exit passport control
 

Went to Munich for the weekend, and I got preety quizzed at outgoing passport control as to what I'd been doing in Munich for the weekend. Truthfully told the agent that I'd been seeing my GF. But given his intrusiveness, I wanted to tell him that I'd been visiting his mom.

US, of course, have no outgoing passport control, and given the real possibility in Europe that folks will exit from a country other than the entry point, what gives with this intrusiveness - when I'm on my way out?

Ugh, the concept annoys me, and I can just imagine the eye-rolling he would've gotten from me if I had been there.

Interesting. I've never been quizzed by any outgoing passport officers. Maybe he was really bored and wanted some conversation.

The concept is the following:

if you have committed to crime in the European Union, they will do everything to catch you at the boarder! (not a point in the US, if I'd kill somebody over there, I would just catch the next flight and bye bye)
The European Union knows who is coming and going. Nobody would tell you, you've overstayed and make a big stink if you can prove it with their owns stamps in your passport. (the US doesn't)
I think letting you in the country within 5 minutes in a reasonable friendly and non-discriminating, without taking personal data (other than necessary) makes up for taking another half minute to stamp your passport on the way out.

For many people who are coming and going, the EU and its member states do not know who is coming and going.

About the utility of entry & exit passport stamps/control, I have had many entries into and exits from EU member states where my passport was not stamped, and it was not even intentional on my part -- and I have had many entries into and exits from the EU (or the Schengen subset) where my passport was not swiped and sometimes not even opened by passport control officials (if any were present).

Just some background information. It has something to do with two things. First mainly historic reasons. It was common almost every European country to have entry and exit controls. It was a way how European nations wanted to protect their national sovereignty. Second with the founding of the European Union and the Schengen Treaty things changed. For the absence if inner-European Border controls and the freedom to travel within the continent without stopping at every border the Schengen-Treaty demanded that the outer borders of the Schengen Zone needed to be protected. So exit controls at airports are now a part of the Schengen Treaty. It is a trade off between the freedom of travel within the Schengen zone and a need of secure borders.

I think this will happen less and less in the future but no system is perfect.

Still I think a few questions on your way in and maybe out and two stamps in your passport are toleratable like filling out a mint green paper with in my opinion absolutely stupid questions and no guarantee when you exit that the airline handles the mint green exit paper properly so you can enter the next time without a hassle.

Three are three reasons: Most likely this guy just tried to be nice (obviously even in English language) or your file or passport number gave some indication to inquire or he was protecting the Schengen border by making sure that you were not involved in any illegal activities (like taking on work, selling drugs or robbing a bank).

Simple - exit controls are as much a part of border security as entry controls. It's one thing to prevent undesirables from entering, but you also want to be able to catch criminals who are skipping the country to avoid prosecution.

The reason the agent took an interest in you in Munich probably has something to do with one of the following: your appearance, your passport or the file that came up on his computer when he swiped your passport (which I'm assuming he did). Something about you gave him pause.

I'm thinking he saw somebody who bears a passing resemblance to you on a "Wanted" poster some time ago and he needed something to stall you with while he ran your name against a warrants database or something.

Or he was just making conversation. Not every question an immigration agent asks automatically has to be part of a sinister interrogation by evil forces of a merciless regime bent on destroying freedom and all that is good in the world.

One other thing - think about the number of people these agents talk to in a given workday. Whatever you tell them - they'll probably forget it more or less instantly and move on, unless it's something memorable (like telling him you visited his mother). If he starts keeping notes, then I'll start to worry.

Exit controls are common and make a lot of sense. I find it sort of strange that the US relies on that pesky I-94 form that can easily get lost as its "control" on exit.

Furthermore, the questions the officer asked you as you were leaving are relevant to his job--unlike similar questions that the TSA uses in its SPOT program.

Occasionally the system is slow in processing the passport info once swiped...if the officer has to wait for the info to appear on his/her screen, then he/she may decide to ask a question or two while waiting. I think a basic question is actually more comfortable than standing there in suspense as the officer stares intently at his/her screen saying nothing.

I have re-opened the thread after some editing and ask you to not go off-topic, please.
Thank you!

berlinflyer
co-moderator germany forum

You guys are "lucky" you are US citizens - this is the type of treatment we aliens get each and every time we enter the US. Of course, if we would "roll our eyes", we would end up in shackles and handcuffs very quickly...

The reason the officer made small talk is the same reason why the CBP does small talk too. When a officer scan the passport in the SIS, it takes a while for a response to come back, if the line is slow or the system overloaded. CBP has the same problem. Officers usually ask pertinent questions to pass the time while the computer query is running.