India and Jamaica denying entry to registered sex offenders
Registrant Travel Action Group (http://registranttag.org) has updated it’s travel matrix to unfortunately reflect India and Jamaica as countries that are denying entry to individuals registered as sex offenders.
The link to their travel matrix can be found below.
Has anyone tried going to Maldives? Nevis?
I am curious about travel to the Maldives as well. I am planning a trip there soon, but really want to know if it is a waste of my time and money beforehand. Please let me know if you hear anything. Thanks.
Shawn:
A lot of countries don’t do criminal history checks even though they bar “criminals” as tourists.
I went to the Ukraine government’s website and it states you must have a certificate from your last country of residence stating you have no criminal convictions to get a TRP. I am curious how this turns out. Please post an update if you actually receive a TRP.
The interesting thing about Ukraine is the site says you only need $100,000 for an investor’s visa. This is one of the lowest amounts out there but still out of reach for most registrants. If i were a registrant I would borrow the $100,000, move out of the country and tell the bank good luck collecting their $100,000 because the government has made most registrants unemployable.
It’s a shame these laws have led to a whole class of people to seek ways to leave their country perhaps to never see their friends and families again.
I say stay and fight.
For a permanent residency you need to have a good certificate from your country but for a temporary residency they don’t check. You can get a 3 year TPR and re-new it every 3 years. I opened a business there
You opened a business where? What kind of business did you open?
In Ukraine! A marketing/graphic design company
Do you speak Russian?
Hey Shawn; can you keep us updated on your TRP for Ukraine? I noticed you applied and were successfully able to open the LLC which is good but interested to see the outcome.
I will! I was successful at getting my work permit as well.
That is incredible.
Congratulations to you sir, you are making great strides. Super interested to see how the TRP works out. The work permit is a huge deal.
That is awesome! Can’t wait to see your results. Best of luck.
Were you able to get the TRP?
I will be flying to Turkey to apply. I opened my business and received my work permit already
You’d borrow $100,000 without intending to repay it?
For a registrant to do such a thing, surely would qualify as recidivism!
But I am glad you are not a registrant and agree with “stay and fight” (not just in U.S., but in Florida specifically). A registrant could move to Ukraine and discover unpleasant conditions they weren’t expecting (underdevelopment, cultural differences, etc.)
Jacob
I agree, the grass is NOT always greener on the other side of the fence. I learned that the hard way when I sold my house, and moved to California for 3 days. When I got back home to unregister, the Florida officials gave me a copy of the California laws and rules for the registry and said “Go sit down and read these before you make a decision you will regret”.
I am glad the guy told me that because after reading what was going on at the time in California, I would have been no better off (Still lifetime registration) AND I would have been away from my family and friends.
So imagine moving to another country where you are an outsider and do not speak the language (Which is much harder to learn as an adult). I visited 9 countries while being registered (Before everything got real bad for us). Some wonderful places to be a visitor, not so much to live there.
To make matters worse, if you give up your citizenship, you may not ever be able to get it back if you change your mind. That just happened to a guy from New zealand (not on the registry) who served as a U.S marine and was promised citizenship, they have been trying to deport him for years and he did nothing wrong.
My point is, if they the U.S government treats a decorated Marine that way for doing nothing wrong, what chance do we have?
Jacob and others, I think the loan idea was to get a loan from a family member or friend.
(No bank is going to lend anyone any money unless you have a good credit score, steady employment and, preferably, good collateral. A bank is not going to lend you money to move to a foreign country and never return. 😒 Shhsss! 🙄)
Has anyone got to Dominica (not Dominican Republic)?
I just went with my family in August 2021 and a breeze through immigration. Had a great family vacation. I actually felt like a normal human being for once.
I have a few follow up questions.
Where did you travel exactly?
Are you on the SO registry?
Is your passport marked and did you give a 23 day notice?
Any hiccups going or coming back?
Thanks’
Where did you go? Did you give the 21 day notice? Is your passport stamped?
Why can’t all these denials of entry by a majority of countries be used to challenge IML? I believe the previous challenge was before it took effect. Now we see the damage it has caused.
JZ,
There is a guy who is from FL who now lives in Germany who is working on challenging these laws on the international stage. You can see his work at https://youtu.be/fZN67jr563g
His charge has gone before the German court (I think at the international level) to challenge the SO laws are a human rights violation. If it passes muster in Germany it could be adopted internationally. What amusing (sadly) is while there is a larger number of countries out there that have signed onto this human rights treaty, the United States is not one of them. So in theory, if it passes, travel to other countries could become easier and it could nullify the IML for folks post-sentence, but that’s my pie-in-the-sky dream at this point.
