Running out of Stamp Space on Passport
 

Just a question... I have about two pages left in my passport for stamping but I am sure to run out way before my passport expires... do I need to get a new passport when I am out of room or can I just get extra pages somewhere?

It depends....
 

...what country issued your passport?

It is possible to add pages to a US passport, but I've heard it can take a long time if you try to do it in the US. On the other hand, I had pages added in the Embassy in Bern, and it took under an hour start-to-finish.

I have no idea for other passports, though.

-Kush

If the OP is based in the US, here's more info on adding pages to passport(s):
http://travel.state.gov/passport/fri/add/add_850.html

You can get extra pages added. Info. in this thread.

Just do a search on adding extra pages, this subject is often discussed on FT.

How to fit six U.S. entry stamps on each passport page
 

This is really dorky, but I am on FT, so...

To encourage more efficient utilization of passport page space (in a European Union: U.K. version passport), I have divided each of the last eight pages such that six new U.S. entry stamps can fit on each page. That's 48 U.S. entry stamps.

Each new U.S. entry stamp measures 4.7cm wide X 3.5cm tall and is oval.

A passport page is 8.5cm wide X 12.5cm tall.

Instructions [queue 1950's elevator and documentary muzak]:

Choose the passport page you wish to divide up into six spaces. On your selected page, using a ruler and a No.2 (HB) pencil, draw a line from the top of the page to the bottom, 4.25cm from the left edge (or, exactly down the middle).

You now have a left and a right column on your page.

In the left column, draw a horizontal line from the left edge to the vertical line, 3.5cm from the top edge. Draw another line 0.5cm below this line and another 3.5cm below this one. Continue until you have three stamp fields that are 3.5cm tall with a 0.5cm border beneath each. Notice that the first field will begin at the very top of the page but the last field will have a 0.5cm border at the bottom of the page.

In the second column, draw a 0.5cm border at the TOP of the page, running from the vertical line to the right edge of the page. Now draw lines such that you have a 0.5cm border at the top of each 3.5cm stamp field.

The 0.5cm difference in height for each stamp field in each column is what allows two oval 4.5cm wide stamps to fit comfortably on one row.

In the 0.5cm wide space at the top of each page, print the words "Caution! U.S. Stamps only!"

Now, the only bugger about all this hard work is that U.S. Immigration Officers come in two varieties. One is the Joseph Mengelesque "I'm not putting this stamp in your nice neat fields wan-ker type, and the other is the friendly, eager to please but incompetent with the rubber stamp type fellow. In fact, I do believe one Immigration Officer can alternate between these two personalities at any given time.

So, ultimately, YMMV. Since mid 2005, which is when I had to re-draw the lines in my passport pages because they suddenly came out with this new oval stamp, I have only had 7 entries to the U.S. Three stamps are reasonable well placed and the remaining four are off by 0.5-2cm.

Incidentally, before they switched to the oval stamps, I was able to get 8 U.S. entry stamps on each page.

Anyway, enough dorkiness for today.

Don't forget that you can also get a 48 page passport at renewal time. Just ask for it!

... or ask the consular officer in Damascus nicely when you are there... ;)

Seeing as this thread is unrelated to the Safety and Security forum, I'll reposition this in TravelBuzz!

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essxjay
Travel Safety/Security mod

I would caution against doing this, because while the US or UK may accept it on their own passports, I know for a fact that some airline security departments will consider this to be a "defaced" passport and will deny you boarding as a result.

I don't doubt what you say, but I personally have never had any problems in the past twelve years that I have been doing this. Can you tell me which airline security departments consider this defacement?

In my mind it is a common sense measure designed to avoid having to purchase a new passport before it's expiry. BTW, I also write-in all non-stamped entries on four reserved pages at the front of my passport. I need to do this because everytime american Law Enforcement agents interview me they ask me for a history of every trip I have made outside the u.s. with exact dates. This allows all that information to be in one place.

Got extra pages put in at the US Embassy in Singapore for free. Took no more than 20 minutes. If you have that many stamps in your passport it means you travel quite a bit (more than me!) just find an hour or so and visit the nearest US consulate or embassy and they should be happy to do it for you for free and quickly.

If that's not possible I commonly see Immigration officers nonchalantly stamping entrance/exit stamps over other, much older ones... might not be a risk worth taking, but I've seen it done, even with a number of empty pages in my passport.

They may give it to you, they may not. :mad:

When you complain they'll add a couple sets of extra pages for free :rolleyes:

A friend (US) sent his passport in for more pages around the beginning of November and just got it back. He was going to pass on my "Beer Run" (Mileage Run to visit a Beer Festival) to London because it hadn't come back.

After almost being denied entry to Jamaica due to zero room left in my passport, I decided it was time to add pages. I had a rare few days at home so I made an appointment to go to the Miami passport office to get the new pages.

Surprisingly, it was well run and efficient. It took waiting in a few short lines to check in and then about 10 minutes to get called to an agent.

My only problem was that my passport was rather worn out and they would not add new pages to it. They gave me two choices....keep it and hope for the best or get a new one now. I did not come prepared to get a new one and did not have the photos. She suggested that I go down to the street where just about every store front advertises passport photos and then come back up for a new one. She also made a notation on my application that got me past all the lines and told me to just wave at her when I got back.

10 minutes later I was in front of her window, finishing my application and making my payment. 3 hours later I was able to pick up my new passport.

Interesting thing was the fees. $55 for the passport, $60 for the expidite fee and $12 for "security enhancements". The security enhancement is actually an RFID chip and antenna. I have no idea what it is going to do for me (or to me) but it seems that I have now paid to have "Big Brother" in my pocket.

Over all, as one that does not do well with bureaucracy, it was a relatively painless experience, but I don't like the idea of having that chip in my pocket.

onelove