shaner82

Maybe the rules are different for Canadians, but I have visited the US hundreds of times (by land and air) and have never had my passport stamped, never once.

CX HK

I think you mean EU officials stamping an EU passport

Tchiowa

Agreed. And it can be useful when entering other countries and they want to know where you've been prior to coming there. If entry stamps to the US aren't there they can get suspicious (Pakistan did that to me once).

steveben53

Kinda sad that passports are no longer stamped. I have kept every passport I have ever had and looking back at the various entry and exit stamps brings back memories. I especially remember road trips through Europe before custom posts were abolished - nostalgia, what a wonderful thing

BigOrangeTerp

Colombia and Chile still stamp! My very first US passport has been christened by them. No US CBP stamps though

Zeeb

As somebody who rarely travels internationally I'd disagree - I like getting my passport stamped. It is an small memento of each trip. Though I think in the four times I've re-entered the US I've only been stamped once.

cdn1

Question about US-CBP stamps:

-If they simply stamped the ppt but didn't write anything, how much stay does that mean is allowed ?

-another time I entered, and the cbp stamped it. Stamped entry for march 1, and he wrote class 'B2' and then underneath that date of Sept 1. (This was in secondary as they said my name was "too common", so took 15 mins time in secondary). Still came out before all other "foreigners", so benefit still there to be Cdn.

Is it 6 months or 3 months if no date written on stamp for stay?

Christopher

That is apparently not allowed, yes. It is said that a passport stamp implies permission to enter the country and that such permission has not been given (and cannot be given) since citizens of an EU country do not require permission to enter an EU country - although, myself, I think there's a leap of logic there. (Sometimes a passport control officer will unbend if a stamp is requested, particularly if the passport holder is a child.)

Australian passports are not stamped on arrival or departure from Australia or New Zealand any more, either.

Nugget_Oz

Not as a matter of routine but you can still ask for stamp.

CX HK

Are these regular stamps or are the words "ON REQUEST" or something similar written on/ besides it?

Cometintintin

Since you can have a new passport in any moment whatsoever, the existence of previous stamps or not is irrelevant...

Passports are constantly been reissued (lost, expired, damaged...) so it will be strange for a custom officer to relay on the existence of stamps...

(my 2 cents)

Nugget_Oz

It's a regular stamp with the date of departure recorded.

vhrum

This is not at all a serious issue, but still a... surprising... experience.

Since signing up for Global Entry a few years ago, shortly after the program started, I no longer go through passport control when reentering the US and therefore do not get my passport stamped there. So I've taken to asking the CBP officer who takes my kiosk receipt to stamp my passport, which they have done at airports across America without hesitation and exception.

Until a recent experience coming into JFK, where asked the officer to stamp me, and he said, "Only the person who admits you into the country can stamp you." I was so taken aback I asked, "Are you joking?" And he said "No! I'm not stamping you." NY is perhaps less apt to grant any exception from rules relating to security and border patrol, even such minor ones as this, but it nevertheless seemed completely ridiculous to me.

Thoughts?

fwoomp

Tell them, "I asked the machine and it said it was OK?"

vhrum

I'll have to try that next time