In recent months we’ve seen an increase in members reporting difficulty traveling internationally. We’re also seeing countries that formerly admitted persons required to register, now turning them away. Just last month a member was denied entry into Greece, a country that was previously not off limits and a member of the European Union. It’s raising some concern over what will become over travel to the other 26 member countries of the EU.
We are also receiving information that the United States is taking a more active roll in blocking international travel by persons required to register. For example; US Department of Homeland Security Agents have pulled people off of airplanes in Florida before even departing, stating they were not able to enter the international destination. Also, the United States has opened 80 Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) Offices in 53 countries internationally. HSI agents have been waiting for persons required to register when they land in the destination country and turning them right around before they even have a chance to speak with the receiving country’s immigration officer.
While the government denies they play any role in determining whether someone can enter a foreign country or restricting international travel. Their actions contradict that assertion. They also claim that the notices are merely information and are not intended to block someone’s entry, but in this training video, they acknowledge that the SMART Office has compiled a list of countries that persons required to register cannot go to (“However, what we know is that many countries have elected to not allow offenders to come into the country. And so with this notification that’s done in advance, then the country at the time that the offender were to come to the country can make that decision. But we also know that there are, again, as I said, some countries that are not accepting offenders. And we have a list of those.”).
FAC is calling on the national advocacy groups and their state affiliates to join forces with us in fighting back against IML.
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
I am ROS in NJ and planning to go to Greece or Spain and Portugal for 10days. I don’t have mark on my passport, does this country allow RSO to visit? Do this country has any restrictions or I should be aware of something. Please advise.
Thank you.
Tony I went to Greece before my passport was flagged and got in fine
Tony…i applied and recieved a NEW PASSPORT in 2018 after conviction & probation ended NO MARK. then i went to Greece in 18 & 19 no problem..BUT when i flew there in 2021, i was REFUSED entry, held in a Greek detention center & told i was required to leave the same way i came, same airline etc. after almost 12 hours in detention i was allowed to book a flight on ANOTHER flight, (spending $2500) to get back to USA. IF I did not have the money to book flight, i would’ve been Held In that PRISON for almost a week ! not great conditions sir….i would NOT risk it, i would CALL the GREEK POLICE AT AIRPORT & FIND OUT IF your passport is flagged or if your name is on a list. Avoid embarrassment, humiliation, detention, poor conditions & potential rude & harrasing treatment from Greek police..yes, i was screamed at by a few of the officers.
most were nice, but when 2 of them found out I was leaving in another flight, they were pissed. Best wishes.
You appear to have newer info then I have but NEVER fly direct. No country likes to get the USA notice. My experience is book a trip to a entry point in Europe that never has issues. I prefer Italy. When god whispers in your ear to see other places book a flight to Greece or other places you are worried about. Many places like Spain will look how old the charge was and if on a minor. The bottom line is I have learned that you cannot get consistent accepting or denying and try to count on it so the best thing is to take yourself out of the equation and not play the game. You are legally allowed to travel and change your mind later do not make plans before you go to any place that you think you might get rejected simply go someplace that you know for sure you can get into and make your travel plans at that time. Yes, it may or may not cost you a little bit more money but you will save the headache. You will save being banned in another countries computer, and based on my experience, you will be a much happier person. The chances of Greece denying you without any kind of US notice is minimal if any.
I would add it’s better to be returned to a local country you have a entry stamp for make sure it’s not transit. This is better then getting sent back to the USA. I will say anytime. This has happened to me and I was sent back. I never paid for an airline ticket. I was always put on the next available flight and I was told by an international convention the airlines are responsible to transport you, I can vouch for this with personal experience, try land and Sea crossings also Sorry, I cannot provide more specific information but there are a lot of of us that are logically dealing with us and surviving. I know of at least two groups I’m affiliated with.
Has anyone with a marked passport been let into the Dominican Republic or turkey?
It’s time to fight the registry with force and power. If you are willing to give up everything and move and participate in the fight in a location where there is real chance at succeeding with our numbers alone, reply to my post.