I also expect that if the international community agrees that this is an inhumane law that the United States will go “that’s cute, but we’re not about to let SO’s have ANY break – ever!”
Generally speaking Sweden and Switzerland have been some of the most liberal countries. Not sure if that has changed since I traveled many years ago. We traveled through 5 borders/countries never once showing our passports.
I was kind of mad because I got to visit the countries but no proof in the form of a passport stamp. One time there was actually a border agent wave us through. I asked the guide if I could ask them to stamp my passport. They said to “Let it go” or “you might agitate them and be held for further scrutiny”.
If you have completed your registry term- in Indiana 10 years for my offense- will there still be possible international travel barriers and the stamp required on the passport?
Yes
But if you have completed your registry term and you are not registered anymore I don’t understand why there would be continued travel difficulties and the stamp still required on your passport.
John – this “India and Jamaica” discussion is quite lengthy and has a long history of folks commenting about having long finished their sentences, not needing to register and being prevented from entry into other countries as well as passports being revoked in order to have the scarlet letter attached to their new one.
The entire system is now setup to be a “forever system” meaning that once you’re on the legal system may say they aren’t denying you anything when in reality the powers that want to make our lives as miserable as possible are in the background with a wink wink/nudge nudge to the spirit or enforcement of the law.
This is the whole point of the Florida Action Committee (which I have no association other than helping financially at times) as well as NARSOL and other organizations trying to combat the overall issue.
In the end the only way to truly defeat this lifetime sentence is with money and even money isn’t going to overcome the issue because the first time the collective “we” can get in front of this financially, the “Jeffrey Epstein’s” are going to be waved out to drum up enough public fear that no amount of money (Jeffrey was a billionaire after all) will overcome the nonsensical nature we find ourselves in.
IMHO the futile attempts most of the legal teams are making are helping to make things from getting worse, but there is little chance of them making things “better”. I really truly wish this were different.
There is a separate org that works on travel. RegistrantTAG.org
on this IML lot of people termed out long before Megan’s law 2016 many many of term termed out July 1st 2005 before it took effect thus travel not effected by it from what I know experienced
and
Can I make a complaint if I am a victim of an erroneous notification?
Any individual who traveled internationally and was denied entry into a country based upon a notification believed to have been made in error by the USMS may make a complaint. The complaint form can be located here. Note that this form is only for the individual who was the subject of a USMS notice, and not family members or other traveling companions.
https://www.usmarshals.gov/megans-law-faqs.html
I have thought alot about this situation, as I love to travel and my partner is reluctant because of these issues. I was thinking of going to the embassy of the country to talk with them and see if there is anything we can do. Is that crazy?? I know the US has made the request that countries deny us entry, but they need our tourist dollars, so maybe there is a way around these rules???
Also, using initials like IML etc, don’t mean anything unless told what they mean. Please consider a page on the acronyms so we know what they mean.
oh yes go to the embassy tell them your a RSO planning
to enter there country make sure though you wear a big bullseye on your shirt so they know you arrived…
as for the using initials you will learn them all in time expecially
when you start traveling AWA IML SO RPs RSO Rsol Etc…
you must be new to all this
you contact any embassy tell them your RSO RP, you blessed yourself with a blacklist Letter along with deportation
just sayin your opening Pandoras box for a load of trouble you cant close.
can you elaborate on why this is to be kept on it after your off registry
FTR
Just my opinion but, being former law enforcement, unless your criminal record is sealed, you will be forever still listed as a felon with a sex crime, therefor held against you. And with a sex crime, we have the least chance of any group of getting our records sealed or expunged. Well maybe right up there with terrorist.
Add to that, they (who is they anyway?) want to maintain some control over us.
Past history from late 70’s for lewdness which are disorderly convictions.
No problems for decades, no restrictions to travel.
I am I allowed to vacation in the USVI or Jamaica without any issues?
Went to DR a few years ago no problem there, coming back when my passport was scanned I was asked to go downstairs.
Customs was very polite and professional just said “you were arrested in the 70’s”. I replied “yes sir and no issues for decades”.
“Have a nice day, your free to go”.
However, it was embarrassing.
Is this something that I’ll be dealing with anytime I decide to take a trip out of the US?
Josh
70s?
dont sweat it mine from 90 and no issues now..
im abroad now if you are not on the registry it shouldn’t be an issue IML dont follow you
Jack
new learning experience
“criminal record is sealed,”
not anymore under a so called law which I haven’t been able to find a sealed record is public to DHS USCIS and a few others this I know as fact due to Visa denial..and married 10 yrs.
they use AWA to justify their actions of being able to use it..along with Adjudication withhold Alfred Plea and the rest are considered “convictions under AWA
#Experenced
The more we push back on the registry in courts, with fireworks, the lawmakers counter attack us with Nukes. Right now we are Ukraine and the law makers are Russia. It seems we are gaining ground and getting some wins, then they blow up a day care.
