This post is intended as a place for discussions about International Travel ONLY. We added a new post for this year in order to keep the discussion manageable.
For more information and previous discussions on the topic, please see the pages in the International Travel menu named International Travel [year number]
Click here for the latest International Travel Information and Resources
Scroll down this page to make a comment in the form
Asking again about any effects of the recent immigration crackdown on registered people…
With the increased scrutiny being given to all sorts of non-citizens crossing the borders into the US, has anyone on the registry noticed longer-than-usual wait times for processing in secondary?
It usually takes me 15-20 minutes for them to stare at their computer screen and then return my passport. Has this gotten worse recently?
I hope this article is helpful to my fellow international travelers.
It provides guidance on how to protect your electronics at US borders (think: “secondary” 😮💨):
What are your rights if border authorities ask for your phone?:NPR
To add to the NPR and HuffPo articles of late that have been submitted on the topic of phone searches upon returning to the USA:
What To Do If Border Police Ask To Search Your Phone (Reason.com 4 April 2025) Know how much the law does—and doesn’t—protect your privacy rights.
Pretty detailed article on the topic for the traveler and generally accepted every day whereabouts.
How much detail does everyone give when supplying a travel itinerary with the required 21 days notice? Do you just supply the departure and return dates with flights? Do you supply details on hotels where you will be staying?
This is Europe specifically but could it come to the USA or impact American travelers overseas?
ICAO Launches Digital Travel Pass to Replace Boarding Cards and Check-ins (ID Tech Wire,14 Apr 2025)
You can read more online through other sources as cited at the bottom.
What’s the data/info we have for traveling to Vietnam and China? Have family I would like to visit. I’m from CA. Here’s my siutation:
Haven’t gotten a passport yet. Recently started a new job and I passed the extensive background with flying colors. Any info is greatly appreciated.
Hello there guys. Just got back from Mexico.. so just quick run down, the officer here where I live didn’t know what to do with the 21 day notice so I had to explain to him to get down of it… Went into Mexico via car it was a quick get in, no questions asked from anyone, so that a very big plus… stayed with my family and was there from 4/10-4/15.. on the way back they customs checked our passports and I’m assuming because of me they sent us to secondary, told us to get off the car and leave our stuff there. so we got off, they checked inside the car, under and I believe inside one bag.. after like 10 minutes of them walking around they told us we were good to go… so yeah that was my experience.. hopefully its as smooth as this one next time I go…
The current administration has not empowered DHS, ICE, or CBP any more for the searching of a US citizen’s luggage, phone, etc on their return from overseas travel, but the high court has enabled that act for those who need to use it based upon their rulings prior to the current administration…by 100 years (long before the registry concept was instituted in CA and spread like a noxious weed nationally). Since then, the court has extended the act to what society has at their disposal to do nefarious things with regardless of who the person/people are.
There are reasons why people are pulled aside for further inspection regardless of who they are and where they are. Yes, we see what appears to be profiling. It is not PFR centric though, but we read about them more because the forum here invites them to share their experiences where they are impacted by this act. I’d opine that even if there was no registry, the non-PFR could/would still be subjected more often to inspections upon return regardless because of the conviction’s nature (since convictions can be seen so easily now (couple keystrokes/mouse clicks) and have been for a long time, e.g., wants and warrants searches by LE).
I’ve been pulled aside for further inspection based on the timing of my airline ticket being purchased. I remember years ago going across the 49th Parallel border with Canada where extra questioning took place by the border personnel (and even the occasional car search happened to others who did not look shady to begin with). I’m not condoning this extra action either against PFRs or the current administration’s actions with searches (to which they are charged with keeping the country safe using methods they think will work and pass judicial muster), but to incorrectly label an administration about an action that is has been happening for 100 years is not proper either (regardless of one’s opinion about them). It is an emotional reaction like the reaction those who want to crucify PFRs have (Holy Week reference for you), whether elected or appointed to office or just live down the street as a regular citizen.
As long as the high court opines this way, it will remain this way. Take it up with the elected officials who can make a change about it, but don’t expect them to change it (political suicide). In the mean time, read the common sense legal ways around it others have shared here.