Are we all going to move into Congressman Chris Smith*’s district in New Jersey and let him know why we are there?? That would actually be pretty awesome!! 🤗👏🏻😂
(FYI, *he is the POS who authored IML.)
there’s too many comments on here for me to expect anyone to read this, but I feel my story is important. I recently talked traveled to Thailand to visit my girlfriend. I registered my intent of international travel here and of course Megan’s law notified the country upon receipt. however, I had been in contact with Thailand and had received confirmation verbally from agents at immigration that as I was not blacklisted in that country, my offense would not be a barrier to my entry. transiting through Singapore as my final stop, I was barred from further travel. they said that Thailand had denied my entry. this was not true, but Singapore had received notification from Megan’s law of my offense history. My girlfriend went to the immigration office in person, and got further confirmation that I was not denied entry. Singapore continued this charade until their contact in Thailand was able to process a denial and as a direct result of Megan’s law international notification procedures, I am now blacklisted from Thailand. I have been searching for resources on how to get a visa, thereby granting written permission for entry to a country, so that I may travel without wasting thousands of dollars and multiple days in the air. The only talk I see is about traveling two countries that allow sex offenders without a visa, but as you can see, that is not sufficient anymore.
If you read this and other forums you would know any notification would have you banned. You had a shot to go if you left the country first and then decided to go see your GF. I would have suggested Hong Kong and or Europe as you destination and once you had been out of the country and then decided what place and when to meet your GF you would have been compliant. A much greater chance you would not be blacklisted.
Arrogant reply. Discussion of how to circumvent notification repercussions (as you are suggesting) is extremely limited, and one risks their travel itenerary being flagged and a felony arrest awaiting their return.
If transiting through
Moving along, if anyone has relevant experience to share with the community, please do so and disregard those who will tell you “you should have known better”
Does hong king allow rso to visit the country?
Has anyone with a tier 1 offense or unbranded passport had any success entering South America?
This is a question regarding dual citizenship. I have read federal law that states that U.S. citizens who hold U.S. passports MUST use those U.S. passports to exit the U.S. and return to the U.S. The State Department writes on its website that it is NOT illegal to use a U.S. passport to exit the U.S. but then use a foreign passport to enter the destination country, so long as the U.S. passport is used again to reenter the U.S. So one could use his U.S. passport to board his flight at a U.S. airport but when he lands in, let’s say Italy, he can present his Italian passport at customs at the Italian airport. The State Department says this is perfectly fine.
My question is, with me complying with all requirements and giving the 21-day notice, because I am an S/O, can I get in trouble for switching passports? Does the U.S. receive a notification that I landed and that my U.S. passport was scanned at Rome’s airport?
If that is the case, I’m wondering what would happen when the U.S. receives a notification that my passport was scanned as I left the U.S. but was never scanned for landing in Italy. Then all of a sudden, I show back up in the U.S. and scan my U.S. passport at the U.S. airport when I return.
Can I be arrested? Is there anything that specifically bars S/Os from switching passports given that the State Department says that it’s ok?
What would happen when I give my 21-day notice and the U.S. notifies Rome that I am coming and I use my Italian passport in Rome’s airport upon arrival? Will the U.S. start an investigation/manhunt because the computer shows me never arriving in Italy?
I would have to check again however from what I remember at least in Floridah we must report ANY passports we hold and they record the number. Its also on ALL your travel notices. So I can see how this still could be a issue. I thought the names had been checked based on some old info but have had friends travel under a new passport and not have a issue to only report that new number later and no more entry. Its a ever evolving game of cat and mouse
Thanks for your reply. Please educate me.
What travel notices are you referring to?
In my state (will remain unnamed), all I do is email the s/o registry guy at my local police station and give him the required info. Basically, my flight itinerary. That’s it.
Who do you have to report your foreign passport numbers to? Is that federal law or just Florida law?
It’s Federal Law. I would just go ahead and share that info with that guy you are talking about. Also, if you have two passports ,let us designate A and B. If you want to enter another country with the B passport, then you buy tickets with that. To leave A country you have to use A’s passport. Pretty much what ever passport you use to enter, that is the passport you should use to exit. You cannot use A passport then B to leave. It has to always be AA or BB.
There is no federal law requiring the giving of information. Federal law imposes obligatory on STATES (not offenders) in order for them to obtain their federal grants for law enforcement funding. States COULD choose to ignore those requirements but they would lose certain federal funding. Your STATE of residence (also work and school) dictates the rules.
We have to respectfully disagree, Kevin. Please read https://floridaactioncommittee.org/a-deeper-dive-into-iml/
If you dont want to take our word for it, read the FAQs on here: https://www.usmarshals.gov/what-we-do/fugitive-investigations/international-megans-law-complaint-form-traveling-sex-offenders
@ Kevin: A few years ago, upon arriving in Paris, I was called off the airplane – by name – by the French police. A message sent from the US Marshals Service to the French authorities falsely identified me as a “fugitive”. Apparently, that message was sent to the French because my local registering agency (in California) had not submitted my 21-Day Advance Travel Notification to the US Marshals in a timely manner.
