Invalid Passports

[Desert Cruizers]

Molly you can bet I will ask all kinds of questions before our little feet leave Calif to get the do's & Don't of traveling abroad. Have alot friends here, where we live who have done so, so hopefully have some experts. :) .Thank you for your explanations.

[The Viking]

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. :)

 

 

To get the VAT back you must present your purchases and related paperwork to customs at your departure from the European Union.

[Brandis]

Can't imagine why the VAT refund officials would need a stamped passport to get your VAT refunded. As Swiss citiziens (not part of the EU, but enclosed by it *g*) we can travel to all EU countries with the ID card which isn't stamped. But there is no trouble in getting VAT refunds, they just want to see the passport or ID in order to verify you are not an EU citizen. The usual procedure is anyway to have the receipts approved at a VAT refund office in the airport, so as you are there in person, they obviously know that you have entered the EU.

 

Marc

[jcanino]

The usual procedure is anyway to have the receipts approved at a VAT refund office in the airport, so as you are there in person, they obviously know that you have entered the EU.

 

You would think so Marc, but they did not know what to do when they didn't see a stamp in my passport to show when I came into the EU.

[peterv]

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.

 

I doubt that there is any meaning of where the stamps are. Looking at my passport, there are stamps all over the place, some even over other stamps. :D

 

Cheers,

Peter

[ebonybee]

Most MAJOR gateways even in Europe will either scan the passport or enter the # in their immigration system and you may not get a stamp. At a lot of obcure border crossings we would "tip" the agent in order to get a stamp ...for gloating purposes.

 

However, Quebec is the #$%^ province for questioning people. In 1992, despite a passport, military ID(which in the past was as good as a passport), and driver's license, folks in Montreal questioned DH and me for 4 hours on entering the country. We had reservations at a so called 5 star hotel which they call to verify and it was only a three day trip.

 

I was later told that it was crackdown on immigration and Quebec thought we were really from the "islands and were planning to stay in Montreal and be a burden to their resources. We also flew a route that was used by drug dealers??? We flew from Atlanta to I believe Providence or some little airport(can't remember) and took a 10 seater puddle jumper into Montreal.

 

Regardless of the reasons we were giving when we departed 3 days later...I now stay out of Quebec. Four hours of questioning were very traumatic.

[VABeach]

Most MAJOR gateways even in Europe will either scan the passport or enter the # in their immigration system and you may not get a stamp. At a lot of obcure border crossings we would "tip" the agent in order to get a stamp ...for gloating purposes.

 

However, Quebec is the #$%^ province for questioning people. In 1992, despite a passport, military ID(which in the past was as good as a passport), and driver's license, folks in Montreal questioned DH and me for 4 hours on entering the country. We had reservations at a so called 5 star hotel which they call to verify and it was only a three day trip.

 

I was later told that it was crackdown on immigration and Quebec thought we were really from the "islands and were planning to stay in Montreal and be a burden to their resources. We also flew a route that was used by drug dealers??? We flew from Atlanta to I believe Providence or some little airport(can't remember) and took a 10 seater puddle jumper into Montreal.

 

Regardless of the reasons we were giving when we departed 3 days later...I now stay out of Quebec. Four hours of questioning were very traumatic.

 

That's the kind of stuff that makes me worry about carless mistakes to passports. It can be a big deal if they want it to be.

 

What's worse, even if it doesn't seem to be a big problem at present times, the world can change a lot in the span of 10 years.

[critterchick]

I'm gald I didn't know any of this in 2003. Our luggage decided to stay in Paris when we flew to Milan:rolleyes: and when we went back to the airport the next day to collect it, nobody seemed to be able to point us in the right direction. We ended up going through 3 separate lines to enter the country, and had our passports stamped each time!

 

We finally gave up and (with the permission of the armed caribiniero standing next to it) went through an "authorized personnel only" door that led directly to our lost bags. But my passport (now expired & replaced) shows me entering Italy 3 times without leaving, and all on the same day.

[vjmatty]

Most MAJOR gateways even in Europe will either scan the passport or enter the # in their immigration system and you may not get a stamp. At a lot of obcure border crossings we would "tip" the agent in order to get a stamp ...for gloating purposes.

 

However, Quebec is the #$%^ province for questioning people. In 1992, despite a passport, military ID(which in the past was as good as a passport), and driver's license, folks in Montreal questioned DH and me for 4 hours on entering the country. We had reservations at a so called 5 star hotel which they call to verify and it was only a three day trip.

 

I was later told that it was crackdown on immigration and Quebec thought we were really from the "islands and were planning to stay in Montreal and be a burden to their resources. We also flew a route that was used by drug dealers??? We flew from Atlanta to I believe Providence or some little airport(can't remember) and took a 10 seater puddle jumper into Montreal.

 

Regardless of the reasons we were giving when we departed 3 days later...I now stay out of Quebec. Four hours of questioning were very traumatic.

 

Wow that is surprising... I live near Quebec and have crossed dozens of times without a problem.

 

Must have been a fluke, sorry you had to be on the receiving end of it. :(