A felony conviction makes life more difficult. Unfortunately, it also impacts your ability to travel.
A felony conviction makes life more difficult. Unfortunately, it also impacts your ability to travel.
A felony conviction doesn’t mean the end of your life, but it does make some things harder. Applying for a new job, securing a new apartment, and maintaining certain rights as a United States citizen all become more challenging. Many people don’t realize that a felony conviction also impacts their ability to travel to certain foreign countries.
Lawmakers constantly update state, federal, and international laws, so check with the specific country you plan to visit for the most current information. Our law firm doesn’t maintain this information and can’t advise you on this issue. This blog post simply recites publicly available laws and policies regarding criminal convictions and international travel.
For your best chance at avoiding a felony conviction, hire the top criminal defense attorney in your area. If you’re facing criminal charges in Wisconsin, contact Van Severen Law Office, S.C. at (414) 270-0202 to see whether we can help. We offer free initial consultations.
How a felony conviction impacts travel to Canada.
Canada enforces strict immigration rules governing who may enter the country. Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), Canada may deny entry to a foreign national who has been convicted outside Canada of an offense that would constitute an indictable offence if committed in Canada, or who committed an act outside Canada that would be an indictable offence under Canadian law.
In Canadian criminal law, indictable offences represent the most serious category of crimes and broadly compare to felonies under U.S. law. Canada prosecutes less serious offenses as summary conviction offences, which roughly resemble misdemeanors. Canadian law classifies some crimes as hybrid offences, meaning prosecutors may pursue them either summarily or by indictment. For immigration purposes, Canada treats hybrid offences as indictable.
Canada may deny entry to a criminally inadmissible person at the border, even for short visits. However, inadmissibility isn’t always permanent. In limited circumstances, Canadian authorities may issue a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP), allowing an otherwise inadmissible person to enter Canada for a specific purpose and duration when a compelling justification exists.
Not every U.S. felony automatically results in inadmissibility. Canadian officials assess equivalency by comparing the essential elements of the foreign offense to Canadian criminal law. This determination depends on the specific facts, the nature of the offense, and potential Canadian penalties.
Finally, Canadian law provides a mechanism called criminal rehabilitation, which removes criminal inadmissibility and permits future entry into Canada if approved. After sufficient time passes, Canada may deem rehabilitation automatic in some cases, or it may require a formal application.
What about our other neighbor? Can I visit Mexico?
If you’d rather travel south than north, Mexico generally takes a more permissive approach than Canada when admitting travelers with prior criminal convictions.
Under Mexican immigration law, officials may deny entry to foreign nationals if they believe the person has committed or been convicted of a “serious crime” in Mexico or abroad. Mexican immigration officials retain broad discretion at the border to refuse entry on criminal grounds.
Mexican law doesn’t treat all crimes equally. The law defines “serious crimes” by reference to offenses that significantly affect public security or fundamental social interests. These include homicide, terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, sexual offenses involving minors, organized crime, arms trafficking, kidnapping, aggravated robbery, extortion, currency counterfeiting, serious environmental crimes, and certain tax and smuggling offenses.
Importantly, many U.S. felony convictions don’t fall within Mexico’s definition of serious crimes. A prior felony conviction alone doesn’t automatically bar entry. Mexico doesn’t operate a rehabilitation or equivalency system comparable to Canada’s.
In practice, Mexican immigration authorities may ask about criminal history, but they’re not required to do so. Routine entry for short-term tourism often occurs without detailed questioning. However, admission remains discretionary, and Mexican officials can legally deny entry if they determine a traveler poses a security or public safety concern.
Brazil – a more accessible South American option
Brazil offers a different approach than many countries when admitting travelers with criminal records. Since 2025, U.S. citizens need to obtain a visa before traveling to Brazil. The country evaluates applications on a case-by-case basis rather than automatically denying entry based on past convictions.
Brazilian immigration law requires applicants to disclose criminal history on visa applications. However, Brazil distinguishes between serious crimes and lesser offenses. The law defines crimes as violations resulting in confinement or imprisonment. Misdemeanors are lesser violations punished with simple detention and fines.
Brazilian authorities focus primarily on serious crimes that pose potential threats to public security. These include carrying weapons, robbery, murder, fraud, and drug trafficking. If you’ve been convicted of a serious crime, obtaining a visa becomes significantly more difficult. That said, it’s not necessarily impossible if you’ve fully served your sentence.
Importantly, misdemeanor convictions typically don’t interfere with the visa process. For non-violent felonies where you’ve fully completed the sentence, Brazilian guidelines suggest obtaining a visa shouldn’t be difficult. However, no guarantee exists.
