on the National Registry). Thanks!

Since the ACSOL meeting earlier had a pretty lively discussion about international travel, I wanted to plug this travel project that me and some others have been slowly rolling out. We don’t really have enough data collected yet to publish much in the way of results, so if you have any international travel experiences from the past year or two to share, please do!

The survey has quite a few questions because the details will help to figure out who may or may not be getting targetted by Angel’s Watch notices. Only the first 4 questions are required. The additional details are optional, but the more info you are able to provide, the better the information will be in the end.

PFR Travel Report

Feel free to send an email to pfrswithoutborders@gmail.com with any questions/recommendations/concerns. Thanks!

Last edited 8 months ago by sma88

Hey all,

One of these days I’ll be getting my new passport with that lovely endorsement on the front page. It sucks, but there’s not anything I can do about it. My question is, if I were to buy a passport cover, is it against the rules to slide the first page along with the cover into the ends, effectively covering the endorsement? It would be easily removable, but I would imagine only people that know what they’re looking for (customs/border agents, etc.) would ever want to look. Thoughts?

Hi all,

I am off supervision for a year and a half and my wife and I had a blessed vacation in Europe last summer, with the marked passport. And looking forward to many more, which leads me to my next question.

I sort of felt “safe” traveling with my wife throughout the 3 weeks because she was always with me at the entry points where my passport was checked, this was of course totally psychological. I am now considering a trip to Italy this summer for a very specific event and my wife is not that thrilled about going. But the thought of going alone makes me feel a bit queasy. All of the normal paranoia about how I will be treated, a single older male with a SO tagged passport traveling, hmm, looks suspicious, etc. comes up in my mind. I am pretty sure a lot of single males on this site in the same situation will respond saying you’re being paranoid, go! I guess I’d like to hear exactly that. But also, if being a single male traveling alone DID in fact cause a problem in a Schengen country, I like to hear that too! Thanks!

Can we now safely assume, after Mike G’s successful extensive international travel recently with no apparent Notices being sent, that after removal Notices aren’t sent out? (He reported that he thinks the challenges entering japan had to do with his self-reporting of his conviction on the flight declarations form and not an actual USA government Notice that was sent …)

Or, perhaps, if they are sent selectively after removal (even before removal?), then it’s based on a severity scale of crimes? Perhaps such a scale would mirror the three SORNA tiers? That would at least be somewhat “logical” in that it represents the government’s assessments of severity…

Hello all,

Has anyone from Minnesota had any experience with international travel notifications? According to my reading of MN law, there are no requirements for travel notifications of any kind, domestic or international. In this case, how do we comply with the 21 day SORNA international travel notice? Would appreciate any advice on how I should proceed. Thanks!

Seriously? What the Hell?! An entire article on the subject…

Can You Travel With a Criminal Record? Here’s What Experts Say

… and not a single mention of Registrants, S.O.s, etc. 😒🙄

Interesting comment today on a thread from someone who claims to have entered the UK after getting off the registry a couple of years ago.

“I should say as an addendum; I have a friend in the UK who works alongside UK Border Patrol. Here are a few things he said:
When your passport is scanned, it shows if you have an Interpol Red Notice (active warrant), are on a terror watch list, or have an Interpol Green notice (which IML in the USA will trigger if you are on the SOR.As a rule, the UK doesn’t care about the criminal records for non-visa tourists.The Five Eyes agreement is only for sharing between intelligence agencies.The UK does not have direct access to the NCIC.”
I am surprised at the part about the UK not having “direct access” to the NCIC. Not sure if that means they have access some other way or what. We’ve seen people not allowed into the UK even when traveling from a 3rd country haven’t we?

I’m not that surprised to see someone allowed to enter with his crime being about 20 years ago and now being off the registry. I think we’ve seen a few reports of that here previously if memory serves. It’s some matrix of severity of crime/time served vs. elapsed time since sentence ended or something probably.

Here’s the reddit thread for anyone interested:

By the way, does anyone have recent passport renewal experience?

I just realized that we probably don’t have enough room left in ours. We have 6 empty visa pages, but we will be visiting 10 countries in the next 3 months. We fly out in 6 weeks. The standard renewal time is currently listed as 6 to 8 weeks, with expedited 2 to 3 weeks.

Anyone know if they are keeping to that schedule?

Thanks!

