Traveling Abroad as a U.S. Registrant

1. The 21-day advance notice

International Megan's Law (Pub. L. 114-119, 2016) added international travel to the information every registrant must give under SORNA, the federal registration law. The statute lists what the notice covers: anticipated dates and places of departure, arrival and return; carrier and flight numbers for air travel; the destination country and an address or other contact there; the means and purpose of travel; and any other itinerary information the Attorney General requires.

The statute itself leaves the timing to the Attorney General. The 21-day figure comes from the Justice Department's SORNA regulation, which requires a registrant to report intended travel outside the United States to their residence jurisdiction at least 21 days in advance, by whatever means that jurisdiction allows. A registrant who is moving abroad must also report before ending their residence.

What to have ready

• Departure and return dates, and every country you plan to enter, including transit stops.
• Airline and flight numbers, or the means of travel by land or sea.
• An address or contact in each destination country.
• The purpose of the trip.
• Passport details. Many states ask for them on their notice form.

The federal rule sets a minimum. States decide how the notice is filed, such as in person, by form or by certified mail, and some add their own deadlines and emergency provisions. See your state below.

2. The passport "unique identifier"

The State Department may not issue a passport to a "covered sex offender" unless it carries a unique identifier. In practice that means a person who is currently required to register because of a sex offense against a minor, as determined by the Angel Watch Center. Not every registrant is covered. The identifier depends on the offense being against a minor and on a current registration duty.

The State Department began printing the identifier on October 31, 2017. It is an endorsement printed on the inside back cover of the passport book. The State Department gives the wording as:

"The bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor and is a covered sex offender pursuant to 22 USC 212b(c)(1)."

What that means for your documents

• Existing passports can be revoked. The statute lets the Secretary of State revoke a passport issued to a covered person without the identifier. The person then has to apply for a new passport that carries it.
• Passport cards. The endorsement cannot be printed on a passport card, and covered applicants are asked to send in any valid card along with any unmarked passport.
• Self-identification. The law allows the State Department to require applicants to disclose that they are registered, and covered applicants are asked to include a signed statement saying so.
• Getting an unmarked passport again. A passport without the identifier can be reissued only after the Angel Watch Center determines in writing that the person is no longer required to register. Moving or living abroad does not end the requirement (added in 2023).

If you believe you were marked in error, the State Department's International Megan's Law page lists a Homeland Security contact for corrections. Links are in the sources below.

3. Angel Watch and U.S. Marshals notifications

Two federal offices can tell a foreign government that a registrant is on the way. Both notices are discretionary: the statutes say the agency "may" notify, not that it must.

Angel Watch Center (Homeland Security)

The Angel Watch Center sits inside ICE's Child Exploitation Investigations Unit and works with Customs and Border Protection. It screens travelers against the National Sex Offender Registry and the Marshals' travel-notice system, where possible no later than 48 hours before scheduled departure. It may send relevant information to the destination country. The law covers people required to register for an offense against a minor. The Center can notify immediately when it learns of travel within 24 hours of departure. It also sends the Marshals the names of registrants who appear to be traveling without having filed advance notice, so their compliance can be checked.

U.S. Marshals Service (National Sex Offender Targeting Center)

The Marshals' targeting center may send notice of a registrant's international travel to the destination country, including that country's visa-issuing agents in the U.S., through channels such as INTERPOL and FBI legal attachés. Its definition is broader than Angel Watch's: it covers anyone who is a sex offender under SORNA or required to register in any jurisdiction, not only offenses against minors.

If a notice was wrong

Both statutes require the agency to send a correction to the foreign government when a notice was inaccurate, and to operate a complaint process for people affected by erroneous notifications.

4. How it fits together

1. Check your documents. If you are a covered sex offender, your passport must carry the identifier. An unmarked passport may be revoked.
2. Check the destination. Look up its entry rules for people with criminal records on our country guide and the country's official immigration site.
3. File the notice at least 21 days before departure with your registering agency, in the form your state requires.
4. Federal screening. The Angel Watch Center and the Marshals may check your travel and notify the destination country.
5. Arrival. The destination's immigration officers decide whether to admit you. Refusal of entry, followed by a return flight, is a real possibility in some countries.
6. Return and follow-up. Report any changes your state requires. If plans change or are cancelled, tell your registering agency. Many states set a deadline for that too.

5. Your state's rules

Federal law sets the floor, and each state decides how the notice reaches it. A few examples from our statute library:

• Alaska: written notice of intended international travel at least 21 days before leaving the state.
• Kansas: in-person report and written notice to the KBI 21 days before travel outside the U.S., with an itinerary. Emergency travel must be reported within three business days of making arrangements.
• Florida: intended international travel must be reported with 21 days' advance notice. The statute has further conditions on duration and how to report, so read the full text.
• Washington: signed written notice to the county sheriff 21 days before travel, including passport number, destination, itinerary and purpose. Cancellations must be reported within three days, and there is a 24-hour in-person process for family or work emergencies.

Look up your state in the statute library, or compare states side by side in Compare States. Always confirm the filing method with your registering agency before you book.

6. Case law

Nichols v. United States, 578 U.S. 104 (2016). Lester Nichols moved from Kansas to the Philippines without updating his registration. A unanimous Supreme Court held that SORNA, as written then, did not require him to tell Kansas he had left, because the law only required updates in a jurisdiction where the person lives, works or studies, and the Philippines is not one. Congress had already passed International Megan's Law two months earlier, adding the international-travel reporting duty and the new federal crime for failing to report. Read the Nichols summary in our Case Law library.

Sources

• 34 U.S.C. §20914: Information required in registration (incl. (a)(7) international travel)
• 28 C.F.R. §72.7: How sex offenders must register and keep the registration current (incl. (f) 21-day notice)
• 18 U.S.C. §2250: Failure to register (incl. (b) international travel)
• 22 U.S.C. §212b: Unique passport identifiers for covered sex offenders
• 34 U.S.C. §21503: Angel Watch Center
• 34 U.S.C. §21504: Notification by the U.S. Marshals Service
• U.S. Department of State: Passports and Covered Sex Offenders Under International Megan's Law
• DOJ SMART Office: International Megan's Law, Statute in Review (PDF)
• Nichols v. United States, 578 U.S. 104 (2016)