Passport Control

[number5]

When you fly to Europe, on arrival passport control stamp your passport and when you leave they then give you an exit stamp.

That seems to be fine and it is ( as far as I know ) meant to show how long you have been there. However my question is what happens if you fly into Lisbon to get a cruise from there back to Southampton. How can you show you have left the country as there doesn't seen to be any form of customs when you go to a cruise terminal to board your cruise ship ?

If I don't get an exit stamp will it affect any future entry into Europe ?

[blloyd78]

In theory, the lack of exit stamp could cause a problem because it then becomes difficult to prove that you haven't overstayed your 90-day visa-free limit. That said, I have never been questioned about the lack of an exit stamp - it possibly depends on how anal the next border control officer is...

[Meander Ingwa]

I have been in and out of the UK many times over the last 5 years and there are no stamps, it is all electronic recorded.

[fruitmachine]

Nobody checks anything unless they suspect you've transgressed the 90-day rule, at which point they'd go back through your passport. 

 

If you possibly can, seek out a border post as you leave Lisbon and get your passport stamped.  That's the FCDO advice.  If that fails, then a stamp when you get to the UK would (belatedly) prove that you were out of the Schengen Zone.  If even that's not possible, then printing off and carrying a copy of the relevant cruise invoice/documentation would at least give you the evidence to show if ever challenged.

 

Scroll down to "Passport Stamping" https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/portugal/entry-requirements

[number5]

On 9/26/2023 at 2:40 PM, Meander Ingwa said:

I have been in and out of the UK many times over the last 5 years and there are no stamps, it is all electronic recorded.

Did you fly to Europe or just to & from UK from USA ?

I flew into Italy in August and on entry they stamped my passport and then when I left they gave me another stamp. So whilst it maybe also electronically recorded when you leave by air, it may not be if you leave for a cruise back to the UK because they may think you are returning to the same port.

Thank you for your answers blloyd78 & fruitmachine

[Harters]

This must be a regular occurrence with citizens on non-Schengen countries who cruise from a Schengen port. I've never heard of it being a subsequent problem - not least as the border control officers in Schengen countries seem to never look back at your passport and will just stamp you in on the next blank area.