So if you wish to try traveling without submitting a 21-Day Advance Travel Notification, be warned that you are likely to be met on the other end by a contingent of police, just as I was.
David they still let you in on that time?
How does IML effect a RSO that is not a US citizen and who does not have a US passport? Green Card holder here that was not deported for a CP conviction, currently on supervised release, but wants to get out of the country and never come back.
⭐ Don’t stop traveling just because you have an IMP-stamped passport!⭐
I flew into Paris CDG airport last week. I have an IML-marked passport and the customs-border officer actually glanced at the p.51 notification (the 1st person to bother doing so!) He shrugged – he couldn’t have cared less. In fact, he was far more concerned with giving my passport a good, solid “France” stamp on a blank page.
What about hong kong do they allow entry for rso?
I recently traveled to Italy via Amsterdam and back home. I Gave the required notifications and had no issues at all except the usual mostly minimal harassment stop at US customs on the way back. I do not have a marked passport.
-As a side, I was considering traveling to Las Vegas and was wondering if anyone had any experience or what to expect if I register as a tourist there. I Don’t know exactly where to ask this question. So thanks if anyone can help!
As a Florida registrant I have actually traveled to Las Vegas 4 separate times in the past 8 years. They were actually quite accommodating to me. I simply provided my local county registration about my travel plans, as I expected to be gone 5-6 days. When I arrived in Vegas I immediately that morning went to the county registration to register as a traveler. It did take me about 2 or 3 hours as there are a LOT of things going on. I recommend being there when business opens.
I gave them the name of the place I was staying, and how long I was going to be there. That’s pretty much it! As I said, they were easily accommodating to me and never gave me even the slightest Hassle or problem.
Sorry for the delay, but Thank you for the response. Good to know
Hi, I would like to ask hows your Netherland Trip? Is Netherland let Rso in?
Hi Checha, I just returned from one month in France. I have a “unique identifier” IML U.S. passport, but had no problems at all entering France. The French customs officer at the airport looked at the special notification in my passport, shrugged and ignored it. I suspect you would have no problems at all entering any EU country including the Netherlands.
The only hassle was returning to the US and being sent to secondary CBP customs inspection at LAX – the waste of a whole hour for no good reason. 😒
This is the point that you never come back to USA. Once they let you in STAY there and never come back and when it comes time for Political Asylum present your case! After a 6 months to 12 months you have abandoned your country. Run Runnnnnn they say ! The fact is that during the civil war they took the Creek Indians and tried to get rid of them apprehended them and just like runaway slaves they are trying to the very same thing when leaving the USA. They are trying to treat us like they’re our “master” and Germany Courts are hot on their trail! Read Facts not fear! This is what the Nazis did to rid of a certain race for imperfections. The 6th Circuit already ruled that it’s punishment!
So I have a recently renewed passport with no mark on it. If I inform the government of my vacation plans 21days prior, they could revoke my passport before I leave!! Wow.
Anyway.. Can I get into Turks & Caicos? Barbados? Aruba? Anyone have any experiences here?
I recently got my expired passport renewed after judge ended probation early on CP conviction. There is NO mark on my new passport. Do I advise our Nazi government of my travel plans of family vacation (wife and children) to the Caribbean. We haven’t decided which island yet. Any insight is greatly appreciated. P.S. This will be my first trip out of the country since my conviction.
@Anonymous
If you are have to register still, then you need to notify of travel.
Americans covered by IML must notify authorities of their international travel plans once they’re known, regardless of what their passport says or doesn’t say.
But those under the jurisdiction of a ‘Nazi government’ likely are not under the jurisdiction of IML and may have arrived here in a time machine.
@ Anonymous: Glad you received your unmarked passport! Enjoy it! But FYI, my OWN personal experience and what I have heard from others suggest this: Most – if not all – registrants will first receive an unmarked passport. It appears to be the international travel itself that triggers the revocation of the passport (whereupon, if one requests a new passport, it will bear the IML “unique identifier”.
I traveled to Europe three or four times on my unmarked passport before I received a revocation letter.
