Invalid Passports

[VABeach]

Just got off Empress of the Seas Saturday and noticed that the on the ball Customs Agent stampted our passports as returning back into the country on June 2, 2006.

 

My 10 years is up next month and I have to get a new passport anyway, but for all those people who just got brand new ones, that could be a problem.

 

Cruise lines might not look too carefully at such things, but I don't know how much trouble it will be trying to get into an eastern country where they scrutinize those things very carefully. After all, how valid can it be if it's stamped with a date prior to it's own issue date???

 

I've heard too many horror stories about those kinds of things.

 

Thanks Domon for everyone you just screwed. :cool:

[JanineM]

Just got off Empress of the Seas Saturday and noticed that the on the ball Customs Agent stampted our passports as returning back into the country on June 2, 2006.

 

My 10 years is up next month and I have to get a new passport anyway, but for all those people who just got brand new ones, that could be a problem.

 

Cruise lines might not look too carefully at such things, but I don't know how much trouble it will be trying to get into an eastern country where they scrutinize those things very carefully. After all, how valid can it be if it's stamped with a date prior to it's own issue date???

 

I've heard too many horror stories about those kinds of things.

 

Thanks Domon for everyone you just screwed. :cool:

 

You may want to contact Customs and Immigration to advise them of this. I have a notation in my file from an entry problem in 1997 and from a Green Card problem in 2002. Because they have it in their computers it only takes a moment to pass through, but until I had that notation I would sit in Customs for 30 minutes every time we came back into the country!

[VABeach]

I just wonder how many people didn't even notice. Sure would hate to find out the hard way.

 

I guess it it might be a little easier to fix those things now than in the past. It's good that they could fix yours. It's just gotta be frustrating.

 

Alert - If you just got off Empress, you might want to check your passport. :cool:

[maggieworkman]

I'm sorry, but I am a little confused by your post. I don't understand what you mean??? I'm a little inexperienced with customs agents and passports, so I want to figure out if this relates to me.

 

Are you saying that you used an expired passport (2006) but the agent didn't notice and stamped it anyway???

 

or

 

Are you saying that the agent stamped it with the wrong date.??

 

Thanks,

Maggie

[VABeach]

He was stamping people's passports with the wrong date, June 2, 2006.

 

If someone just got a brand new passport issued last month (May, 2007) or so, having a stamp put in it that looks like it's a year old could raise some validation questions.

 

I wouldn't try and use a passport all goofed up like that to try go to Isreal, Saudi Arabia, or China.

[zantedeschia]

Yes they make mistakes. The last time I left Australia, the agent neglected to stamp my passport with the exit stamp. I don't think I would have noticed it except the US agent did and stamped my passport (with the US entry stamp) on a different page than the rest of my family's passports. It was curious, for sure.

[Brandis]

I wouldn't try and use a passport all goofed up like that to try go to Isreal, Saudi Arabia, or China.

 

Ha, they even checked our passports the last two times I visited China, we just held up our passports and they waved us through. I have yet to experience this in Atlanta... :-)

 

Marc

[Happy ks]

I've never had a customs agent look at prior stamps in the back pages, only the front page.

 

I guess if you were being detained for some reason in a foreign country it might raise a few questions.

 

You might want to contact the passport agency and ask them about this.

[sal7202]

We've only cruised to the Caribbean and Canada so far, but we've NEVER had any stamp placed in our passport. I suppose this might change when we do our Mediterranean cruise in September 2007.

[BunkerVA]

I wouldn't try and use a passport all goofed up like that to try go to Isreal, Saudi Arabia, or China.

 

You are 100% right in regard to Israel. (I cannot speak to the other countries...) Anyone who has flown El Al can tell you they take the stamps in your passport very, very seriously. You will be detained and questioned which usually means you will miss your flight. I have a friend who had a problem with a 'questionable' stamp' in his passport and he was detained.

 

In the case of Israel, even stamps like Egypt and Turkey can cause problems. (My friend's stamp was Pakistan...)

 

Anyway, a date discrepancy might not be caught, but I'd rather it be fixed than find out the hard way.

 

Safe Travels,

Sam :D

 

(Yes, I know why those particular stamps are 'questionable'...still wouldn't hurt to get the stamp situation checked out...)

[BunkerVA]

We've only cruised to the Caribbean and Canada so far, but we've NEVER had any stamp placed in our passport. I suppose this might change when we do our Mediterranean cruise in September 2007.

 

It will most definitely change when you cruise the Med.

[krusin']

:o :D On one of our cruises the U.S. Customs called my wife's name over the PA ststem to report immediately. Turned out we as Canadians had visited relatives in the U.S., were stamped into the country but not out. It had been over a year and they wanted to know where in the U.S. my wife was living! It took a while but eventually was fixed without us being taken off the ship.:)

[Desert Cruizers]

Just looked at our Passports, only time they were stamped, was upon our return into the US from Nova Scotia. We since have been on 2 Cruises and neither one was stamped, ( Caribbean & Panama). On the Canada Stamp, mine was stamped page 10, DH's page 12. Why not the first page ( 8 ) of our books.

[BunkerVA]

Just looked at our Passports, only time they were stamped, was upon our return into the US from Nova Scotia. We since have been on 2 Cruises and neither one was stamped, ( Caribbean & Panama). On the Canada Stamp, mine was stamped page 10, DH's page 12. Why not the first page ( 8 ) of our books.

 

They seem to just randomly stamp them...my entry and exit stamps for the same countries are on different pages....or maybe its a system we as mere mortals aren't privy too :)

[Onessa]

BIL is a pilot - flies freight internationally. He has had to have additional pages sewn into his passport - so he's seen/been party to all sorts of interesting situations.