For your reading leisure and educational pleasure, the doc below will give a primer on the topic and its going on for 100 years in this country (and longer if you read the preceding 1918 law analysis): The Border Search Exception to the Fourth Amendment (Brown Undergraduate Law Review, 6 May 2024)
Peace.
I traveled to Jordan and was denied entry there. I’m not on parole. My passport has the identifier.
Curious about everyone’s travel history. Has anyone here ever experience NOT getting sent to secondary when coming back into the States from abroad?
Another article on the phone search issue of late…
How to Protect Yourself From Phone Searches at the US Border (Wired, 21 Apr 2025)
Customs and Border Protection has broad authority to search travelers’ devices when they cross into the United States. Here’s what you can do to protect your digital life while at the US border.
International Travel Advice from Real Experience (For Anyone with Legal Baggage)
1. Where Not to Fly Through or To
2. Smarter Entry Strategies
3. Documentation Is Key
4. Digital & Privacy Precautions
5. Coming Back to the U.S.
6. Passport Tips
7. Final Thoughts Don’t let bureaucratic BS or fear keep you grounded. There’s a whole world out there—195 countries—many of which welcome respectful, responsible travelers regardless of past mistakes. Stay curious, stay informed, and keep moving forward. ✈️🌍
Dear all,
I have a bit of a conundrum. This is a multi-layered question:
I have an unmarked passport have never traveled on it. I have the ability to de-register when I move abroad. Which therefore, would render me not needing the marker. I am relocating abroad. Not travel for a time period. Full on relocation. Now my issue is two fold and could use some advice.
TYIA.
I have been following a couple of international travel forums. I presented a question and got some interesting feedback.
So many countries disallow retirement or residency if a felony record is present.( I didn’t include this part in my posts)
But?…… I offered this scenario.
Find other residents that would “swap” countries for a period in order to forego extended stay paperwork on Visas and then just return after a period. Essentially living in one or two countries for 3 – 6 months at a time. Basically a time share style of living. You swap places but still pay the rent.
Any thoughts about this?
I happen to already have a residence in Ubon,Thailand and have found an interested party in Ho Chi Min , Vietnam. Allowing me to travel relatively short distances and just leave clothes in each location. I can also still work (online business) and keep the same schedule.
Just arrived BBK Bangkok. Filled out the new digital arrived card online, it was approved in seconds. Entering customs the officer did not even ask to see. Entry no problem again
Another warning about opting out of the TSA facial scanning at airports regardless of travel destinations domestic or overseas: Yes, You Can Opt Out of TSA Facial Recognition—Here’s Why Experts Say You Should (Travel & Leisure via Yahoo 5 May 2025)
Sup everyone, just giving another update. Currently drinking a Coke with ice in Paris as my wife gets ready for our site seeing adventure! France let me in within 0.6 seconds no questions asked. PFR, Marked passport.
Here is a reverse example of a denied entry from the show Border Security, but from Canada into the USA:
Gent had two arrests and charges in 1975 & ’76, tried to drive across into MI to snowbird for two months in AZ. Was denied access based upon these two even though they’re 50 years ago when he was a dumb kid (his words). When CBP denied him access, they gave him paperwork to appeal it, if he chose, upon further review of the criminal issues. Don’t know if Canada would do that if someone tried to enter, but goes to show denial works both ways at the border for convictions…with no notifications from the govt.
This one will be worth monitoring for its potential impact on our ability to cross into Mx or Canada. CPB is in the early stages of developing a system to photograph everyone leaving the USA by car or foot and comparing faces with photographs on travel documentation. The stated goal is to track self-deportees but we can imagine that it can also be used to identify PFR – potentially -and create hurdles. It all seems to be in the early stages of planning and development, and it sounds like it could be a while before it’s operational.
Here’s a related article-
US Customs and Border Protection Plans to Photograph Everyone Exiting the US by Car
For context, I am a former PFR and was traveling on an unmarked passport.
I recently returned from a work event in Juarez, Mexico. Upon crossing back into El Paso to catch my flight home, I was sent to secondary inspection.
During the inspection, I was escorted into an office where I was handcuffed to a chair while the officers conducted their process. I was not informed that I was under arrest or being formally detained. I was told it was for my safety.
Given that I was not being charged or arrested, I am trying to understand the rationale and legality behind being handcuffed. Is this a standard procedure? Is it legal to restrain someone in this manner without a formal detention?