Using this analogy because our families are also paying the price. And yes, we committed an offense so we are partly to blame for pain our family endures. Having said that, why should our families endure the backlash of a retroactive registry? This causes our kids, and grandkids to not be able to play with the neighbors kids due to the parents not wanting their children to associate with sicko creeper’s kids.
Consequences of war, the war on us and our families, and, even anyone who would dare associate with us.
The analogy is spot on very well said
war raging everywhere..
Please take this comment section or the moderators with a grain of salt. No one has maximized all their resources.
If you do your research, hire the right lawyers and you spend the money to hire lawyers that work on immigration in the travel destination you want to go to you can travel there.
The majority of people on these forums don’t have the money to do so and are just traveling blindly and getting denied.
See the travel restrictions of that country, speak to a few immigration attorneys of that country and I guarantee they can help you with your travels.
All it takes is money. I have gone to Mexico as a SO and every single post on here just is people crying and complaining without providing any real solution when there is some out there.
I also got a second citizenship with investment property in Turkey and I had my first and last name changed with my Turkish passport. There is a LOT of ways to work around this system legally.
Don’t be discouraged. If you have the money and you do your research you can do it. But you first need the disposables income.
Thanks for that information…would you mind sharing your contact? If not, once you resolved Mexico were your able to every time or did you need an attorney each time? And how much was it to resolve Mexico?
Daniel – that’s great to hear you’ve had success with this route (right lawyers etc.). I’ve often thought of exploring this path but wasn’t sure how successful it was. I’m sure my milage may vary from country to country, but it sounds like with a good lawyer it IS possible.
Did you work with one in the states or with the receiving country? Was it someone who specialized in immigration? I’m just curious as I’m happy to spend a few extra bucks (well, I’m sure it’s more than that) to ensure I can get into a country.
Did you use a Mexican attorney? And can’t folks just walk into Mexico or do they need your passport before entering I haven’t been in so long and I am looking to relocate out of the United states
Shawn
I know when I was a kid, my Dad and his sailor buddies would drive to Tiajuana and all you had to do was show your drivers license. If you were in Military uniform, they would just wave you through.
I think those days are over but I could be wrong. Especially since we have been so hard on their citizens coming here, I think we got retribution for us making it harder for them to waltz right in.
The difference is (And not being racist towards Mexicans) when we go there, we are boosting their economy. When they come here, many actually cost us money by us having to support them. There are some who come here legit but many come looking for a better life on our dime. (I do feel bad for their way of life in Mexico though)
Can you please share the contact in Mexico I would like to work on it for my husband. And how much money are we looking like for that? How long was your process?
matthew.ameika@gmail.com
Takes a few months. Depending on your case and situation around $400-$1500
Is this a lawyer? Can they help with a permanent solition to allowing a so in?
I come across information today
lets say you’re fortunate enough to be cleared to enter the Philippines
The problem is if your still a registered citizen and under the eyes of angelwatch.
the philippines STILL GETS NOTIFICATIONS that a RSO is in route to the philippines ..take a guess what happens next…… no need to elaborate on this but just a warning on the possibilities I’ve spoken to 2 Registered citizens who stated that it happen to them even there attorney warned them that as long as your on the registry notices will go out clearance to enter letters or not
Daniel
I was going to ask FAC if they vetted this person before allowing you to post this.
However, after doing some research I found this:
Matthew Ameika advocates for various migrant and non-migrant visas from the United States. He is licensed to practice law and supervise all aspects of US visa applications. Education and Professional Experience: Matthew Ameika has been licensed to practice law in the State of New York since 2009.Matthew Ameika advocates for various migrant and non-migrant visas from the United States. He is licensed to practice law and supervise all aspects of US visa applications. Education and Professional Experience: Matthew Ameika has been licensed to practice law in the State of New York since 2009.
Was this before 2017 when the international megan’s law took affect?
No it was this year. This law from mexico wasn’t passed till 2018
How did you get your Turkish citizenship? The one-year-prior-criminality check rule? Or otherwise?
Just wanting to know are you still traveling to Mexico? My husband comes home June 2023. I want to go to Mexico with him.
Hi,
When was the last time you went to Mexico? Was it by plane or just driving through the California Mexico border?
Do you have a referral on how to get the turkish citizenship did you work with an agency or attorney?
John
when did you term out? 10yrs done
not all are bound by IML I know personally..
I seen Yerevan Armenia was letting in SOs. Has anyone tried? The cheap living and having a 6 moth free visa, along with not needing a work visa attracted me LOL.