Passport stamps, love them or loath them?

[veganftw]

I'm pro stamp. I guess if I traveled as much as some AFFers, it could get annoying, though.

 

[Cossie]

I love them. My favourite visa and entry/exits stamps were from Iran, I crossed into Iran the day after the Shah fled in 1979, the officials used the then current stamp with any mention of the Shah crossed out with a biro. Unfortunately that passport was stolen in Morocco a little while later, it also contained visa and entry/exit stamps for Afghanistan, those were the days....

There was quite a neat museum at the Afghan/Iran border post showing the rather ingenious ways people had tried to smuggle illegal items through the country. There were also inspection bays with pits that could be used to to totally disassemble a vehicle, if required.

My previous passport had visas and entry/exit stamps for Syria, Lebanon and Jordan from trips there in 2008 and 2010. Even though it was still valid, although nearly at it's end of life, I applied for a new one when a trip to the LOTFAP was imminent, I've got no desire to make an a rather tiring procedure more onerous by having less than desirable visas in a passport.

 

[Julesmac]

I LOVE stamps in my passport. Got a very quizzical look from Immigration when crossing into the UK by ferry from France. I asked the chap if he'd mind using one of the early pages in the passport, as I thought it would much neater if they would stamp through the pages in order. He cracked up, said it was the first time he'd been asked that. And happy to comply!

 

[Deleted member]

I was only saying the other day that the stamps (and stickers) are filling up my passport too quickly .
I'm only just half way through my 10 years but more than half way through my passport!

Show off ✈✈

 

[JohnM]

I'm half way through the term of mine and it's 85% used (and currently on a DONE5 with Chile, Britain and Germany entries to go.) I don't know what possessed me not to get the larger version . The premature renewal definitely will be.

 

[Major]

I am on my 6th passport and love looking at stamps from previous visits. The best stamps are from Countries that no longer exist such as USSR, East Germany and Yugoslavia.

Also the stamps from European Countries that now form the EU

Great memories

 

[Pushka]

Love the stamps and the huge visas. Memories of travels.

 

[samh004]

A certain big brother was disappointed there were no stamps in my passport from my recent travels to Europe

But I couldn't care!

 

[ajd]

Love the stamps myself. Even Australian ones - I've only ever gone through SmartGate once - every other time I've crossed the Australian border I've insisted that they get the stamps out. I've managed to persuade NZ immigration at AKL and WLG to give me stamps a couple of times, though some officers are more reluctant than others.

I can understand why it's an annoyance when it fills up your pages too quickly (though secretly I'm hoping to fill up my current passport as quickly as possible so I have an excuse to get a new P-series passport and thus maintain my record of having at least one of every passport series from the K-series onwards...)

I don't like it when they staple forms into my very precious passport though (I'm looking at you, USA and Japan!)

 

[harvyk]

I don't like it when they staple forms into my very precious passport though (I'm looking at you, USA and Japan!)

HKG does it as well... It looks pretty tacky compared to the previous stamp that was there, and whilst I obviously don't put my passport in too much peril, there is always a risk that the form will come out. That said USA has gotten rid of the stapled form.

 

[snabbu]

I also quite like the stamps, will be a shame if they ever phase out globally.
Strangest one would be from the Principality of Monaco - having to find the little stamp booth after alighting the train from Nice.

Ahh memory lane!

 

[Cossie]

Spend 6 months in Africa, that will fill up a passport very quickly. Some countries required you to visit the local police station in each town where they dutifully stamped each time, often on a new page each time, Central African Republic, the former Zaire and Mali spring to mind.

 

[ajd]

Spend 6 months in Africa, that will fill up a passport very quickly. Some countries required you to visit the local police station in each town where they dutifully stamped each time, often on a new page each time, Central African Republic, the former Zaire and Mali spring to mind.

Russell Brand denied entry into South Africa - Telegraph

 

[robd]

A cute little stamp on entry to Hawaii the the other day -

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Im currently on a 4 hour stopover in Seoul and entered the county purely to get the stamp; p I'm fortunate that most places I go to don't stamp and my passport isn't doing too badly.

 

[QF029]

Love the stramps. Not keen on the entry / exit cards that get stapled in and need to be torn out.

 

[harvyk]

Love the stramps. Not keen on the entry / exit cards that get stapled in and need to be torn out.

Not too keen on the entry / exit cards full stop. Especially the really bad ones like the AU one which pretty much asks for the same data in a variety of different ways, and that problem is just amplified when needing to fill them out for kids as well. After writing out our address 18 times (home address, address we're staying at and emergency contact address from memory x 6 people ) for each of us we where well and truly over it.

Why can't they simply have 1 form and you simply put the names and passport numbers of each person whom will enter in on that form (similar to what the US does with their declaration forms 1 family / group = 1 form)

 

[polardabar]

Europe has gotten really boring with stamps (I'd get a Slovenian one or nothing at all), so I'm happy to get a stamp when I can.

I'll be going to Aitutaki (the Cook Islands) at the end of the year. There's a tiny foot-shaped island called Tapuaetai (One Foot Is) where you can get a stamp in the shape of a little foot.

Looking forward to that holiday.

 

[burmans]

Spend 6 months in Africa, that will fill up a passport very quickly. Some countries required you to visit the local police station in each town where they dutifully stamped each time, often on a new page each time, Central African Republic, the former Zaire and Mali spring to mind.

My favourite passport is the one I had in the 80's when I was living in London and travelled around Europe (including East), Asia and 6 months in Africa. Back in those days you could get extra pages added to your passport, I had 3 sets of such added, I think they were 16 pages each. Great memories to look through, though I do seem to remember it being a great pain having to traipse around and get all the Visa's etc. Fortunately back in those days visas weren't a profit making excercise, I dont remember paying a lot for them, it was just an inconvenience.

 

[polardabar]

I've actually had experiences where I was frowned upon when asking for a stamp, and then asked to move aside to be questioned as to why I'd requested a stamp. There's a bit of a thing with Croatia and the EU, as Croats were allowed to enter neighbouring countries (even before Croatia became a member of the EU): Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but more importantly Slovenia and Italy because of the Schengen area border. That meant that, in theory, you could cross the border into Slovenia and then get into Austria and Germany (and onwards to anywhere between Portugal and Finland) without an issue. In theory.

A couple of years ago, I had my Croatian passport with me and was waved at the Slovenian Immigration, but ended up going to Austria and Germany with a couple of mates for New Year's. What happened on the return into Croatia was a bit of an issue, as there was no proof of me actually leaving Croatia and entering the EU, which usually makes the Immigration Officers suspicious. That only shows how unorganised the whole thing is. A friend of a friend's wasn't allowed on a flight from Barcelona and had to take the bus back in a similar situation. If you don't give stamps, then at least be fair when people request one (for whatever reason).

A similar thing happened this last European summer, as I needed to go back to Croatia to sort out some paperwork. I had to change my residency (according to a new Croatian law) and have been to Croatia twice since, but don't have a single stamp that proves I was actually in the country. I sincerely hope I won't get in trouble if it comes to the point where I need to prove that I actually was there (no stamps for Austria, Portugal or the UK either), because I don't think I'll win against the Croatian police. :-|

All in all, love stamps and can't get enough of them.