Passports and International Travel With a Sex-Offense Conviction

A sex-offense conviction does not by itself take away a U.S. passport, but it can change what the passport looks like, what notice has to be given before a trip, and whether another country will admit the traveler. Federal law requires a unique identifier on the passport of a "covered sex offender," and Michigan law requires a registrant to report in person at least 21 days before traveling to another country for more than 7 days.^[1][4]

This page covers the passport identifier, the advance-notice rules, what the federal government may tell a destination country, travel while under supervision, and what Canada's immigration statute says. It covers the statutes only. No State Department or State Police procedure, and no foreign country's practice at the border, was read for this guide.

Who gets a passport identifier?

The passport provision, 22 USC 212b, says the Secretary of State "shall not issue a passport to a covered sex offender unless the passport contains a unique identifier, and may revoke a passport previously issued without such an identifier of a covered sex offender."^[1]

Two conditions define a "covered sex offender" for this purpose:^[2]

• The person is a sex offender as defined in the federal international-travel law, which is tied to a conviction for, or registration based on, an offense against a minor.^[2][3]
• The person "is currently required to register under the sex offender registration program of any jurisdiction."^[2]

Both must be true. A person whose offense was not against a minor, or who is no longer required to register in any jurisdiction, is outside the definition as written.^[2][3] For these provisions a "minor" is an individual who has not attained the age of 18 years, and a person may not be issued a passport without the identifier solely because he or she has moved or resides outside the United States.^[7]

The "unique identifier" is "any visual designation affixed to a conspicuous location on the passport indicating that the individual is a covered sex offender," and "passport" means a passport book or passport card.^[2] The Secretary of State may require a passport applicant to disclose that he or she is a registered sex offender.^[8]

Can the identifier come off?

The statute allows the Secretary of State to reissue a passport that does not include the identifier if the individual reapplies and the Angel Watch Center provides a written determination that the individual is no longer required to register as a covered sex offender.^[8]

That provision matters to people whose registration duty has ended. In Michigan, registration lasts 15 years for Tier I, 25 years for Tier II and life for Tier III.^[9] On September 9, 2026 the Michigan Supreme Court held that the 2021 registration law may not be applied to people whose offenses were committed before the 2011 amendments, and the State Police have said that those removed from the registry because of that order have no further duty to register, report or verify as a sex offender in Michigan.^[10][11]

Removal from Michigan's registry is not the same as having no registration duty anywhere. The federal Sixth Circuit has held that federal registration obligations are independent of state-law duties.^[12] The passport definition asks whether a person is currently required to register under the program "of any jurisdiction."^[2] How people removed under the September 2026 order are treated for passport purposes is not addressed in any source read for this guide. See the court rulings that reshaped the registry.

What notice is required before international travel?

Michigan's 21-day rule

A registrant must report in person "not later than 21 days before he or she changes his or her domicile or residence to another country or travels to another country for more than 7 days."^[4]

The federal rule

Under the federal registration law, the information a sex offender provides for the registry includes "information relating to intended travel of the sex offender outside the United States, including any anticipated dates and places of departure, arrival, or return, carrier and flight numbers for air travel, destination country and address or other contact information therein, means and purpose of travel."^[13]

The federal criminal statute backs this up. A person required to register under the federal law who knowingly fails to give required notice of intended international travel and then travels faces the same maximum as for a federal failure to register: up to 10 years.^[5]

Travel	Notice rule
To another country for more than 7 days, or moving abroad	Report in person not later than 21 days before[4]
Within the United States	Under the court-approved notice in Does v Whitmer, report only a stay at one place for more than 7 consecutive days; no advance report[14]
Moving to another state	Report in person not more than 3 business days before the move[15]

The domestic-travel row reflects a federal court ruling that the statute's wording on temporary stays was vague.^[14] Parts of that litigation are on appeal, so the reporting rules could change.^[16] The full list of reporting duties is in what registrants must report, and interstate moves are covered in moving to or from Michigan on a registry.

What happens if notice is not given?

Under Michigan law, a registrant who willfully violates the registration act commits a felony punishable by up to 4 years for a first offense, 7 years with one prior registration conviction and 10 years with two or more.^[17] The violation must be willful.^[18] See failure to register penalties.

