Wow, this is what I found out about "souvenir stamps"! For the record, in 2020 British traveler Tina Sibley was denied boarding for a flight to Phuket by Qatar Airways due to a souvenir Machu Picchu stamp in her passport. Sibley was forced to obtain an emergency passport and incur significant costs after the unauthorized stamp was deemed to deface the official document. It seems that it's the airlines blocking travelers at the check-in gate. Because, if an immigration officer rejects your passport at your destination, the airline is legally forced to fly you back at their own expense and also face government fines. Reference: ICAO Annex 9, Chapter 5 (Inadmissible Persons and Deportees). The Rule: Under international aviation law, the aircraft operator that transported the passenger to the destination country is legally bound to assume immediate responsibility for them if they are denied entry. The airline must transport the passenger back to their point of origin, or to another place where they are admissible, using its own next available flight. While there is no single international treaty that explicitly lists "souvenir stamps", your passport is sovereign government property, meaning national legislation determines its validity. For example, the US, UK, and AUS governments explicitly mandate that only authorized consular or immigration officials may alter the document. Placing a novelty stamp on government property technically constitutes unauthorized defacement, automatically giving other nations legal right to reject it!
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