(Many people get a passport and then just never travel internationally. Ot sits unused. Why would the government waste time and effort to revoke a passport that sits in a desk drawer, unused? Instead, I think they focus their efforts – and revocations -on those passports that ARE actually being used for international travel.
So don’t be too surprised if you travel a few times before you receive a revocation letter.
And just FYI: I have never had anyone bother to look at that stupid IML wording on my passport.
I’m glad I did all my international travel before I became a “hardened criminal.” Regarding others not bothering to look at the stupid IML info, probably others see it as stupid, too.
Not if you go to Puerto Rico. I can tell you it’s amazing. Highly recommend vacationing there!
No passport required either.
⭐⭐ PLEASE NOTE ⭐⭐
If you are – or if you know – the Registrant who was turned away from entering Greece, please contact me at: [email protected]
(Note: Two XXs in Boxx)
I would like more details, such as the date of occurrence and approximate time, which Greek airport, what airline/carrier and flight #, your name (if comfortable providing it), any other detail you can provide (DHS agents’ names, etc.).
I would like to file a FIOA Request with DHS, but it would be very helpful to have additional information for the request so it can be processed more quickly and we can find out what happened and why.
Thanks in advance!
– David
The registrant was turned away by Greek agents. That’s what he described on this forum weeks ago.
Whoever the mysterious Greece-traveling registrant is, he has not contacted me. I am trying to verify the information and, so far, have been unable to do so. So I’m not yet convinced it is true.
(See my post above.)
i just emailed you…i was the one denied entry in Athens Greece….
Thank you. Email received. I will reply to you by email.
Hey Steve. I am supposed to go to Greece for a work trip in August. Would you be willing to share your experience or any suggestions you have with me? I appreciate it.
Bret, Im sorry for the delayed response. Call the US embassy in Greece, call the Police at airport (passport control) and ask them straight up to avoid embarrassment and potential detainment
..they have the right to detain you at their federal facility until you fly directly back to US, the same way you came. Do your homework, don’t take any chances. I pray noone goes through what i did last year. (i paid $2500 for a direct flight back to US on another airline so i wouldn’t have to stay in jail) I already served my time.didn’t feel like staying up to 4 or 5 days for my flight credit with my airline to return me to US.
I just took a cruise of the Mediterranean with my SO friend and a stop was in Corfu, Greece. We had no problem entering Greece from the cruise. I often wonder if going by cruise us the way to enter so called forbidden countries. The cruise ship holds your passport info and you don’t go through customs when visiting different ports.
I see Just Facts Not Fear is bashing this article. I wrote this as a response:
“What little information those of us who receive on international travel are reliant on self-reporting by the relatively few Registered Persons who travel internationally. We are thus reliant on anecdotal evidence, i.e., personal reports. That also means that the actual events could be embellied, were too angry to accurately memorize specific details, made assumptions, or completely made up by people seeking sympathy or to disrupt our information network. But if it was indeed true, how could you verify it happened?
I don’t travel internationally as my activism includes trying to provide the most factual info it is hard to give accurate information on just traveling across the US much less across the world. There’s nowhere we can go to fact chack anything in regards to international travel. I’d love to provide more than just “you might experience problems traveling or moving outside the USA” but I have little to point to other than anecdotal, self-reporting.”
We all post what little news is available to us. I’m not saying any one is right or wrong, but we all must recognize that with this International Travel flap, we have only personal reports to rely upon. I can’t get reliable data from the US State Dept or from other countries.
Where are the facts to support this claim FAC? You’ve been called out:
Have not watched this yet. Will watch and reply.
The critique is worse than the article it’s critiquing.
The problems that people have recently had entering Guatemala and Greece have been described on this platform in detail. They are credible. There was no logical reason to believe they would have been embellished.
But Facts Not Fear is saying, these things couldn’t have happened, because they are illogical.
So?
So they’re illogical. IML is illogical. Our state’s registry scheme is illogical. But they are very real. As anyone such as Facts Not Fear who’s been on the registry for a couple years should know, for things not to make sense IS the norm.
And even if he is correct, he owes FAC an apology. He and FAC are part of the same movement. If he had issue with what FAC was publishing, he could have simply contacted FAC and tried to work it out first. Instead he goes behind FAC’s backs to critique FAC publicly. Which might have been appropriate had he first attempted to work with FAC. But apparently, he didn’t. Which leads a viewer like me to suspect that he is motivated by some sort of ego gratification. In contrast to FAC board members, who tend to swallow their ego and volunteer many hours without so much as showing their faces.
