passport stamps

[callinectes]

silly question.

When you enter a EU country you get stamped by customs. However, if you then enter another country, e.g., Spain to France, i hear you will not get stamped again. Is this true?

[beergal]

that makes sense to me because they are all part of the schengen agreement, but other non eu citizens will advise you better than me

[space virgin]

It depends. Sometimes you will, sometimes you won't. I've always entered the EU in the UK, and I got a stamp when I went to Spain from England but my friend arriving from Germany didn't. ? And I got an entry/exit stamp for Austria when arriving there from Slovakia and leaving there for the UK, and then another entry stamp for the UK. And entry/exit stamps for Slovakia, but at the time they were not part of the EU so that was expected.

Did any of that make sense?? lol

[omisan]

If you're arriving in an EU country from any non-EU country or the UK, you'll get a stamp... If you're going from one EU country to another, you won't get stamped - in fact, in many cases, they won't even look at your passport, as it's like a domestic flight in the US. One exception seems to be UK-Ireland flights, where they don't stamp you in either direction, just check your passport. *shrugs*

[U2fan]

Seriously I am such a dork but I HATE that you don't get those stamps in the EU. I flew into Italy last year (long story) from the US but my trip was Spain and Portugal....so I have Italy stamps but not where I actually even spent my trip! :greenguy:

[omisan]

Yeah, I don't have any Spain or Ireland stamps, dadgummit!

[space virgin]

My Slovakia entrance stamp is unreadable-- just a blob of ink, lol. But the Spain (Girona) one is clear as day.

[U2fan]

I was/am mad that the guy stamped Aruba over my Egypt ones....they were my favorites. I seriously might start pointing where I want them and say "will you please stamp it HERE?" :reject:

[xanthuos]

The Schengen agreement (damn you, Schengen) formed separate from the European Union...

The 15 Schengen countries are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. All these countries except Norway and Iceland are European Union members.

So there are member states (Ireland, UK) not party to the Schengen agreement, and non-EU states (Norway & Iceland) which are.

Basically, EU citizens can move freely within the whole EU, but that doesn't necessarily apply to non-EU citizens. In any case, it sucks that you don't get as many stamps as you used to. Does anyone know if there are ways to request one?

[space virgin]

Yeah, from what I've heard you can request one. But frequently you won't be going through an immigration desk at all so you may not get the chance to ask.

[omisan]

Yeah, I asked at Dublin airport and the guy kinda chuckled. "All the flights coming in through here are from the UK and Ireland. We don't even have stamps."

[fantasyvn]

Last time I booked a trip to Germany. When I asked the official there for a multi-entry visa, he said since I only booked a trip to Germany, he could only approve a single entry visa.

Do you have any tips for this situation?

[space virgin]

Where are you from that requires a visa to enter the EU? Generally speaking visas are not required if you are a citizen of a western country. If you land in a continental Europe EU country, you'll get a stamp upon arrival that allows you to visit any EU country for 90 days. If you land in the UK you are allowed to be there for 180 days (in the UK, that is). This means that multiple-entry visas, unless you're from a country that requires a visa to enter the EU, are obsolete.

[Somnambulation]

I was in Berlin last year and got one of those souvenir DDR (East German) passport stamps that they have around checkpoint charlie. Now every time I enter a country, the passport checker looks at me funny and scrutinizes my passport further. Cool at the time, but probably not worth it in the long run.