Israel passport stamping

[thuyronald]

Hello,

 

I was wondering if anyone knows whether your passport will get stamped by the Israel authority if you are one the cruise visiting ports in Israel.

 

I'm planning to do a cruise visiting Ashdod and Haifa and was concerned about the passport getting stamped by Israel authority.

 

Anyone who has information regarding this matter, please let me know.

 

Thanks for any help in advance.

 

Twee

[rsquare]

I have no clue as to whether they inspect or stamp passports of cruise passengers; many Mediteranean countries doen't. But I do know that they have a longstanding policy of stamping a blank sheet of paper on request. You need to hold it with your passport while you are in Israel, but afterward can discard it. Incidentally, for airline passengers, Israel also does an exit stamp, so you may have to make this request twice.

[roscoe39]

Hello,

 

I was wondering if anyone knows whether your passport will get stamped by the Israel authority if you are one the cruise visiting ports in Israel.

 

I'm planning to do a cruise visiting Ashdod and Haifa and was concerned about the passport getting stamped by Israel authority.

 

Anyone who has information regarding this matter, please let me know.

 

Thanks for any help in advance.

 

Twee

 

Hi., the customs guys will stamp a piece of paper for you and place it in your passport if you ask them to., they dont seem to have a problem with not stamping your passport and of course this makes it easier for onward travel. If you dont have control of your passport at the time..ie..if it is in the hands of the ships agents, I would make sure you have a note to that regard clipped to the front of your passport....

If the stamp is anywhere in the passport., even froma number of years back you could have problems later on.

 

Great country......have a good trip...;)

[thuyronald]

Thank you everyone for the information.

 

Twee

[Jade13]

Hello,

 

 

I'm planning to do a cruise visiting Ashdod and Haifa and was concerned about the passport getting stamped by Israel authority.

 

 

Twee

 

Why?

[happy trailer]

I'm planning to do a cruise visiting Ashdod and Haifa and was concerned about the passport getting stamped by Israel authority.

 

Twee

 

Why?

 

 

Unfortunately, there are several countries who won't allow you entry if they find/see evidence of your having been in Israel.

 

Here are a couple of articles with more info:

 

http://www.askmisstravel.com/2008/04/02/the-dreaded-israel-passport-stamp/

 

and

 

http://journeysandadventures.today.com/2009/02/16/travel-tip-beware-the-restrictions-of-an-israel-passport-stampvisa/

[MercedMike]

When we visited both Israel and Egypt on Royal Princess, we handed in our passports to the purser's office the day before arriving in Israel, and they were returned to us at disembarkation with a stamped piece of paper in them. No problem at all.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[thuyronald]

Yes, I was concerned about future travels plan to countries that will not allow you to enter their country if you have an Israel stamp on your passport.

 

It's good to hear that the cruiseline have the authorities stamp a piece of paper instead of your passport.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

Twee

[happy trailer]

BTW, this article about getting around visa issues is in today's New York Times:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/travel/08pracvisa.html?_r=1&8dpc

[slidergirl]

It also works in the opposite direction. If you have a stamp in your passport from some Middle East countries then go to Israel, they may not deny you entrance, but you will get some extra questioning. You might even get the questioning when leaving Israel, when the exit officer looks at your passport. My ex's work partners in Israel always advised us to document every place we went, keep receipts and such. Now, if you are coming from a cruise ship and are on a ship tour, I doubt that you will be subject to the same scrutiny that you would be if you arrived independently via air or land.

[greatam]

Multiple entries into Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Iraq, Jordan, Dubai, Oman and Bahrain. Abu Dhabi, Oman and Kuwait looked EXTENSIVELY through my passport (at least 10 extra minutes for processing). They never stated anything, but I KNOW they were looking for Israeli stamps, especially when they do a page by page look (and I have a VERY large passport-extra pages added).

 

Please MAKE sure you DO NOT let the Israelis stamp in your passport. The Israelis realize this and are more than happy to stamp on a blank piece of paper.

 

The world changes all the time. It would be shame to impact your future travels in various countries by having an Israeli stamp in your passport.

[lovesublime]

It also works in the opposite direction. If you have a stamp in your passport from some Middle East countries then go to Israel, they may not deny you entrance, but you will get some extra questioning. You might even get the questioning when leaving Israel, when the exit officer looks at your passport. My ex's work partners in Israel always advised us to document every place we went, keep receipts and such. Now, if you are coming from a cruise ship and are on a ship tour, I doubt that you will be subject to the same scrutiny that you would be if you arrived independently via air or land.

 

 

 

My husband travels to both Israel and Saudi Arabia for his job (works for an Israeli company). He has three passports-one he uses for travel to Israel, one for Saudi and a neutral one. The neutral one proved to be a neccessity after we got jacked up at the airport in Paris when he handed over his Saudi stamped passport. We were grilled and interrogated for four hours on what he was doing there and who his contacts were :rolleyes: We missed our flight back to the states and vowed it wouldn't happen again. Now, he carries a 'neutral' passport to places other than Israel and the Middle East.

[thuyronald]

Thank you for the tips.

 

Twee