So I posted recently on Feb. 25th and March 5th with questions in regards to travel to the Maldives from the US, with a connecting flight in Dubia (DXB). We’ll my wife and me made the trip and had zero hiccups!! I am a current registrant in WV. And was required to send 21 day notice. I have a stamped passport (in the front). Just wanted to give the update that I promised!!

I was replying back to @Notorious D.I.K.

But I thought this could use its own post to get others feedback/experience.

I don’t believe Japanese immigration has direct information on your crimes let alone the details. I have read a lot of forums people with multiple felony/drug related crimes marking “No” and getting in (Not saying do it) but I know being on the registry is way different..

The Japanese immigration disqualifying offences are
1. Persons sentenced to imprisonment for more than 1 year (including suspension of a sentence)
2. Those who have been sentenced illegally by drug laws such as narcotics.
3. Those who illegally possess drugs, guns, etc.
4. Those who have been deported from Japan for the first: 5 years
5. Those who have been deported from Japan twice or more: 10 years
6. Denial of Landing: 1 year

I think going to a middle country first then flying to Japan you could declare yes on your criminal record. Bring relevant court documents (Even maybe translated to Japanese) and roll the dice.
Id be optimistic and say you’re good.

Hello. I am finally getting off parole after ten long years this month. Going to Hawaii at the end of May and then a cruise to eastern carribean in August (leave Miami, sail to Nassau, amber cove, grand Turk and sail back to Miami)
has anyone on registry cruised before? Any issues?
do I need to alert or register in Miami? Planning on flying there day before port departure and staying day after port arrival then flying back to California.
has anyone cruised on carnival cruise line? Any issues being a RSO?
their site says one thing then calling them they say another. So I just don’t want to fly all the way to Miami with my girlfriend and family just to get denied or something?
thanks for any advice or knowledge.
also is there anywhere where we can find out where we can and can’t go and procedures to do so flying domestically and internationally?

Hello All,
I have an unmarked passport and was taken off the registry 2 years ago and have a 1204.3 release. I have not notified Homeland security as Janice suggests that I am no longer a registrant.
I am going to a Germany next month and have no one to file a 21 day notice to. Any suggestions to cover my butt?

Hello friends,
I am required to register 10 years in my state(Texas)and I completed 3 years so far. I am relocating to another country(Europe) for the next 7 years. So my question is if I come back after 7 years, do I have to start my registration all over? My registration set to end by 2032. So if I come back by then, am I no longer on the registry? Or since I am out of country during my registration, am I asked to start all over?

Also after the 10 year registration, will it
e automatic de registration or do I have to petition in the court to get it moved?

Hello All, I am reposting this since the replies immediately hijacked the thread.
I have an unmarked passport and was taken off the registry 2 years ago and have a 1203.4 release. I have not notified Homeland security as Janice suggests that I am no longer a registrant.
I am going to a Germany next month and have no one to file a 21 day notice to. Any suggestions to cover my butt?

It seems like the guidelines for getting the SO endorsement removed from my passport are not clear. I am living outside of the US and am not on any state registries or the national registry, but if I return I will still be required to register. I have tried communicating with Angel Watch multiple times but they won’t respond. It seems like simply living outside the US and not being registered does not allow you to get the endorsement removed as it once did. How and when can I get the stamp removed? If I return, I still have to register in my conviction state for several more years, but I can return to a different state sooner and not have to register.

Howdy y’all

how does one get access to the … channel where travel issues are discussed?

As a former [PFR], I have been afraid to travel internationally after being turned away on my way to South Africa, and I’d like to discuss options.

thank you

FYI: Passport Renewal Time

My wife and I needed new passports because our current ones were almost filled with visas and stamps.

We sent our applications for 52-page passports on March 28, requesting expedited processing, and we received them today. Thankfully, they didn’t screw-up and put the evil mark on mine 😊.

I’m pretty sure we will be dead before we can fill these up!

I’m retired and traveled extensively throughout my life. I’ve reported my travel experiences as a PFR here on this web site. I’m trying to determine if the Bahamas is a safe place to travel for registrants. I’ve searched this site as well as others for info. It’s sketchy at best. There has been some reports of registrants being returned. Does anyone have any experience or insight to traveling to the Bahamas

Anyone fly to Europe recently? We’re flying non-stop into Munich from Chicago next month pretty sure we’ll be okay. Then changing to a domestic flight to Spain.

Hey All. I will be traveling out of the US after 10+ years (Italy) with my gf. I wanted to see what experiences people had leaving and entering the US to get idea of what to except at the airports. We will be leaving San Fran to Turkey then Italy and back the same way. Thanks.