Immigration officers skipping pages on passport

[MrPancake]

Do you know why some immigration officers skip half a page or more on your passport and start stamping on a new page ?

Is there a reason for that or are they just behaving like morons for fun ?

It happened to me twice already; that's a 2 full pages loss of space on my passport.

Any technique to prevent that.

I was thinking about clipping my blank pages together or using sticky notes to block access....

 

[ABCDBKK]

It's been done to me in various countries and all over the world. Sometimes they stamp the last page, sometimes the first one, sometimes whichever page their thumb lands on. It's annoying, but it doesn't matter. Eventually the book starts to get filled up and IOs are then forced to hunt for a blank page. As long as I can travel in an out of countries, I don't really give a toss. 

[MrPancake]

9 minutes ago, ABCDBKK said:

It's been done to me in various countries and all over the world. Sometimes they stamp the last page, sometimes the first one, sometimes whichever page their thumb lands on. It's annoying, but it doesn't matter. Eventually the book starts to get filled up and IOs are then forced to hunt for a blank page. As long as I can travel in an out of countries, I don't really give a toss. 

 

I thought they might refuse to stamp the skipped pages later on.

But apparently it won't be the case...

Thanks 👍

[brianthainess]

Used to get that Prob. years ago but not for a very long time.

[soi3eddie]

I'm down to the last 6 full pages in my standard passport (after 5 years with 5 years still to run). Some pages have just a few stamps. It's all so random. To preserve the full pages, I have written "Please don't stamp this page" on post it notes placed on each full, unused, page. Last time passport was full after 5 years. Next time I will get the bigger passport with extra pages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ABCDBKK]

5 minutes ago, MrPancake said:

 

I thought they might refuse to stamp the skipped pages later on.

But apparently it won't be the case...

Thanks 👍

Your welcome. Fortunately, I've never had that problem. I've got old filled up passports with all kinds of stamps and dates out of order throughout the pages of the book. The only real downside is, in the future, when you might want to double check the dates of when you travelled somewhere, you might have to hunt around various pages to find the right stamp when they are all out of order like that. But in terms of skipped pages making them unusable in the future, it's never an issue. 

[MrPancake]

8 minutes ago, soi3eddie said:

I'm down to the last 6 full pages in my standard passport (after 5 years with 5 years still to run). Some pages have just a few stamps. It's all so random. To preserve the full pages, I have written "Please don't stamp this page" on post it notes placed on each full, unused, page. Last time passport was full after 5 years. Next time I will get the bigger passport with extra pages.

 

 

Great idea. I'm gonna do the same 👍

Hope I'm not gonna piss them off 😄

[ABCDBKK]

9 minutes ago, soi3eddie said:

I'm down to the last 6 full pages in my standard passport (after 5 years with 5 years still to run). Some pages have just a few stamps. It's all so random. To preserve the full pages, I have written "Please don't stamp this page" on post it notes placed on each full, unused, page. Last time passport was full after 5 years. Next time I will get the bigger passport with extra pages.

Personally, I wouldn't make the effort to mark pages. It's the IO's job to find a place to put their stamp. As long as your passport has blank space in it for a stamp, you can't be held responsible for which pages are full or empty. After all, you aren't the one putting the stamps in the book anyway. The only time you should get another book, before it hasn't expired, is when all the pages are clearly filled with stamps. As long as there are a few empty quarter pages left in the book, then it's still good for travel, regardless of what page number the blank areas are on. 

[JimTripper]

I tried fudging with the pages and stickers one time and caught out on it. What I did was double up old expired visa stickers to make room. The old stickers were still there, just hidden under each other. The officer peeled off each one, reattached it and had to line up the stamps (they like to stamp on the edge of the sticker so it catches both the sticker and the page).

 

They could not legally do a penalty since the passport is your home countries property, but they can give you a hard time and tweak your current visa there for their location.

Edited March 29 by JimTripper

[soi3eddie]

42 minutes ago, ABCDBKK said:

As long as there are a few empty quarter pages left in the book, then it's still good for travel, regardless of what page number the blank areas are on. 

 

Not if you need a full page visa to enter a country or a Thai extension of stay (retirement at least is half page).

 

Edited March 29 by soi3eddie

[MrPancake]

45 minutes ago, ABCDBKK said:

As long as there are a few empty quarter pages left in the book, then it's still good for travel, regardless of what page number the blank areas are on.

 

I thought you needed at least 2 blank pages or something.

Can't remember where I read that.

Might have been one of the requirements for a tourist visa...

[CartagenaWarlock]

1 hour ago, MrPancake said:

Is there a reason for that or are they just behaving like morons for fun ?

May be you exude an aura of a loser

[MrPancake]

6 minutes ago, CartagenaWarlock said:

May be you exude an aura of a loser

 

That's a given but it doesn't really explain why some are doing it and others don't.

 

 

[Seth1a2a]

 

3 hours ago, MrPancake said:

I was thinking about clipping my blank pages together or using sticky notes to block access....

 

You can try the rubber band trick and isolate the last part of the passport. He/She can still thumb through it to check but it will discourage most of them from going through the trouble of taking the rubber band off to completely access the remaining pages.

