Australian passport undergoes facelift

[samh004]

I'm still on a L series passport which has only a page and a half left. The UK immigration have been good to me and just found small gaps on previously used pages to stamp. The Italians are even better by stamping over other old EU stamps.

Hahaha. I can't imagine the Australian Immigration service are particularly happy when you get back and they see that.

 

[Evan]

Hahaha. I can't imagine the Australian Immigration service are particularly happy when you get back and they see that.

Why would Australian immigration care ? they do not put any stamps in your passport. They just check you are who you say you are and being an Australian citizen you are granted entry.

 

[JohnK]

Hahaha. I can't imagine the Australian Immigration service are particularly happy when you get back and they see that.

Everytime I have asked Australian immigration for a stamp on a page of the passport with just enough room for a stamp they are not happy doing it. I have been told that they are not allowed to have any outlines of previous stamps touching one another.

Some of the stamps I collected in Europe in 2007 have already faded to the point where you would not know where they were from if it wasn't your own passport. They don't seem to use that much ink when stamping passports in Europe....

 

[Mal]

Why would Australian immigration care ? they do not put any stamps in your passport. They just check you are who you say you are and being an Australian citizen you are granted entry.

It's not just Australian immigration/customs who care (they love looking at stamps to see what previous travel you have had if you are given a secondary)

As part of my visa app for the UK, I had to send any passport of mine for the last 10 years. Someone would have flicked through them (I've had 2) and tried to match stamps with the written record of my travel over that time.

I also thought it was international convention or something that different countries wouldn't stamp over other countries stamps. Then again, I could be wrong on this point!

 

[SnowYeti]

...They don't seem to use that much ink when stamping passports in Europe....

Cost-cutting?

 

[Evan]

It's not just Australian immigration/customs who care (they love looking at stamps to see what previous travel you have had if you are given a secondary)
<..>

Also like JohnK some of mine have faded so much after less than 2 years or were never that clear even i don't know what they are from ! I have used 30 pages in 2 years i guess so not a frequent traveler but not infrequent either.

 

[NM]

I also thought it was international convention or something that different countries wouldn't stamp over other countries stamps. Then again, I could be wrong on this point!

If it is, then its not honoured by many US stampers. I have many US entry stamps overlapping not only other US stamps but anything else that happens to be on the same page. They appear at all different angles and alignments on the pages, including some almost completely upside down!

 

[openseat]

If it is, then its not honoured by many US stampers. I have many US entry stamps overlapping not only other US stamps but anything else that happens to be on the same page. They appear at all different angles and alignments on the pages, including some almost completely upside down!

This is my experience as well - especially on the page facing where I have an old US visa and I was entering under that visa.

Schengen countries seem to vary. I enetered the Netherlands once and they were really strict about looking at all the other Schengen stamps - but even they could not decipher the Italian ones as they were smudged and stamped all over the place. The Germans and French don't seem to care.

I've never had any grief from Australian Immigration about the stamps in the passport - they usually only flick through the passport.

 

[JohnK]

As part of my visa app for the UK, I had to send any passport of mine for the last 10 years. Someone would have flicked through them (I've had 2) and tried to match stamps with the written record of my travel over that time.

Is this something specific to the UK or requesting a working visa?

I also thought it was international convention or something that different countries wouldn't stamp over other countries stamps. Then again, I could be wrong on this point!

I did not think a stamp in a passport was compulsory as there are many countries now that do not stamp passports upon entering and/or exiting the country.

In fact when I was doing a tour of Central Europe only people with a specific Visa in their passport had to have the passport checked and I had to ask the tour guide if she could get me a stamp in the passport for my collection at each border checkpoint.

 

[Mal]

Is this something specific to the UK or requesting a working visa?

Part of the visa application process for the UK. You need to provide 10 years worth of travel history (approx dates, destination, duration, reason for travelling), any entries to the UK over that time (similar info to above) and send passports...

 

[samh004]

Part of the visa application process for the UK. You need to provide 10 years worth of travel history (approx dates, destination, duration, reason for travelling), any entries to the UK over that time (similar info to above) and send passports...

Boy am I glad I have British Citizenship.

 

[moa999]

Saw a new Kiwi passport today.

Very striking design - black with a silver fern motif.
New Zealand passport - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also has an interesting security feature - a hologram style photo, where your individual photo is on a hologram (I guess much like the background image in the new Australian one)

 

[Febs]

I'm half-looking forward to getting a new passport late next year, but I'm also going to miss the many, confused stares I get everywhere due to my photo looking nothing like me.

(It's from 9 years ago - I was bigger then and had very different hair. Honestly, you'd swear the photos is of a different person.)

I also think I have the lowest-tech passport of any of my colleagues (no chip, no smartgate, not even a hologram)!

I've had some very long stares, and Customs/Immi officers often do a double or triple take, but I've never had anyone question it further.

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[serfty]

Smartgate kicks @rse when arriving back into OZ; most eligible inbound PAX do not seem to be in a hurry to use it. Generally better than Express passes!

Either:

• They are not au fait with the process (i.e. Don't know about it),
• Are troubled by technology,
• Simply prefer human contact or
• for some other reason.

Due to this forum, It was great was able to register for smartgate Mk I - I have not looked back.

 

[thewinchester]

Agreed on SmartGate, and laugh at those who don't use it. Makes getting through PER on most return night flights a breeze - if only the QF baggage handlers would get their act together.

 

[straitman]

I'm quite happy for people not to use SmartGate. That means there are less people in the way for those of us who do use it :!:

 

[albatross710]

I just hope it withstands the bending back of the cover page when immigration staff place it on the scanner/reader thingy.
.

I am still surprised to see that they scan them. Wasn't the security chip supposed to be the security measure?

 

[notzac]

I'm quite happy for people not to use SmartGate. That means there are less people in the way for those of us who do use it :!:

Amen to that!

 

[tuapekastar]

Amen to that!

+1 here. Smartgate is fantastic, especially if there are long immi queues.

 

[Febs]

Generally better than Express passes!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Smartgate was for Immi, and Express passes for Customs only?

I always use the APEC/crew queue, and have never seen Express pass signs in that queue. Or is there another queue at Immigration for Express passes?

I always thought that to get out quickly, you need both APEC (for Immi), then Express (for Customs, after baggage collection).

Actually on that note...my APEC card worked against me in December. I was standing at the baggage carousel when the Customs officer came up to me and my colleague. She green D-stamped my colleague's card, then was about to do the same for me when she saw my APEC card (I was keeping it in my passport after Immi, as I always do).

Her: "Don't you flash that at me! That doesn't do anything for you here!"
Me: "Oh I know. I just slipped it in my passport after immigration."
Her: "Whatever. Here. Go over there." (points to Express exit, rather than D lane).

Still ended up getting out quicker than my colleague though - her bags took aaaages.

Cheers,
- Febs.