Treaty Transfers

The treaties and implementing legislation are intended to:
(1) Enable the United States to bring back U.S. citizen prisoners incarcerated abroad, often under particularly harsh conditions; 

 (2) Enable the United States to transfer foreign national prisoners incarcerated in the United States back to their home countries to serve their remaining sentences;

(3) Relieve the special hardships that fall upon offenders incarcerated in foreign countries, far from home;

 4) Allow U.S. citizen prisoners' spouses, parents and other family members to visit the prisoners on a more regular basis;

(5) Facilitate the rehabilitation of these offenders; and 

(6) Ameliorate the diplomatic and law enforcement tensions that may arise between nations when one country’s nationals are incarcerated in another country’s prisons.

In order to make an informed decision as to whether or not to apply for transfer, the prisoner should write directly to:

Chief, Defender Services Division 

Administrative Offices of the United States Courts
 Washington DC 20544 
ATTN :Prisoner Transfer Treaty Matters .

The prisoner’s letter should contain as much of the following information as possible:

(1) Full name, including maiden name, and any aliases;

(2) Date and place of birth;

(3) Date of offense; 

(4) Precise offense for which convicted and any statutory cites;

(5) Sentence imposed or expected, including any fines or restitution;

 
(6) Any labor credits or prisoner work credits the prisoner earned.

(a)  Any prior sentences received; (b) Prior time actually served;  (c) Whether under probation, parole, or criminal justice supervision at the time of the offense; and (d) Whether there are any outstanding warrants.

 b.  The Defender Services Division will assign the prisoner’s letter to a Federal Public Defender (FPD) for review and response. b. Once the case has been assigned, it usually takes an FPD four to eight weeks to respond.  c. Assuming the prisoner has provided all the necessary information, the FPD will provide the prisoner with a reasonably-informed estimate of how the foreign sentence will be administered in the United States if the prisoner is transferred.
While a prisoner is free to write to the Defender Services Division at any time, as a practical matter FPDs cannot provide specific information or opinions unless the prisoner has a final sentence, that is, he/she has been convicted, sentenced and all appeals have been completed.


c.  The prisoner should complete and sign the Prisoner Transfer Application Questionnaire. This document is part of the “Transfer Packet” that the Department of Justice (DOJ) sends once it is aware that a prisoner is eligible for transfer. The consular section may already have a set of transfer forms and information sheets as the Justice Department sends this material to posts when each country becomes a party to the treaties. 

International Prisoner Transfer Unit (IPTU) and Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Responsibilities

 a. Upon receipt of the signed verification of consent form, the IPTU contacts the Central Office of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and requests they provide escorts and transport for whatever numbers of prisoners have been certified eligible for transfer.

c. The Correctional Programs Division works with the IPTU to ensure that all paperwork is complete, the verification hearing has taken place, and each prisoner has been tested for TB.

e. The BOP will provide the names and bio information of escorts, and itinerary to CA/OCS/ACS. 


1. The prisoner, sentencing country, and receiving country must consent to the transfer;

2. Dual criminality must exist (the crime of conviction must also be a crime in the receiving country). Although the basic requirements are sometimes easy to meet, the fact that several other issues are analyzed in the process of determining a person’s eligibility makes it important to have the most expert representation working on your behalf. 

What are the benefits of transferring to one's home country?

What can one do to be a better candidate for transfer?=