I have no particular motivation to defend FAC over Facts Not Fear. I’m not on the board, and FAC barely knows me. I didn’t write the FAC article and don’t know who did. I do understand understand the valid reasons for the anonymity of the individual author. I suspect Facts Not Fear understands this also, acts like he doesn’t, and is simply trying to sound clever. I thank FAC for working hard to get to the (sometimes mysterious) truth, even if Facts Not Fear is out there trying to knock you down publicly, based on nothing but his “personal knowledge,” as I think he put it in the video.
If I ever volunteer to do something that apparently overlaps with what Facts Not Fear is doing, such as FAC’s International Subcommittee (I think that’s what it’s called), then, based on this video, I am going to watch my back. This movement has now grown big enough that there are individuals within it who will try to sh*t on you.
Sorry, am I overreacting?
I agree, Jacob. While going through the stages of grief with this registry crap, we believed that such nonsense couldn’t be happening to us; when the shenanigans started then continued, we now believe that anything is possible. Yeah, LOGICALLY, US agents would have no jurisdiction in another country and would prevent a PFR from boarding an international flight in the first place. BUT…why are there restrictions on a PFR’s rights to travel and not say a drug trafficker or murderer? Why are children held in such high regard, even from those who offended against an adult? Why does a serial adult rapist get to free ride around, no leg shackle or any restrictions, yet one locked up for CP possession is treated like an unhinged animal?
The problem is that Florida and the rest of the United States practice sheer ILLOGIC when it comes to everyone’s “safety and security.”
I agree with you and Jacob.
This guy should have posted a reply on F.A.C.’s website, at the specific article. And asked questions, instead of accused so much.
When I watched his video, I was thinking that it was even more illogical and unsupported than what F.A.C. said could even possibly be construed/imagined to be. Take the agents at other countries’ airports – who said that they had “jurisdiction” there that would not have been given to them by the host country? Who said they had any jurisdiction at all? Perhaps they have an agreement with the host country to do exactly what they wanted to do and more. And the comment that doing that would take too many people and resources? Really?!! That is laughable. Like America cares how much they waste on this nonsense! It wouldn’t shock me if America deployed 1,000 big government employees all over the world with the sole purpose being to harass PFRs who are just trying to travel with their families. Wouldn’t shock me in the slightest.
I’d like to admit that I did not read F.A.C.’s original post carefully or critically. Same with the guy’s video. But I did have an immediate (and accurate!) impression that it could easily be picked apart. I’m not going to take the time to dig into any of it. Got other work to do.
My impression was/is that he did the video to gain attention and attract views/hits. He didn’t prove that wrong so it’s on him as far as I’m concerned. I wish him the best, but be more careful in the future.
FAC, I see you responded. Thank you. The issue of verified information borders on privacy of the source. I have no reason to disbelieve FAC and I have no dispute in River’s questioning of the facts. Presentation of the facts, even redacted to exclude private info, could solve the questioning.
Using the “sex offender” population as a template, the United States Government (USG) now feels emboldened to create a new sub-class of citizenry, the un-jabbed (UJ). While the masses stood by, and even jeered, while the USG took away our constitutional rights, the UJ now find themselves being persecuted for the crime of not bending the knee to Herr Fauxchi. Yes, not following the contradictory CDC, WHO, NHI, and WTF guidance will now brand you a criminal.
Just as the USG uses Big-Tech to do their dirty work on us, they are now unleashing it on the UJ. We were the first to be “cancelled.” Now, anyone who wrongspeaks of groupthink will be censored and cancelled.
If the UJ want to fly, they will have to “show their papers.” International travel destinations have already began implementing mandatory proof of jab.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/geoffwhitmore/2021/08/12/do-you-have-to-show-proof-of-vaccine-to-fly/?sh=22ab142d2eac
Mandatory jabs are already in America, in schools, colleges, government agencies, the military and corporate America. If you want to work with over 30 major companies, you will have to take the jab.
https://money.yahoo.com/companies-requiring-proof-of-vaccination-from-employees-185710054.html
Of course the CDC pushed companies to do the mandojab.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/essentialworker/workplace-vaccination-program.html
And POTUS is incentivizing more companies to do so.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/11/politics/private-sector-vaccine-mandates-biden-meeting/index.html
Some posters have complained about injecting politics into our discussions, but let’s face it, everything is political in 2021. The registry itself is a result of politics. Every new layer of punishments inflicted upon us is political.
