Passport stamps
 

Hong Kong and Macau generally no longer issue passport arrival/departure stamps, however will the immigration officers stamp your passport if you ask nicely?

I don't know, but as for Hong Kong, they issue you a paper receipt the size of a large postage stamp for arrivals. I just staple these to my passport for my own benefit so I have a complete record of int'l travel. I suppose you could glue them to your passport yourself and they'd be more or less like the stickers Japan uses now.

Bit surprised at this answer - I thought all immigration authorities have to stamp if asked http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passport_stamp. But I don't see an appeal from this:

http://www.immd.gov.hk/en/topical/no...clearance.html

Q 2:

Can the visitor request stamping on his/his travel document so as to keep the travel record?


A 2:


Upon implementation of non-stamping immigration clearance arrangement, the immigration counter officers will not stamp on the visitors’ travel documents. If the visitor needs to refer to his/her travel record, he/she may submit an “Application for a Statement of Travel Records” to the Records Centre of the Immigration Department and pay the application fee.

I wonder why they convert to this method? Ink is more expensive than paper?

I think stamping takes more time than printing a paper and stapling it.

FWIW, in the early days of automated clearance for visitors (5+ years ago), the e-channel machines spat out a sticker, and the instruction was to affix it to an empty spot in one's passport. I have no idea why they abandoned this approach, which IMO is much superior to the current receipt.

With an average to two entries/exits per week, I appreciate the current system a great deal.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/china...es-stamps.html

That's exactly right. Consider that it's not just a simple matter of a single rubber stamp. People are admitted to Hong Kong for many different durations and conditions of day. So, the old system was not just a matter of stamping the passport, but selecting the correct stamp to use based on the traveler's nationality, purpose of visit, and so on. The new system has the computer calculate all of this and print the correct information automatically.

Why not a hybrid system whereby the machine prints receipts that have an adhesive back that has a peel-off protective layer? Then people could use them as the current ones are used by not removing the backing, or they could remove the back and paste them into their passports. Such a method could probably be adopted just by changing the paper stock in the existing machines, without having to modify them.

I can understand moondog's situation, but for me not having a passport stamp after visiting a country just doesn't feel right.