We were returning into the US at LAX from an overseas trip and had asked the immigration officer to stamp our passports (we were told by an officer on a prior trip that they usually don't stamp US passports, but would if you asked, so now we always ask). He mentioned that collecting stamps was nice, but to be careful because South Africa needs two completly empty pages.

Last summer we traveled LAX-DUB (three days)-FRA (five days) -PRG (five days)-LHR-LAX and we received entry and exit stamps at DUB, FRA, PRG and LAX (entry stamp only). My sisters and niece who traveled with us LAX-(?)-PRG-LHR-LAX didn't receive any stamps and was sooo jealous. Now she knows to always ask.

Just goes to show it doesn't hurt to ask.

You're completely right to call me out on my lazy thinking. Please forgive it.

I suppose I was just conflating the badassery inherent my friend's willingness to visit Iraq to do work he strongly believes in with all of the passport stamps he picked up along the way. It's also possible that I considered the stamps, some of which contain an admonishment to report to the nearest police station within 10 days.

It's entirely likely I had visited any of those countries, I wouldn't have been so quick to ignorantly lump them all together.

Fair enough. The few times in my life I've been shaken down for a bribe, I was definitely irked about it.

When I entered Switzerland via GVA in May, I asked for a stamp. The immigration officer told me that they only stamp passports when there is a visa; since I had a US passport and was there for a short stay, I didn't need a visa for Switzerland and thus didn't get a stamp.

Oh well.

- Michael

You were given wron information, man! :D Ask next time again or try in Zurich.

I would do the same if I worked at customs. Whatfor are the stamps? All they do is filling you passport up so that you have to buy a new one.

I think that some people (like me) enjoy collecting and seeing them. I got the 49 page passport (which costs the same as a normal 20 pager)... just for this reason!

While sometimes getting a stamp is just a souvenir and sometimes getting a stampt can cause troubles, there are times when it's in your best interest to have a stamp. The passport stamp documents your arrival/departure from a given country and sometimes it's important to have that information in your passport. Unless you have an entry and exit stamp for each country you visit, there are potential issues with having to prove that you didn't overstay a visa or visa-less entry.

I don't always follow this myself, but it is something to consider, especially if one makes frequent trips to the same place. (You don't want one entry stamp and then no exit stamps; then when you leave again maybe some officer will notice the one entry stamp and see no exit stamps and accuse you of an overstay...even if you were perfectly legit.)

That's exactly why...I don't travel internationally all that much (this was my first trip overseas since 2002), so I'm not worried about my passport running out of room...

N674UW

That SF-86 can be a pain in the .... They only provide enough space for 4 or 5 trips.

I am an American living over in the middle east, and what can I say they are stamp happy here. I have been here for three years now and I am about finished with my second set of pages.

For Saudi Arabia, the visa takes up two pages and includes your photo and all your details including your sponsor.

Lebanon: One whole page with a stamp and then they place a sticker if your staying more then 48 hours.

Kuwait: Small, nothing special.

Qatar: Half a page but if they place it in the middle, which they usually do, it's gone.

Oman: Whole page again.

Jordan: Similar to Lebanon, but the other Arab countries immigration usually check this stamp the most to ensure I didn't come over the king Hussein bridge in Israel.

UAE: I have a residence visa, whole page, but they stamp going in and going out.

Libya: Whole page, sticker.(don't have one, but I have been waiting 8 months for one, go figure) my boss has one.

As you can imagine it's very easy to blow through pages here.



Billman

[The passport stamp documents your arrival/departure from a given country and sometimes it's important to have that information in your passport. Unless you have an entry and exit stamp for each country you visit, there are potential issues with having to prove that you didn't overstay a visa or visa-less entry.]

But this is precisely why you don't want EXIT stamps in your passport. They can prove how long you were in a jurisdiction, making it trouble to return if it appears that you obviously "live in that jurisdiction." You don't want "Exit Stamps" most of all. That way, when you come back in, they don't say "but you just left! And by the way, you overstayed before you left!"

Seriously, it might be cutesy for people who visit Europe once per year to want to "collect stamps"...but for Americans who aren't on vacation but actually do work projects around the world, stamps are information that can be used to hurt you. Say you're a US businessman who needs to do a project in France for 6 weeks. Then you do a project in Switzerland for one week and proceed to Germany for 6 weeks. You are about to go back to the USA but you decide to visit a Black Sea resort for a week. On your return to Germany you want to pick up your stuff at a hotel before flying home to the USA. But, if you've been getting exit and entry stamps the entire time, a strict and unfriendly German official can tell you that you cannot enter the EU anymore because you're only allowed 90 days out of 180. He'll tell you to come back in three months to gather your bags! This never happened to me but I've come very close to it happening (mean official giving me the third degree - all because of the ugly, horrifying tattle-tale stamps).

Exit stamps are not funny. You don't want them if you can help it if you are a very busy traveler. They provide "too much information." So please, in any discussions about "getting stamped"...delineate whether you were exit stamped by the countries you were leaving as opposed to getting stamped by the countries you were entering.

My question is this: Where were you NOT exit stamped in Europe? I don't care whether anyone was entry stamped, although it would be interesting to know whether entry stamps actually name the exact port of entry (because that could be the equivalent of getting an exit stamp if by train or car).

Many here say that Switzerland doesn't stamp Americans. But do the Germans stamp that you are leaving Germany to enter Switzerland? How about Germany to Czech? Austria to Hungary? We're talking about exit stamps. Prettiness of stamps is about #999 on a priority list for reading about. ;-)

OF COURSE!!! Let's not follow the law! :) If you do not like getting them, them don't...but many people (like myself) do.

I travel just about as much as anyone on here. Weekly. Daily. And I still love getting passport stamps. It is good for documentation reasons as well as just for fun and show.

I thought Qatar had gone to 100% e-visas for short-term visitors now?