If we could somehow convey to the masses that we were the test cases for stripping of civil rights, just maybe whatever rollbacks they can achieve could benefit us as well.
Hope the unvaxxed keep their distance from my family. Nothing personal.
@ JZ: With regard to international travel destinations banning the unvaccinated from entering their countries, they have every right to do so in order to keep their population safe from infection. Just as the U.S. has done. We are trying to contain the spread of a deadly pandemic. Why is that so difficult to understand??
I work in the public health field and I have increasingly little patience for the idiocy of anti-vaxxers. If you choose not to get vaccinated because you’re going to trust some conspiracy crap you read on the internet, then how about when you get sick with COVID, you have your neighbor or the plumber down the street or the guy at Quick-Mart provide your healthcare instead of overburdening already exhausted nurses and medical doctors?? You’re the one choosing not to get vaccinated, so take the consequences and don’t go to a hospital when you get sick. Tough it out or die at home – but don’t burden those who don’t deserve it.
And it is certainly not the same thing as being a Registrant with a IML-marked passport. If you’re unvaccinated, you can solve that situation very simply: Go get vaccinated! The vaccine shots are free. I, however, cannot have the unique identifier removed from my passport simply by doing something that is free and convenient at every local drugstore and public health center, can I??
You are trying to draw people in lot your personal foolishness by promoting conspiracies and drawing false equivalences.
@COVID cures Stupid
You assume I’m an anti-vaxxer and personally attack me for making an abstract analogy. You call me stupid, foolish, an idiot, and tell me to die at home because you don’t like my analogy. You accuse me of believing and promoting conspiracies when I have not. The links I provided support my opinion.
All, lets agree to disagree on this off-topic issue.
How is this off-topic? Read it again. It’s spot-on-target! (Hint: not about vaccination.) JZ is very astute in his post.
Almost all of this is wrong and it should be removed.
From the 2017 IML FAQ on the USMS Website:
Does the USMS decide if a sex offender can enter a foreign country?
No. The USMS does not make any recommendations, nor does it have the authority to deny or approve entry of an offender into a foreign country.
My question is if a registrant is already a U.S. Citizen, how can Title 22 be used to give HSI jurisdiction to detain an offender in a foreign land? Much less turn them around and order them to go back.
I plan to travel to Europe soon. I
will post – at ACSOL and FAC – whether or not I have any difficulty upon entering.
I will be traveling to Europe in a month. Upon my arrival, I will post – at ACSOL and FAC – whether or not I have any difficulty upon entering.
I’m curious about something. And I know this is one of those “struck by lightning” things. But let’s say I somehow won 500 million in the Florida lottery and bought a yacht. Registered as a vessel of course…. what could they do if I said I was for example traveling to the Bahamas for 2 months, but while I was there for a week, I pulled anchor and shot over to a country that say did accept me? Or what if I decided I wanted to take a year long trip in my private yacht? I don’t actually see any specific laws stating I CAN’T do this.
Correct. However, all Registrants are required to submit the 21-day Advance Travel Notification to their local registration office. Be sure to keep a copy with you when you travel, especially upon returning to a U. S. airport.
I’ve wondered about the same thing as Bill. Isn’t the requirement to file notification of “intended” travel? Does the government’s interpretation mean a person can’t deviate from his original itinerary after beginning travel without a 21 day notice? Restricting that sort of adventurous wanderlust while on vacation is certainly a severe curtailment on one’s liberty. I’ve wondered this since hearing of the advance travel notice requirement. Does anyone have an answer?
@ Ed C.:. There is a section at the very bottom of the “Notification of Intended International Travel” for “Additional Comments/Travel Related Information”.
In that section, I state that my “Vacation travel might include a brief trip to Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, ***.”
*** You get the idea – list any nearby countries you might even possibly have wanderlust to visit. I presume that legally covers me for such added adventures because I HAVE notified them, in writing, of that potential travel. They cannot say that I didn’t notify them.
@ Ed C: I should note this: Upon returning from my travels, I am invariably sent to secondary passport check. I am always asked what countries I visited. To date, I have only visited the primary country I list on my intended travel forum – I have not visited the secondary countries I have listed in the “Additional information” section. Therefore, I do not know what the reaction will be if I say I went to one of those countries.
But the fact is, I DID provide the information as legally required and I have proof of it because I have my copy of the received 21-day Notification of Travel form.
Has anyone heard of a passport card that looks like a license? Saw one last weekend when I was in Maine and wonder if those have the stamp too.