 

My DD was only 9YO when she was randomly selected for a full screening of her documentation in Munich. At first they were not going to allow me to accompany her because they thought she was 12YO - when I pointed it out they allowed me along - they took her aside to question every entry in her passport! They were very nice and my DD took it with the appropriate amount of seriousness, but I shudder to think what kind of trouble some of her rather irreverent classmates might get themselves into!

 

The take away is this - if you are stamped "in", be certain you are stamped back "out". Verify the dates and times. 95% of the time your documentation will not be scrutinized but be careful for that other 5%!

[Desert Cruizers]

They seem to just randomly stamp them...my entry and exit stamps for the same countries are on different pages....or maybe its a system we as mere mortals aren't privy too :)

I was thinking, they are in such a hurry they just grab the stamper and hit whats ever open LOL. Going to Hawaii Oct 11, 2008, because we go to Ensenada befor entering US will see Customs when we get back to San Diego.

[jcanino]

We've only cruised to the Caribbean and Canada so far, but we've NEVER had any stamp placed in our passport. I suppose this might change when we do our Mediterranean cruise in September 2007.

 

You would hope so. We sailed a Med cruise summer before last. Our air had us connecting in Paris on out way to Barcelona. Now, since we were entering the EU through Paris, our passports should have been stamped there but they just waived us (4 of us) right through. The only problem I had was when I tried to collect the VAT in Barcelona. According to my passport, I was never in the EU so it took quite a while after I showed them boarding passes from BOS to CDG and CDG to BCN.

[Desert Cruizers]

You would hope so. We sailed a Med cruise summer before last. Our air had us connecting in Paris on out way to Barcelona. Now, since we were entering the EU through Paris, our passports should have been stamped there but they just waived us (4 of us) right through. The only problem I had was when I tried to collect the VAT in Barcelona. According to my passport, I was never in the EU so it took quite a while after I showed them boarding passes from BOS to CDG and CDG to BCN.

Having never been to Europe, are you saying to make sure your Passport is stamped entering and leaving each County. Living here in the USA many don't realize that if they have never traveled abroad.

[Daghis]

I was shocked many years ago when I flew into Paris from the US and I didn't encounter any sort of immigration agent. My husband, whom I was visiting while he was living abroad then, told me not to expect to see one. I basically got off the plane and everyone went straight out to the regular part of the airport with no immigration queue anywhere to be seen.

 

My closest encounter with an "invalid" passport was the last time we went on a cruise. I had changed my name legally many years ago, but when you update your passport, all they do is add a note to the end of the passport book and print a small note saying "See page 35" on the front pages.

 

When I went to check in for the cruise, the representative behind the counter was quite confused about the mismatch in names between the cruise ticket and my passport. I pointed out to her the little note and when she flipped to the back of the book, everything made sense.

 

This passport expires next year, so that problem goes away soon.

[mollyeilis]

Having never been to Europe, are you saying to make sure your Passport is stamped entering and leaving each County. Living here in the USA many don't realize that if they have never traveled abroad.

 

Perhaps not every country, but at least stamping on your way in to the first European country and out of the last you're in is a good idea. :)

 

The PP is talking about VAT, value added tax, which is done in many countries of the EU, but if you don't live in those countries, you can get it refunded. So when I was in Ireland (pre-EU), I paid VAT on the things I purchased, and I *could have* filled out the forms at the airport to have it given back to me, when I was on my way home. It appears the PP is in Spain, and I just wikipedia'd it (ha ha at that new verb), and Spain isn't part of VAT. So he needed to show that he had BEEN in a VAT-collecting country, in order to get taht money back. Since he wasn't stamped into or out of any of those countries, it was a problem.

 

 

I've probably overexplained, and perhaps mis-explained, but hopefully I was somewhat helpful and perhaps a bit right. :)

[VABeach]

I was thinking, they are in such a hurry they just grab the stamper and hit whats ever open LOL. Going to Hawaii Oct 11, 2008, because we go to Ensenada befor entering US will see Customs when we get back to San Diego.

 

I have relatives that are missionaries and got into a HUGE todo because the stamp going into a particular country was on a subsequent page to the stamp going out.

 

I guess it just depends on who you are, where you are going, and how they feel about it at the time.:rolleyes:

[jcanino]

Having never been to Europe, are you saying to make sure your Passport is stamped entering and leaving each County. Living here in the USA many don't realize that if they have never traveled abroad.

 

Most if not all of the countries you will visit on a cruise are part of the EU (European Union). Crossing borders from one EU country to the next is like going from one state to another.

[jcanino]

The PP is talking about VAT, value added tax, which is done in many countries of the EU, but if you don't live in those countries, you can get it refunded.

It appears the PP is in Spain, and I just wikipedia'd it (ha ha at that new verb), and Spain isn't part of VAT. So he needed to show that he had BEEN in a VAT-collecting country, in order to get taht money back. Since he wasn't stamped into or out of any of those countries, it was a problem.

 

 

I've probably overexplained, and perhaps mis-explained, but hopefully I was somewhat helpful and perhaps a bit right. :)

 

You explained it pretty well, but Spain does have a VAT. The VAT I was trying to collect actually had to do with a a major purchase on board a cruise ship. Since I had no stamp upon entering the EU, the customs official had no idea what to do to approve my refund.

[zantedeschia]

They seem to just randomly stamp them...my entry and exit stamps for the same countries are on different pages....or maybe its a system we as mere mortals aren't privy too :)

It's not random. The way they stamp can signal something to another agent to give you more or less scrutiny.

 

On the occasion I mentioned above, there were 4 of us, 3 passports had the exit stamp and all got stamped on the same place on their passports. Mine had the exit stamp missing and he stamped it on a different page. There's a method to their madness.

[whogo]

It is a minor detail, but the passport stamps are handled by immigration personnel, not customs personnel.