No EU Entry and Exit Stamp in My US Passport?
Apr 12, 2015, 8:38 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 147
No EU Entry and Exit Stamp in My US Passport?
Hello all!
I went on to a trip to Europe recently. From January 20 to 24, I was in Iceland, where I did get entry and exit stamp on my way to UK.
Then I took Eurostar from London to Brussels on February 3 or 4, and traveled within EU until April 4, when I flew out of Rome, Italy to United States (I'm an American citizen).
Looking through my passport, I saw that I have NO entry AND NO exit stamp (but did get a stamp of return to United States from the US Border Control).
My passport has a lot of stamps from traveling around Europe two years ago and then to China...so it's not like a completely brand-new passport. It seems that the border guards pretty much just took a look at the passport and waved me through...can't recall now if they took a moment to scan the passport or not.
1) Does that mean there were no record of me spending about 59 days in EU (Belgium to Italy)?
If I flew back to EU right now, would they have any record of my time in EU? Would it be like I have "new" 90 days?
2) I can't recall right now, but does EU airports scan passports to record your entry and exit?
Also, just in case anyone is interested, I came across this floating in the cyberspace: http://www.overlanddiaries.com/?tag=schengen-zone
Thanks!
I went on to a trip to Europe recently. From January 20 to 24, I was in Iceland, where I did get entry and exit stamp on my way to UK.
Then I took Eurostar from London to Brussels on February 3 or 4, and traveled within EU until April 4, when I flew out of Rome, Italy to United States (I'm an American citizen).
Looking through my passport, I saw that I have NO entry AND NO exit stamp (but did get a stamp of return to United States from the US Border Control).
My passport has a lot of stamps from traveling around Europe two years ago and then to China...so it's not like a completely brand-new passport. It seems that the border guards pretty much just took a look at the passport and waved me through...can't recall now if they took a moment to scan the passport or not.
1) Does that mean there were no record of me spending about 59 days in EU (Belgium to Italy)?
If I flew back to EU right now, would they have any record of my time in EU? Would it be like I have "new" 90 days?
2) I can't recall right now, but does EU airports scan passports to record your entry and exit?
Also, just in case anyone is interested, I came across this floating in the cyberspace: http://www.overlanddiaries.com/?tag=schengen-zone
Thanks!
Last edited by wildchartermage; Apr 12, 2015 at 7:15 pm
Apr 12, 2015, 1:29 pm
#2
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Iceland is a Schengen country...unless I'm not thinking of a requirement, you didn't need an exit stamp there and wouldn't have gotten an entry stamp in London. Obviously you should have been stamped leaving Italy.
I've also not received an exit stamp from the EU to US a couple times. I never notice until the trip is over.
CORRECTION: I wasn't thinking...UK is not Schengen. You missed a few stamps.
I've also not received an exit stamp from the EU to US a couple times. I never notice until the trip is over.
CORRECTION: I wasn't thinking...UK is not Schengen. You missed a few stamps.
Last edited by JBord; Apr 12, 2015 at 1:44 pm Reason: Correction to post
Apr 12, 2015, 7:13 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 147
Yeah, I missed few stamps, but does that imply there are no records of me entering and leaving the Schengen Zone...like it was as if I was never in Schengen Zone except for the 4 days in Iceland?
Or there are electronic or other methods I may not be aware of to keep me track?
Or there are electronic or other methods I may not be aware of to keep me track?
Apr 13, 2015, 1:21 am
#4
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Yes there are other ways they can track you. And yes at times both France and Italy just wave through certain passports to alleviate backlogs.
Apr 14, 2015, 12:53 am
#7
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 399
And then there are the security agents who follow all non-EU passport holders around. They cunningly dress as national stereotypes to avoid arousing suspicion (though this is a bit of a problem for Luxemburg as they don't have a national stereotype). Did the OP spot the characters from "Tintin" behind him/her in Belgium?
Apr 14, 2015, 1:04 am
#8
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And then there are the security agents who follow all non-EU passport holders around. They cunningly dress as national stereotypes to avoid arousing suspicion (though this is a bit of a problem for Luxemburg as they don't have a national stereotype). Did the OP spot the characters from "Tintin" behind him/her in Belgium?