Registrants are ineligible for a passport card
I wasn’t aware of that. Are you certain? On what legal grounds?
Again, that’s only true for those who would receive the passport identifier( minors) Others I think should be able to.
I think if your crime was related to children, then you are ineligible.
Not just children – anyone under the age of 18.
To be clear, the DOS cannot fit the “unique identifier” wording onto the passport card. So if your passport is revoked and you are going to get a (new) marked passport, you will not be able to get a passport card. Sorry. 🤷🏻♂️
(Yes, I have an IML-marked passport. 😏)
I see that HSI has offices in Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, and Israel, and Guatemala, among many others.
Countries that were not barring US registrants from travel, according to the Registrant Travel Matrix. Now I wonder whether HSI’s policy is to change that. Because if they are, then only a few island countries remain.
Hi Jacob, I will try to check on that – I fly to France soon. If no one meets me at the Paris airport, I may visit the U. S. Embassy and say “Hi”. 🤷🏻♂️
I’m flying to Rome via Amsterdam next month. Will also report.
Hi, I would like to ask hows your Netherland Trip? Is Netherland let you in?
I had absolutely no issues going into the Netherlands. They barely paid me any notice. My trip took me to Italy, which was wonderful.
I am ROS in NJ and planning to go to Greece or Spain and Portugal for 10days. I don’t have mark on my passport, does this country allow RSO to visit? Do this country has any restrictions or I should be aware of something. Please advise.
Thank you.
‘You need to check to see if HSI now has an office in your intended country or they will come to the airport to make sure that customs doesn’t wave you through.’
This is an important recent quote from someone in another discussion. It may have gotten lost in the shuffle. But if correct, you will need to pay attention to the information in the HSI link above.
I am very much interested in this,my last two years in prison I thought about leave the United States because of all the BS over us SO’s. I have checked their is no law (currently) that says we cannot get/receive a passport.At current time I am fighting FL./AL. for violation of court sentencing order. So would like any and all info in regarding this. Please thanks.
Hi Kevin,. Yes, you can get a U. S. passport when you are “off paper” (not sure about restrictions if one is stillbon parole or probation).
You can expect an unmarked passport at first. But my experienced assumption is that, after a few trips to foreign destinations, your regular passport will be revoked by the State Department and you will have to request a new passport which WILL HAVE the IML unique identifier on it. It appears to be that it is the actual overseas traveling that will eventually trigger the revocation. (If you go to the ACSOL website, you can see pics of what the IML identifier looks like.)
Also, be sure to read through the International Travel thread there. If has lots of info. 👍🏻
I believe that the IML unique identifier is only for those with minors in their offense.
I got my passport while on probation in Connecticut.
I believe I have mentioned this other times in comments on this site.
‘We have a list of countries not accepting offenders’ makes no sense. Is the list classified? What possible justification could there be to pay agents to turn people around, rather than just issue a list advising registrants not to travel there? Instead we have this guessing game where RTAG does their best to replicate a list that supposedly already exists.
If we need to pay a competent lawyer to make a FOIA request for this list, I will donate.
We don’t need a lawyer to perform a FOIA request. We can do it ourselves. Contact us if you want to be part of the “international travel subcommittee”
Meanwhile, a Senator in Arizona has been arrested and charged with 6 sexual offenses against a minor. I wonder what his voting record is on sex offense registry laws. See https://news.yahoo.com/arizona-state-senator-faces-6-170000944.html
The one variable we cannot account for in these reports is the actions and background of the individuals who were denied entry. If we were a homogeneous group, then we could make more blanket assumptions, however I would like to see perhaps our RTAG matrix set up a confidence factor based on some statistical calculations for all historical reports. Taking into account recent trends vs. historical is not a bad idea, however it would be a shame if one bad report caused many to avoid a great travel destination unnecessarily.
Agreed. I’m wondering if perhaps the registrant who was turned away from Greece was actually turned away because perhaps he did not submit a 21-day advance travel notification? The US Marshal Service regularly screens all air travel manifests for names and if his name showed up, with no 21-day notice, maybe they were the ones who decided that he would be met at the Greek airport and turned away.
