Do countries still put stamps on your passport?

Question_Mark

An older buddy of mine showed me his passport the other day and it was riddled with stamps from different countries, from his younger days. Mine is as bare as a bone. Seems there's no more of that? Or is it just EU travel doesn't have any stamps?

LenaClaire

I think if you have an EU passport, travel within the EU is generally not stamped.

Outside the EU they still stamp.

Just EU travel (and Switzerland and the like). I've heard some places will stamp it if you ask though.

thelad95

Thinly veiled ''I travel a lot'' thread.

No stamps in the EU but you'll get them outside.

Mine is crap. Only a few stamps. Mostly from USA.

Ruu

Kids get selfies with the border guards these days.

Slicemeister

I generally just lob the lad out, nobody's refused to sign it yet.

thelad95

thelad95 wrote: »

Thinly veiled ''I travel a lot'' thread.

Actually it's the exact opposite of that.

Meathlass

Yes, outside the EU you'll get stamps. I love looking through my old passports at all the visas and stamps.

ZiabR

I ask for mine to be stamped. You get some strange looks in the EU but they will do it for you if you ask.

chocksaway

Yeah always wondered could you ask. Used to like collecting the airplane ticket stubs but online boarding passes have gotten rid of this really

Menas

Outside the EU =lots of stamps and some countries like to staple bits of paper in to your passport too.

Question_Mark

Cheers

The Bould Rabbit

My girl has her passport stamped full of touristy places like the Checkpoint Charlie, Tower of London, Vatican etc.

Why can't she just get fridge magnets like everyone else.

whiskeyman

Slicemeister wrote: »

I generally just lob the lad out, nobody's refused to sign it yet.

So your lad acts as your form of ID?

Dickhead?


:pac:

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

I do know Indian men stamp their wives bums to show the time of last entry.

Davidth88

you really only get stamps outside the EU/EEA

However as other people have said if you ask they will stamp , often writing ' By request ' next to it .

However be careful what you wish for ....... if your passport fills up you have to get a new one even if it's not expired , and a lot of countries ( usually self important ones ) insist on having a blank page for the visa stickers and stamps.

My old one was pretty close to being full because I did a fair bit of travel , however my new one ( 3 years now ! ) is totally blank.

rubadub

Davidth88 wrote: »

However be careful what you wish for ....... if your passport fills up you have to get a new one even if it's not expired , and a lot of countries ( usually self important ones ) insist on having a blank page for the visa stickers and stamps.

Yeah, you can pay for a bigger passport with more pages if you travel a lot.

Standard 10-year passport is €80
Large 66-page, 10-year passport is €110

A guy in work went abroad a lot on business and was going mad as some places were only using small stamps yet would insist on using a new page, and others got it in their head to do the same, prehaps having seen others do it? While others will carefully put their stamp right next to another so as not to use up space, the page looks like a jigsaw.

You could try asking them not to do it but there is a language barrier and you do not want to upset some of these serious looking guys at passport checks.

The_Valeyard

Be careful with who you let stamp your passport.

I know of some mates who had trouble getting In certain Middle east countries because of an Israeli stamp on their passport.

Jagdtiger

You can still get a stamp entering and leaving any EU country, but as mentioned you have to ask and it depends on the mood of the officer on duty. Some will be nice and say yes (they'll say no if more than one person starts to ask though), others outright no, and some just won't understand why you want a stamp and try to explain that you don't need one and will go one way or the other.
Once I was told an EU passport getting a stamp requires the official to do a full security check of all the security features on the passport, but I'm not sure if he was killing two birds with the one stone, as it only happened once.

They always have the stamps there ready to go.

Unfortunately all the EU stamps look exactly the same, plain rectangular boxes with small EU and arrival/departure symbols, the date, and an abbreviation for the country 'D' 'F' and so on.

May as well ask, empty passports are boring to look back through years down the line!

Menas

Ruu wrote: »

Kids get selfies with the border guards these days.

When I was taking my son thru French passport control in September the guard asked for his teddy, Larry the Lamb's, passport.
My son then kindly asked her if he could take Larry thru as we had forgotten his passport at home and it was his mum to blame.
She agreed...pretended to enter Larrys details in the computer system and sent us on our way.....but I was shocked as how good a liar my son was.

Tokyo

Depends on the Country. EU citizen travelling within the EU won't get stamped unless they request it for 'show-off-my-passport' purposes. Outside the EU, it depends on the country and where you hail from. Some countries stamp you in and out at the border on arrival and exit, no questions asked, others require a half page or full page visa sticker that will allow for single/dual/multi entry, and that gets stamped when you enter and exit the country.

Kev_2012

USA, Canada and Mexico do anyway, and that was all in 2014

Antar Bolaeisk

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Be careful with who you let stamp your passport.

I know of some mates who had trouble getting In certain Middle east countries because of an Israeli stamp on their passport.

Yeah they take a dim view of that around these parts.

Just had my passport renewed recently, had to get the big passport for all the potential stampage.

You get a stamp leaving and exiting here, plus a stamp entering/leaving Bahrain if going that way, also a paper visa thingy, stapled in at the back. Not sure what the craic now is though with the fancy sticker in the old passport though I've been told I have to carry the two when coming/going which sounds like a right pain.

Tokyo

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Be careful with who you let stamp your passport.

I know of some mates who had trouble getting In certain Middle east countries because of an Israeli stamp on their passport.