Also, what recourse or next steps do I have if I believe my rights were violated?
Hi all,
My wife and I are traveling next week to Spain and France for a 3-week vacation to visit my daughter and her husband.
For one of Airbnb’s in Spain that my son-in-law booked for us, where all four of us will be staying together, my wife, who is a member of Airbnb (I am not a member), received a notice from from what looks like the host, but it’s hard to tell, the host’s first name is listed, but not her last.
The notice is saying to my son-in-law that – to ensure check in – he must fill out a form, thru a link, that asks for passport ID #, and other “details”. The email came to my wife even thought it starts with his name as the booker. It also says for him to “share this link” with all guests “as required by Spanish Law”. When he booked the apt, he put all of our names in, and since my wife is an Airbnb member, I think the notice automatically came to her.
When I opened the form it asks for basics, name, address, phone#, Passport #, and a space that asks for “Pictures required by the accommodation” and a link to upload a photo. And then a space to accept terms and an electronic signature.
Has anyone run into this before? We think that the owner is not an individual and some larger entity that runs this as a business, but we aren’t sure.
Main question: Since it says my son-in-law must share the form with all four of us, should I fill this form out? Including putting in my passport # and photo. Or should I just ignore this, and only my wife will fill this form out? Worse comes to worse, I’ll go stay in hotel for that one night, if they decline me staying in that place.
Sorry for the long-winded email.
DR in Yonkers
Successfully travelled to the UK!
Three week trip. Flight from Seattle to Frankfurt Germany. Entry to Germany uneventful. We travelled to Belgium by car and decided to try and go visit my niece north of London. I downloaded the UK visa app and filled out the information and paid $20 for the application. Truthful about criminal conviction. They said it may take two days or longer to get results. 15 minutes later I got an email that I was approved!!! The approval gets electronically attached to Passport info so nothing else to do or say when entering the border. We took the Eurostar under the English Channel from Brussels. In the train Station you exit Belgium by showing passport to Belgian police. Then you walk about fifty feet to UK border control. Show and scan passport and told “Welcome to the UK”. I was beyond pleased. Best way to spend twenty bucks. We returned to Brussels by air from Manchester. No problem getting back into Schengen world.
As part of the Visa application it showed an edited summary of the app. Under criminal it stated no criminal info. I am not on the registry and felony with a minor conviction was from 1980s. No marked passport. Download the app and try it yourself if you have any intention of hitting the UK. The visa lasts three years or gets cancelled if passport expires sooner.
Returned non-stop from Frankfurt to San Francisco. Upon entry escorted to secondary. Took five minutes without any questions or enhanced baggage screening like last time. All I have to say is Halle-frickin-llujah!
Just a heads up. I just listened to a podcast and the guest was a satirist that had done some shows in Canada. She said that on her return she was asked the nature of her trip. When she told the ICE agents they asked if she had done any political humor about Trump that would be construed as negative.
It has progressed to this quickly. What I’m getting at is they can search your devices anyway. But what if they search social media history on the device and find a negative comment about Der führer on a saved video. Or a “like”on an anti Trump tweet. Who knows what the consequences could be.
I know that we PFRs as a whole have learned our lessons and wouldn’t have CSAM or any other inappropriate material on devices. But that is no longer our only worry. Be sure to remove apps that might be detrimental to you before returning. Or at least wipe your search / view history. Be careful. Big brother Gestapo is watching more than ever.
Hi all, I have searched both this 2025 and the 2024 threads and have not been able to find a clear answer so here goes.
As of October 2024, I am no longer required to register and the CA DOJ sent me a letter confirming this as fact. I was required to register for 10 years, and did not have a stamp on my passport. I have traveled extensively to Europe in the last few years with little issue. I am hoping to fly to Mexico next week for a 4-day vacation and I’ll be flying directly into Mexico via LAX.
Has any person that is NOT required to register anymore had any success flying into Mexico recently?
Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Getting turned away would suck, but I’m also worried about having to sit in holding for several days until a flight is available for me to be sent back on.
Curious. Anyone have experiences with cruises from a US port into Mexico? Would you not be allowed to travel or just can’t get off at a port? Anyone with experience?