Can someone with knowledge explain if you can go to Europe with felonies?
Mar 31, 2019, 1:35 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
Programs: Marriott Platinum, Starwood Platinum
Posts: 373
Can someone with knowledge explain if you can go to Europe with felonies?
Hello,
Want to take a European trip(my first) with a good friend. He has a few felonies on his record for forgery and bad checks and lots of misdemeanor arrests and convictions. He has addictions and not made the best choices but he is a lifelong friend to me. He told me he has been arrested in 10 states(mostly misdemeanor offenses) and nothing on his record is violent or sex offenses or drug offenses. Mostly trespassing and panhandling etc.. plus the felonies.
So with that background he wants to get a passport. We would like to fly to Heathrow and stay in London for a few days and then fly to Paris for a few days and then Italy. Trip would last 10 days 2 weeks tops.
Will he most likely be able to get the passport? And if so, because it's a relatively short trip would he be allowed to fly to these countries no problem? I heard something like if it's 90 days or less he doesn't need a visa and it should be okay with the UK and France and Italy. But I am not sure though.
If anyone with knowledge could let me know I would appreciate it.
Thanks
Want to take a European trip(my first) with a good friend. He has a few felonies on his record for forgery and bad checks and lots of misdemeanor arrests and convictions. He has addictions and not made the best choices but he is a lifelong friend to me. He told me he has been arrested in 10 states(mostly misdemeanor offenses) and nothing on his record is violent or sex offenses or drug offenses. Mostly trespassing and panhandling etc.. plus the felonies.
So with that background he wants to get a passport. We would like to fly to Heathrow and stay in London for a few days and then fly to Paris for a few days and then Italy. Trip would last 10 days 2 weeks tops.
Will he most likely be able to get the passport? And if so, because it's a relatively short trip would he be allowed to fly to these countries no problem? I heard something like if it's 90 days or less he doesn't need a visa and it should be okay with the UK and France and Italy. But I am not sure though.
If anyone with knowledge could let me know I would appreciate it.
Thanks
Mar 31, 2019, 2:42 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: ZOA, SFO, HKG
Programs: UA 1K 0.9MM, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Hertz PC, SBux Gold, TSA Pre✓
Posts: 13,811
No problem based on the scenario.
Note - State Department does not determine passport eligibility based on criminal record. Instead, State Department uses other factors, like outstanding child support, back tax, etc. to determine passport eligibility.
Unlikely if your friend is either being honest or the country has access to the U.S. NCIC record.
Even applying for a visa in advance for your friend won't help at all.
Note - State Department does not determine passport eligibility based on criminal record. Instead, State Department uses other factors, like outstanding child support, back tax, etc. to determine passport eligibility.
Even applying for a visa in advance for your friend won't help at all.
Mar 31, 2019, 3:57 am
#3
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
If the OP’s friend gets a US passport application fulfilled with a regular US passport issued with no special notation in if, then a short trip to London and Paris would generally work out without issue with the UKBA and Schengen border control authorities.
Mar 31, 2019, 3:16 pm
#4
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 410
So unless your friend has caused trouble before in Europe or is in an Interpol Database, no problem to go in.
Actually, depending on how busy they are in passport control in France / Italy, they may not bother to check an US passport. Stamp and in.
Mar 31, 2019, 7:53 pm
#5
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: NYC
Programs: AA 2MM, Bonvoy LTT, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 14,638
At my last CDG connection, the passport control agent was busy....busy happily talking to a colleague. Just stamped and didn't even make eye contact with me.
Apr 1, 2019, 10:25 am
#6
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
There is some exception to that. The US does engage in providing some advance notice to some foreign national authorities about the upcoming arrival of some valid US passport users and their criminal past without the use of any Interpol database or any EU-wide database to cause them potential problems, but it’s not applicable for most people with a criminal past.
Apr 6, 2019, 10:43 pm
#7
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Frensham, Lincolnshire
Programs: RFC
Posts: 5,089
French Immigration is usually quite consistent. If you want to enter the Shengen region then Italy is the slackest <redacted by moderator> for entry, and once you're in then you're generally good for travel within the region.