Will the destination country be told?

It may be. Federal law provides that the U.S. Marshals Service's National Sex Offender Targeting Center may "transmit notification of international travel of a sex offender to the destination country of the sex offender, including to the visa-issuing agent or agents in the United States of the country."^[6]

What a destination country does with that information is up to that country. This guide did not research any country's entry practice other than the Canadian statute described below.

Can a person on probation or parole travel?

Supervision adds its own limits, separate from registration. Every Michigan probation order must include a condition that the probationer "shall not leave the state without the consent of the court."^[19] A parolee remains in the legal custody and under the control of the Department of Corrections, and the conditions of parole are set out in the parole order.^[20][21]

People sentenced to lifetime electronic monitoring are tracked from release on parole or from prison until death.^[22] The statutes read for this guide do not say how international travel is handled for a monitored person. See lifetime electronic monitoring, probation and CSC convictions and prison, parole and treatment.

What does Canada's law say?

Canada is Michigan's international neighbor. Admission is governed by Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, not by U.S. law. Section 36 of that act makes a foreign national inadmissible in two tiers.^[23]

• Serious criminality. A foreign national is inadmissible for having been convicted outside Canada of an offense that, if committed in Canada, would be an offense under an Act of Parliament punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years.^[23]
• Criminality. A foreign national is inadmissible for having been convicted outside Canada of an offense that, if committed in Canada, would be an indictable offense, or of two offenses not arising out of a single occurrence.^[23]
• Acts without a conviction. The same section also covers committing an act outside Canada that is an offense in the place where it was committed and that would be an offense of the same kinds if committed in Canada.^[24]

Three further points come from the same section. An offense that may be prosecuted in Canada either summarily or by indictment is deemed indictable for this purpose. A foreign conviction does not make a person inadmissible if, after the prescribed period, the person satisfies the Minister that he or she has been rehabilitated, or is a member of a class deemed to have been rehabilitated. And inadmissibility may not be based on an offense for which the person received a youth sentence under Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act.^[25]

The test is what the conduct would be under Canadian law, not what Michigan calls it or how Michigan punished it.^[23] The Government of Canada's own guidance says that a person who has committed or been convicted of a crime may not be allowed into Canada, and that, depending on the crime, how long ago it was and the person's behavior since, the person may still be allowed to come if deemed rehabilitated, approved for individual rehabilitation, granted a record suspension, or issued a temporary resident permit. It says at least five years must have passed since the end of the sentence, including probation, before applying for individual rehabilitation, that a person may be deemed rehabilitated only if the crime would carry a maximum prison term of less than 10 years if committed in Canada, and that rehabilitation applications can take over a year to process.^[26] That guidance is general; it does not address sex offenses or registries specifically. This guide did not research which Canadian offenses correspond to Michigan's sex offenses. A Canadian immigration lawyer is the right source for that question. The sister guide discusses the same statute for a different offense in a domestic violence conviction and travel to Canada.

What about non-citizens leaving and re-entering the United States?

For a person who is not a U.S. citizen, travel abroad raises a different risk. Federal law makes a non-citizen inadmissible if convicted of, or if he or she admits having committed, a crime involving moral turpitude, with limited exceptions.^[27] A non-citizen with any sex-offense history should consult an immigration attorney before leaving the country. See immigration consequences of sex offenses.

What people get wrong

• "Registrants cannot get passports." The statute requires an identifier on a covered sex offender's passport; it does not prohibit issuing one.^[1]
• "Every person with a sex-offense conviction gets the identifier." The definition requires an offense against a minor and a current duty to register.^[2][3]
• "A week's notice is enough for a trip abroad." Michigan's rule is in-person notice not later than 21 days before travel to another country for more than 7 days.^[4]
• "If Michigan removed me from the registry, federal law no longer applies." Federal registration obligations have been held to be independent of state-law duties, and the effect of the September 2026 removals on federal obligations is not settled in any source read for this guide.^[12]
• "Canada only cares about felonies." Canada's statute asks what the offense would be if committed in Canada.^[23]

A practical list of registration duties is in the registration compliance checklist, and the overall scheme is explained in the sex offender registry explained.