The application process requires you to provide a criminal background check from your local police department. You must authenticate this document for use abroad and translate it into Portuguese. Brazil evaluates each application individually. Officials consider factors such as the nature of the offense, whether you completed the sentence, and the time elapsed since conviction.
If you have a criminal record and want to visit Brazil, apply well in advance of your travel dates. Processing times can range from several weeks to months, especially for applications requiring additional review. Even with visa approval, entry remains at the discretion of Brazilian immigration officers at the border.
Can I travel to Japan as an American felon?
Japan applies significantly stricter and more clearly defined criminal admissibility rules than either Canada or Mexico. Nearly all travelers to Japan arrive by air, which gives immigration officials ample opportunity to review passenger information before entry.
Under Japan’s Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, Japan may deny permission to land to foreign nationals who fall into certain categories:
- Individuals convicted of any criminal offense and sentenced to imprisonment for one year or more, regardless of whether the court suspended the sentence. Political offenses are excluded.
- Individuals convicted of drug-related offenses involving narcotics, marijuana, opium, stimulants, or psychotropic substances. For these offenses, sentence length doesn’t matter. Any conviction triggers inadmissibility.
- Individuals who possess the above substances.
- Individuals who have engaged in prostitution, or the solicitation, facilitation, or management of prostitution.
Drug offenses and prostitution-related offenses almost always lead to denial of entry. For other crimes, the length of the sentence—not the felony label itself—controls the outcome. A U.S. felony conviction doesn’t automatically bar entry into Japan unless it resulted in a sentence of one year or more.
Japan doesn’t provide a criminal rehabilitation or waiver process comparable to Canada’s.
New Zealand – one of the tough ones
New Zealand is often cited as one of the most restrictive countries for travelers with criminal histories because of its strict character requirements and the broad discretionary powers it gives to immigration officials.
Under New Zealand law, most travelers must disclose all criminal convictions when applying for a visa or completing entry documentation, including those that other jurisdictions would consider “spent.” Failure to disclose a conviction can itself provide grounds for refusal or removal.
Certain criminal histories result in mandatory inadmissibility. New Zealand will normally refuse entry if a person has ever been sentenced to imprisonment for a term of five years or more, or within the past ten years, been sentenced to imprisonment for a term of twelve months or more. In these situations, immigration officers generally lack discretion to admit the traveler.
Even where these mandatory thresholds aren’t met, New Zealand immigration authorities retain broad discretion to deny entry on character grounds. Officials may refuse a traveler if they determine the person poses a risk to the public interest, public order, or public safety. Multiple convictions, recent offending, or patterns of criminal behavior may weigh heavily against admissibility.
Which countries should felons consider for travel?
While many countries impose strict limits on travelers with criminal records, some destinations remain generally accessible to individuals with prior felony convictions:
- France – U.S. citizens traveling for short stays (up to 90 days) typically don’t need a visa. Standard entry procedures don’t include routine questions about foreign criminal convictions.
- Germany – Germany doesn’t automatically exclude travelers based on a foreign felony conviction. Entry issues are more likely when an offense involved serious threats to public order or security.
- Spain – Spain evaluates admissibility based on the nature of the offense, its seriousness, and how much time has passed. Minor or dated convictions typically don’t result in refusal.
- The Netherlands – The Netherlands generally permits entry to travelers with past convictions as long as they’re not subject to active warrants, international alerts, or travel bans.
- Poland – Poland follows Schengen-wide entry standards. Prior convictions alone don’t automatically bar entry unless they implicate public security or appear in international law enforcement databases.
- Italy – Italy doesn’t impose a blanket ban on travelers with felony convictions. Entry concerns typically arise only when a traveler is under active supervision or flagged for security reasons.
- Portugal – Portugal is often cited as one of the more permissive Schengen countries. Entry decisions focus on current risk, not past convictions, absent active legal issues.
What if you’re charged with a felony?
If you’ve found your way to this page, you’re likely someone interested in traveling around the world, and maybe you’re facing felony criminal charges. If you’ve already been convicted of an offense, we suggest contacting a criminal appellate law firm to see whether you have any post-conviction options.
But if you have an open case, there’s still hope. We believe the best way to deal with serious criminal charges is to hire the best criminal defense attorney in your area. At Van Severen Law Office, our criminal defense attorneys regularly fight tough criminal charges. We’ve won cases for many of our clients, and we’re certainly interested in protecting your ability to continue traveling to foreign countries.
Contact us at (414) 270-0202 to speak with our criminal defense attorneys about your open case. We’ll only discuss your ability to travel to a foreign country if you’re a client of the firm. We can’t give advice to non-clients and individuals outside of Wisconsin.