Last edited by TWA884; Apr 7, 2019 at 10:24 am Reason: Not practical trusted travelers advice/information
Apr 7, 2019, 3:27 am
#8
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 410
Not the guys at London St Pancras. They literally stamped South Korean / Japanese / US passport faster than you can imagine it's possible. It actually took way more time to process my EU ID card.
Last edited by TWA884; Apr 7, 2019 at 10:25 am Reason: Conform to moderator's edit of quoted post
Apr 7, 2019, 9:42 pm
#9
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Dulles, VA
Programs: UA Life Gold, Marriott Life Titanium
Posts: 2,757
I fondly remember dozens of trips into Shengen when they never even stopped me. Hold up a US Passport and just get waived through. At Schiphol I don't think I ever got within 6 feet of a booth.
Apr 7, 2019, 10:12 pm
#10
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Canada
Programs: AC E50k, A3*G, UA*S, MR Titanium, HHonors Gold, Carlson Gold, NEXUS
Posts: 3,669
I'd probably go to the UK last. If you enter Schengen through Italy or France, you're unlikely to have a real conversation with an agent, but the UKBA loves asking questions. If they find out about the criminal history, it's a toss-up about whether your friend gets in. If that's at the start of your trip, denial of entry into the UK could affect ability to enter other countries using SIS. Conversely, if it's at the end, at least you've been to 2/3.
Apr 8, 2019, 11:59 am
#11
Moderator: Hilton Honors, Practical Travel Safety Issues & San Francisco
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: San Francisco CA
Programs: UA, Hilton, Priceline, AirBnB
Posts: 11,004
We assume your friend hasn’t missed dates, gone AWOL, or has outstanding warrants
Given the scenario you propose, it seems that you are assuming he has taken care of all these various arrest etc. I would be concerned with someone with that much trouble that they have not taken care of all their responsibilities around fines, treatment, jail time etc. The first step would be to see if you could get a passport and if so that would at least give you some information. I wouldn’t plan any trips or put any money down until he has a passport in hand.
Apr 8, 2019, 9:57 pm
#12
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
I'd probably go to the UK last. If you enter Schengen through Italy or France, you're unlikely to have a real conversation with an agent, but the UKBA loves asking questions. If they find out about the criminal history, it's a toss-up about whether your friend gets in. If that's at the start of your trip, denial of entry into the UK could affect ability to enter other countries using SIS. Conversely, if it's at the end, at least you've been to 2/3.
That’s pretty consistent for French passport control at rather high volume ports. Of the last 100 or so entries into the Schengen area in France using my ordinary US passports, I have had questions once and that was at CDG — and that was despite the passports having every possible indication that I likely have exceeded 90 days of staying in any given 180 day period. If the objective is to enter Schengen with the lowest chance of being questioned when presenting a very recently issued US passport, CDG is a great port of entry, even better than MXP and FCO in some cases.
Last edited by TWA884; Apr 8, 2019 at 10:27 pm Reason: Merge consecutive posts by the same member; please use the multi-quote function. Thank you.
Apr 9, 2019, 1:49 am
#13
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: FRA
Posts: 229
For regular entries into the UK at staffed passport control counters, my travel party members and I have never been asked any question about criminal records as far as I know. And given the volume of travel involved and some other stuff, I am pretty confident that they don’t usually ask such questions unless tipped off already or highly inclined to frustrate entry even before questioning.
That’s pretty consistent for French passport control at rather high volume ports. Of the last 100 or so entries into the Schengen area in France using my ordinary US passports, I have had questions once and that was at CDG — and that was despite the passports having every possible indication that I likely have exceeded 90 days of staying in any given 180 day period. If the objective is to enter Schengen with the lowest chance of being questioned when presenting a very recently issued US passport, CDG is a great port of entry, even better than MXP and FCO in some cases.
Apr 9, 2019, 3:22 am
#14
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: London, United Kingdom
Programs: British Airways Gold
Posts: 2,636
I'd probably go to the UK last. If you enter Schengen through Italy or France, you're unlikely to have a real conversation with an agent, but the UKBA loves asking questions. If they find out about the criminal history, it's a toss-up about whether your friend gets in. If that's at the start of your trip, denial of entry into the UK could affect ability to enter other countries using SIS. Conversely, if it's at the end, at least you've been to 2/3.