The Countries I can (and can't) travel to with a Criminal Record

A list of countries and places I CAN and CAN'T travel to as a United States Citizen (US Passport) and a Criminal Record.

#secondchancer #travel #incarceration

[longdeadfox]

Mark Twain, when entering Australia, was asked whether he had a criminal record. He replied that he was not aware that you still needed one.

[alanmcgowan]

Irish here. You are getting the EU mixed up with the Schengen area.
Ireland is in the EU, but not in Schengen. Norway, Switzerland, Andorra, Liechtenstein, San Marino and the Vatican City are in Schengen but not in the EU.
So the current "No Restrictions" apply to Schengen.
You can always go to the UK via Ireland (via Northern Ireland to Scotland, then onto England and Wales from there).

[njam]

As far as I'm aware many Canadians with criminal records visit Cuba. The Cuban government doesn't have access to Canadian criminal databases.

[julianneheindorf]

This is one very good reason why young people should understand that the consequences of committing crimes stay with them for life.

[pacificcoastnorthern]

I received a felony in 2002 for cultivation of cannabis in 2002. I am now in Argentina and working on my residency. I am here now and had no problem going through immigration.

[HNU]

Post 9/11 Canada and The USA mutually don’t let convicted criminals in without permission from the govt., temporary resident permit or criminal rehabilitation (a paperwork process) after 5 years once you’re done all the time, parole and paid fees etc… so if you’re good with paperwork you can come to Canada. Plenty of music artists with records perform in Canada with permission.

[charleshammer]

If you are driving into Canada NEVER admit that you had a DUI ever. They will make you turn around.

[shangoblackpower]

Kenya 🇰🇪 will not deny you upfront. On their new visa process which is the ETA (Republic Of Kenya Electronic Travel Authorisation) application, there is a question that asks if you have been convicted of any crime in the past five years. It is a "yes" or "no" question.

[boldtaa]

I have an older drug felony and didn’t have any issues traveling to the Philippines or South Korea. Seoul really is an amazing city and as an American not as expensive as you’d think.

[americashypeman]

If you apply for an actual visa from the Australian embassy whilst being upfront and honest about your criminal background before going then they may allow you to have a visa. It just all depends on the circumstances.

[stgermain]

As a guy with like 4 misdemeanors (10 years ago) I’ve been to Peru three times (Sept, Nov 23 & May 24) without any problems

[NullNala]

Hey! New Zealander here, your videos have really helped me with my own potential prison experience. We'd love to have a guy like you around, we also have travel restrictions if imprisoned.

[nilse]

This is such a smart video to make. Now you can point all the people that want to invite you somewhere to that video. And it was also entertaining for the viewers 😁

[alechachman]

Reminds me of that old joke, never ask a man his salary, a woman her age, or an Argentine what their abuelo did during the war.

I do hope you get to travel though

[manuelvalencia]

As an American, living in Japan for almost 20 years, yes, Japan is strict about this. Not long ago, they denied entry for Paris Hilton for her past drug violation in the US. Japan does not play. As a result of her refusal, she ended up cancelling her concerts in Japan.

[dawnbishop]

in Australia we have a border control TV series. That show had foreigners that checked that they had a criminal history and they were interviewed by border control and the person could prove that their criminal history was a thing of the past then they were let in. So it may be possible to enter Australia with a criminal history but not any time soon.

[jamiesuejeffery]

Weirdly, under U.S. law, accepting a pardon also means that you are guilty. Sadly, that makes you ineligible to travel to many nations because even if you were given a pardon, then technically, you are still a convict. I know, weird, but alas, true.

[TransCanadaPhil]

The UK will not deny you entry. First off, if you are a Canadian, American or one of 14 other specific nationalities you get to use a special line at passport control where you don’t even need to talk to a customs officer at all to enter. Secondly, even if you do talk to someone the UK does NOT have access to either Canadian not American criminal records databases (they can only check domestic UK criminal records or Interpol databases; neither of which you’ll be on with just a bog standard Canadian or American criminal record) so for anyone else nothing will show up on a search if you haven’t specifically committed a criminal offence in the UK. Otherwise, travelling to the UK for a North American is as simple as travelling between domestic states or provinces. Before I even had a pardon I routinely travelled back and forth to the UK. It’s only travelling to the US that is a problem and only specifically because Canada and the US were dumb enough to openly share their criminal record databases with each other’s passport control officers. No other countries do that! What’s worse even though I do have a pardon the US doesn’t recognize them anyhow (you need something called an i-form waiver). So in practice it’s ONLY a problem for Canadian/Americans when travelling between those two countries only. In practice no other countries care, they don’t ask and they don’t have access to the relevant databases to check anyhow. Despite what is commonly believed, each country’s passport control/customs offices DO NOT have access to every other country’s domestic criminal records databases for every other country (that’s only a Canadian/American thing).

[MarkHyde]

Be open, direct and apply at an Australian embassy and you'll be assessed for a visa - but turn up in the country and expect entry then sure Australia is going to refuse you - I see no problem with this personally.

[aderfigueroa]

Countries might run your name on YouTube so they make you watch your own video, you be like that's not me .