Apr 14, 2015, 10:32 am
#10
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 399
Well, seriously, the Schengen area updates its records of non-EU/EEA citizens who have arrived and departed by scanning passports. The rubber stamp is only essential on non-machine-readable passports which are rare these days, and increasingly airport immigration personnel (most obviously at CDG) don't bother to stamp passports they've successfully scanned even though they're still supposed to. EU passports are never stamped whether the issuing country is in Schengen or not as this is against the rules.
The US and the UK have no visible exit checks at airports at all, but information is fed into immigration databases by the airlines scanning passports at check-in or at the gate. The immigration officers still know next time you arrive when you were last there and how long you stayed. It would be unwise to assume that this source of information doesn't reach Schengen immigration too at airports within the Area.
The US and the UK have no visible exit checks at airports at all, but information is fed into immigration databases by the airlines scanning passports at check-in or at the gate. The immigration officers still know next time you arrive when you were last there and how long you stayed. It would be unwise to assume that this source of information doesn't reach Schengen immigration too at airports within the Area.
Last edited by Andy33; Apr 14, 2015 at 10:38 am
Apr 15, 2015, 1:14 am
#11
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Well, seriously, the Schengen area updates its records of non-EU/EEA citizens who have arrived and departed by scanning passports. The rubber stamp is only essential on non-machine-readable passports which are rare these days, and increasingly airport immigration personnel (most obviously at CDG) don't bother to stamp passports they've successfully scanned even though they're still supposed to. EU passports are never stamped whether the issuing country is in Schengen or not as this is against the rules.
The US and the UK have no visible exit checks at airports at all, but information is fed into immigration databases by the airlines scanning passports at check-in or at the gate. The immigration officers still know next time you arrive when you were last there and how long you stayed. It would be unwise to assume that this source of information doesn't reach Schengen immigration too at airports within the Area.
The US and the UK have no visible exit checks at airports at all, but information is fed into immigration databases by the airlines scanning passports at check-in or at the gate. The immigration officers still know next time you arrive when you were last there and how long you stayed. It would be unwise to assume that this source of information doesn't reach Schengen immigration too at airports within the Area.
Apr 15, 2015, 8:25 am
#12
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And then there are the security agents who follow all non-EU passport holders around. They cunningly dress as national stereotypes to avoid arousing suspicion (though this is a bit of a problem for Luxemburg as they don't have a national stereotype). Did the OP spot the characters from "Tintin" behind him/her in Belgium?
Apr 15, 2015, 8:32 am
#13
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Unless the person entered the Schengen Zone using a visa and was scanned into VIS, most of those Schengen passport scans have had nothing to do with EU/EEA tracking the when/where for arrival and departure of persons using the non-EU/EEA passports without an embassy/consulate-procured Schengen visa.
Apr 15, 2015, 11:25 am
#14
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Austria, EU
Posts: 86
Well, seriously, the Schengen area updates its records of non-EU/EEA citizens who have arrived and departed by scanning passports. The rubber stamp is only essential on non-machine-readable passports which are rare these days, and increasingly airport immigration personnel (most obviously at CDG) don't bother to stamp passports they've successfully scanned even though they're still supposed to. EU passports are never stamped whether the issuing country is in Schengen or not as this is against the rules.
The US and the UK have no visible exit checks at airports at all, but information is fed into immigration databases by the airlines scanning passports at check-in or at the gate. The immigration officers still know next time you arrive when you were last there and how long you stayed. It would be unwise to assume that this source of information doesn't reach Schengen immigration too at airports within the Area.
The US and the UK have no visible exit checks at airports at all, but information is fed into immigration databases by the airlines scanning passports at check-in or at the gate. The immigration officers still know next time you arrive when you were last there and how long you stayed. It would be unwise to assume that this source of information doesn't reach Schengen immigration too at airports within the Area.
But I am not a law enforcement officer, so don't take me by my word on that. That's the info that is on Wikipedia on the matter and I believe it's true, as I think I can remember that after the Charlie Hebdo attacks there was a discussion going on whether such a database should be introduced.
Apr 15, 2015, 11:29 am
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 147
Unless the person entered the Schengen Zone using a visa and was scanned into VIS, most of those Schengen passport scans have had nothing to do with EU/EEA tracking the when/where for arrival and departure of persons using the non-EU/EEA passports without an embassy/consulate-procured Schengen visa.
Based on what you're saying, since I entered the Zone as a tourist and never applied for a Schengen Zone, the border guards all rely on counting the days based on the entry and exit stamps, right? But in my case, since I didn't have any stamps, it would appear I was only in the Zone for 4 days (Iceland).