DUDE…I GAVE OVER 30 DAY NOTICE…..THE GOVERNMENT OF GREECE FLAGGED ME BEFORE I ARRIVED….NO EXPLANATION BESIDES THAT I WAS A “S.O.” …TOTAL SHITSHOW..HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE..AS I STATED MONTHS AGO…CALL THE MINISTRY OF INTERIOR BEFORE FLYING TO GREECE THEY ARE DENYING ENTRY TO S.O.’S
I seem to recall that Janice Bellucci at ACSOL brought suit against IML but it was dismissed for lack of ripeness or something.
Does anyone know whether Janice is making any current efforts against IML and needs help?
Does RTAG need help?
FAC I would like to be part of the effort to fight back. But HOW can we fight back? At least with respect to the Florida registry, there are specific things we are already doing. But how do we start fighting IML?
Your article here has succeeded in making me hopping mad, madder than other entries have made me in some time (that’s how you know it’s good). Have our affiliates begun responding to it?
One of our board members is also on the Board of Registrant Travel Action Group (Registranttag.org), so we have a seat at the table. Also involved is the California-based org Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) and some others have expressed interest.
If there was unlimited time and resources, this would be a priority. But because so few registrants travel internationally (because they can’t afford it or for any reason), it’s never at the top of the list. For every call we get from an individual who got turned away, we get 20+ from one who is homeless, for example.
Still, since this touches on a concern that impacts people in ALL STATES and even other countries (for example, family of registrants who live abroad and can’t receive a visit). It’s worth combining forces.
This also got me really mad that they are planting agents now in these countries. I was looking forward to getting out of this country at some point. I don’t know what I can do in this fight, but now I really want to fight.
Not that it should matter at all, but did the registrant have a marked passport? Mine is not. I like to travel abroad and this will really screw up my plans if the schengen countries started doing this to all of us.
The absolute NERVE of that guy saying he typically starts these seminars with a PRAYER!!! Ha!
We have no business setting up offices in 53 countries. I don’t care what it is for. Although I have only been a part of this a small while it is no surprise to me that more and more countries will join in, in the rejection of person’s forced to register. It will continue. I have no doubt.
If it is “HOMELAND” Security, it doesn’t need to be anywhere but the ‘homeland”, unless the US is making a subtle claim to these other nations.
So this is the part that doesn’t make any sense. I have been registered since they came up with this in Florida in 1997 (my offense predates the Florida sex offender registry). Since then, I have traveled dozens of times throughout the United States and have reported the interstate travel every single time at the Miami-Dade County police department. I have intentionally traveled only to states where I would not be required to register under their laws, and my longest trip was for no more than five or six days. Not once have I ever been contacted by the police in any of the many states I have traveled to. I know that Florida is informing them of my trips. So apparently the states I’m visiting don’t care enough to do any checking on me while I’m there, yet the government is so concerned about me visiting foreign countries. Where is the logic in that? They don’t care enough to have anyone greet me as I get off the plane in Virginia but they are there waiting in foreign countries to send us back. It’s completely irrational, even based on their own logic.
The right to exit is a fundamental cornerstone of liberty and international law. The SO administrators and US marshals are eager to deprive Americans of their liberty, and more importantly, their expectations of liberty. It’s about power and control. The administrators of angel watch should be reminded what Justice was meted out to the fascists at the Nuremberg trials.
During WW 2 the United States saved the world from Nazis, but who’s going to save the world from the United States in the 21st century?
We can. Imagine if all the millions who saw their internment and death approaching leapt on their captors and killed them instead of protesting or trying to flee. These fascist pigs in our government need a few shots across the bow to be reminded what desperation does to people. They rule by fear because it’s the only language that they understand. They laugh and mock SOs and families as they protest outside courtrooms. When we get serious and make them know FEAR, we have a shot at putting them in their place, public SERVANTS they are
Fear is not the solution to our problems. It is the SOURCE of our problems.
If registrants engage in actions that cause fear, then that will result in greater budgets for law enforcement personnel, equipment, and training, and new laws permitting their use.
Don’t encourage the fearmongers!
This is silly. Their budgets are already incredibly bloated. Whatever they ask for they receive. Whatever lie they repeated is mindlessly parroted and believed. No matter if you’re compliant or rebellious, they will do everything they can to destroy you and your family. If you can’t get reform, get revenge.
I’m on board. Let’s coordinate.
So heres the kicker. My home state says theyve released me automatically from my registration requirement. I was a level 1 in nyc so no public access. Go to florida and now life in a state thT had nothing to do with my legal process. My plea with fed govt was totally honored and i had a great 20 years of successful work and life. Now: i am dead to the world. If i didnt come to fl id be able to go anywhere.