Under US law [U.S. Code – Title 18 – Chapter 306 – § 4100 46 KB] foreign nationals convicted of a crime in the United States, and United States citizens or nationals convicted of a crime in a foreign country, may apply for a prisoner transfer to their home country if a treaty providing for such transfer is in force between the United States and the foreign country involved. The United States has 12 bilateral prisoner transfer treaties in force in Bolivia, Canada, France, Hong Kong S.A.R., Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Peru, Thailand and Turkey.

In addition, the United States is a party to two multilateral prisoner transfer treaties: The Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons (Strasbourg Convention), [and] The Inter-American Convention on Serving Criminal Sentences Abroad (OAS [Organization of American States] Convention). The Convention entered into force for the U.S on June 24, 2001. [it] is in force in the following countries: Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, the United States and Venezuela.”

Aug. 8, 2007