Generally those countries will staple a piece of paper to a page of your passport and will stamp that - you can remove the stamp later on down the line if it proves to be problematic. Had a couple of these stapled pages in my old passport.

Jinonatron

Hong Kong and Macau don't stamp anymore. They just give you a piece of paper containing the entry and exit dates.

MadsL

I had some lovely stamps including places like Egypt, South Africa, Bosnia, and my US Perm. Resident.

Went through the washing machine. Doh!!!!!

Annasopra

Outside the EU. I have stamps from Turkey, USA and Azerbaijan

Mister Vain

Meathlass wrote: »

I love looking through my old passports at all the visas and stamps.

Jasus how many do you have? Doesn't each one last 10 years?

purplecow1977

Cuba doesn't stamp!

Menas

Mister Vain wrote: »

Jasus how many do you have? Doesn't each one last 10 years?

You can get a new one before expiry if your visa pages are all full.

purplecow1977

MadsL wrote: »

I had some lovely stamps including places like Egypt, South Africa, Bosnia, and my US Perm. Resident.

Went through the washing machine. Doh!!!!!

I didn't get any stamp from Bosnia!

Road border thought, does that make a difference?

The_Valeyard

purplecow1977 wrote: »

I didn't get any stamp from Bosnia!

Road border thought, does that make a difference?

Must do. I didn't get one in Bosnia either. Travelling by road.

purplecow1977

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Must do. I didn't get one in Bosnia either. Travelling by road.

I would love if all countries gave a stamp.

I probably wouldn't bother asking for a stamp though.

Tokyo

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Must do. I didn't get one in Bosnia either. Travelling by road.

Just checked my passport - was stamped crossing into Bosnia - by road at Klobuk.

purplecow1977

mike_ie wrote: »

Just checked my passport - was stamped crossing into Bosnia - by road at Klobuk.

Oh. I didn't get one. And I crossed over and back!

DeanAustin

Why would anyone want the stamp?

In my view, it's kinda the old version of people taking pics of themselves to post on the internet.

If you want people to know you've been somewhere, just tell them. I'm sure they'll believe you.

purplecow1977

DeanAustin wrote: »

Why would anyone want the stamp?

In my view, it's kinda the old version of people taking pics of themselves to post on the internet.

If you want people to know you've been somewhere, just tell them. I'm sure they'll believe you.

I don't really think that's the reason

People like to look back & remember where they've been.

Why do people bother making scrapbooks?!

Antar Bolaeisk

mike_ie wrote: »

Just checked my passport - was stamped crossing into Bosnia - by road at Klobuk.

Maybe they didn't like the look of you.

DeanAustin

purplecow1977 wrote: »

I don't really think that's the reason

People like to look back & remember where they've been.

Why do people bother making scrapbooks?!

I'm not exactly Judith Chalmers but I've yet to forget any of the places I've been.

purplecow1977

DeanAustin wrote: »

I'm not exactly Judith Chalmers but I've yet to forget any of the places I've been.

I don't mean a case of amnesia!!!!

I don't think you're going to see the point of passport stamps so I shall leave you to it

Tokyo

purplecow1977 wrote: »

Oh. I didn't get one. And I crossed over and back!

No idea... I have the same - entry and exit when I drove across and back.

DeanAustin wrote: »

Why would anyone want the stamp?

In my view, it's kinda the old version of people taking pics of themselves to post on the internet.

If you want people to know you've been somewhere, just tell them. I'm sure they'll believe you.

Think that's far from being the only reason to be honest. I travel a fair amount, and passport stamps are a very handy record of when you entered and exited various countries. And visa applications for certain countries can be dependent on when you were last in certain other countries, so I'd reference them relatively often.

uck51js9zml2yt

I had China, Hong Kong, south Africa, Mozambique, Tunisia at one stage.
My current one is blank with travel in the Eu.

My wife had a grilling first time out with her new passport when leaving Poland. It was a Slovak passport with my surname. The border guard put it under a microscope... Literally.

LenaClaire

mike_ie wrote: »

No idea... I have the same - entry and exit when I drove across and back.



Think that's far from being the only reason to be honest. I travel a fair amount, and passport stamps are a very handy record of when you entered and exited various countries. And visa applications for certain countries can be dependent on when you were last in certain other countries, so I'd reference them relatively often.

I travel a lot for work, and I find a quick check in my passport a much better reminder for when a trip was rather than having to weed through my emails for old itineraries.

MadsL

mike_ie wrote: »

Think that's far from being the only reason to be honest. I travel a fair amount, and passport stamps are a very handy record of when you entered and exited various countries. And visa applications for certain countries can be dependent on when you were last in certain other countries, so I'd reference them relatively often.

Applying for US residency I had to do a police background check in every country I ever lived in, living in Prague before the age of the internet I needed entry and exit dates.

mighty magpie

Mines is fairly full at the minute. All stamps on entry/exit but SA had a one page working visa.
South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Dubai, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia.

Missed out on a week's work in both Kenya and Angola.
Angolan embassy had my passport for 2 weeks so i missed the week in Kenya then the fcukers turned down my Visa in the end up with no reason given :mad:

Canis Lupus

mighty magpie wrote: »

Mines is fairly full at the minute. All stamps on entry/exit but SA had a one page working visa.
South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Dubai, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia.

Missed out on a week's work in both Kenya and Angola.
Angolan embassy had my passport for 2 weeks so i missed the week in Kenya then the fcukers turned down my Visa in the end up with no reason given :mad:

Good old Africa.