Originally Posted by dachiri

Hi all,

Random question. A few years ago, I traveled to Canada on vacation. I got in late (by train) and the Customs officer grilled me hard (unnecessary, but whatever), so I guess I didn't notice that she didn't stamp my passport. I also wasn't stamped returning to the US, but that's fairly normal (every once in a while an agent will ask if I want a re-entry stamp, but it's not common).

Anywho, my security clearance came up for renewal recently (see why the grilling was unnecessary? I freely volunteered that I am a U.S. federal employee when she asked as one of her first questions), and I trucked in both my work and personal passports to support my international travel records in my interview. That's when it came up that I hadn't received an entry stamp on the Canadian trip (which I listed on the paperwork). The investigator made kind of a big deal about it, but let it go when I submitted my travel confirmations and credit card statements from the time showing my activity while there (and people said I was crazy for keeping all my confirmations in a folder in my email).

So my question is, is it SOP for Canadian border control to *not* stamp U.S. passports? I know that we have pretty liberal travel "agreements" with Canada, but didn't realize that meant no passport stamp. Is it a big pain/red flag to request one if I go back, so that my travel records match my paperwork when my clearance comes up for review again? I carry my work ID in my purse, so I can show a decent reason for requesting one, I suppose...