 

 

 

Long ago ,with normal stamps, visas and extended layovers I had to order  new pages a few times.

I Eventually began opting for the  larger U.S. passport book with more pages, at no additional cost, by checking the 'large book' box at the top of the DS-82. Other countries might do the same....

 

 

Why?   Some might think they are doing you a favor by leaving room for a visa sticker if you already have a few from previous trips so it might not simply be a spiteful or malevolent act. 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

Edited March 29 by Seth1a2a

[bkkcanuck8]

13 hours ago, ABCDBKK said:

Personally, I wouldn't make the effort to mark pages. It's the IO's job to find a place to put their stamp. As long as your passport has blank space in it for a stamp, you can't be held responsible for which pages are full or empty. After all, you aren't the one putting the stamps in the book anyway. The only time you should get another book, before it hasn't expired, is when all the pages are clearly filled with stamps. As long as there are a few empty quarter pages left in the book, then it's still good for travel, regardless of what page number the blank areas are on. 

The issue is that some visas you get in your passport still require a full page... if IOs take up part of all the pages, if you run into one that needs a full page... I am guessing you would need to get a new passport.

[Oliver Holzerfilled]

Just applied for my new passport today because I'm almost out of pages.  40+ countries and all of them were able to logically put in stamps except for one lazy Mexican immigration officer that stamped the last page early on.

[alex8912]

14 hours ago, MrPancake said:

 

Great idea. I'm gonna do the same 👍

Hope I'm not gonna piss them off 😄

You can just ask them. I do it now when exiting a country. No problem at all. 

[tandor]

15 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

I'm down to the last 6 full pages in my standard passport (after 5 years with 5 years still to run). Some pages have just a few stamps. It's all so random. To preserve the full pages, I have written "Please don't stamp this page" on post it notes placed on each full, unused, page. Last time passport was full after 5 years. Next time I will get the bigger passport with extra pages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

...at the extra cost.

[dougieboy]

15 hours ago, MrPancake said:

 

Great idea. I'm gonna do the same 👍

Hope I'm not gonna piss them off 😄

Immigration people are already not happy people 😜 so you deffo gunna piss them off if you do it 😝 good luck 🤞🏻 

[new2here]

15 hours ago, JimTripper said:

I tried fudging with the pages and stickers one time and caught out on it. What I did was double up old expired visa stickers to make room. The old stickers were still there, just hidden under each other. The officer peeled off each one, reattached it and had to line up the stamps (they like to stamp on the edge of the sticker so it catches both the sticker and the page).

 

They could not legally do a penalty since the passport is your home countries property, but they can give you a hard time and tweak your current visa there for their location.

I’ve seen people do this, notably with the older cambodia “sticker” visas - which apparently after some time, the adhesive wears down and the sticker can be removed somewhat easily 

The only risk - and I cede it’s probably small, but a risk none the less - is that for US passports (and I would reasonably think others as well) it is a violation of law for a person to “… alters any passport…” as per 18 USC 1543.    and I think you could make a compelling case that the willful “peeling off” of a previously applied stamp would constitute “altering”.

 

While a foreign official has no jurisdiction to address the matter as such, they can however refuse to accept the passport — ostensibly under the premise that it’s an altered passport - thus not valid.

 

We hear sporadic reports of people being denied aircraft boarding due to passports having “novelty” stamps, again, rendering them altered and now invalid.

 

example: 

https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/15131117/passport-stamp-warning-novelty-souvenir-ban/

 

[ignore it]

Filled up a passport and a couple of additional pages sets (no longer available for US).  

I always let the imm lads do their free range stamping.

 

And I was amused when spaces for stamping ran thin. and they had to thumb through the book looking for a blank spot.

Edited March 30 by ignore it

[scorecard]

Of course not, this scenario has been 'par for the course' for decades.

[khunjeff]

9 hours ago, tandor said:

...at the extra cost.

 

If you're talking about US passports, there is no additional fee getting the larger passport book - and it's now given automatically if you apply abroad.

[daveAustin]

Believe it's generally a time constraint thing. These guys are opening up passports in quick order day in, day out... so they can just grab it, open and stamp away. Same in every country, although the 'proper' ones now don't stamp. It can bite them on the ass, though, since their frivolousness could come full circle when they have to sift through pages and pages to find their old stamp. But I agree, infuriating on some small level... perhaps they should be hung, drawn and quartered for skipping pages? 🙂

[CartagenaWarlock]

On 3/29/2024 at 11:52 AM, MrPancake said:

That's a given but it doesn't really explain why some are doing it and others don't.

Maybe some pity you and others don't care about your feelings. 

[MrPancake]

4 minutes ago, CartagenaWarlock said:

Maybe some pity you and others don't care about your feelings. 

 

You might be onto something.

Keep investigating.

[rexpotter]

On 3/30/2024 at 2:26 PM, new2here said:

I’ve seen people do this, notably with the older cambodia “sticker” visas - which apparently after some time, the adhesive wears down and the sticker can be removed somewhat easily 

The only risk - and I cede it’s probably small, but a risk none the less - is that for US passports (and I would reasonably think others as well) it is a violation of law for a person to “… alters any passport…” as per 18 USC 1543.    and I think you could make a compelling case that the willful “peeling off” of a previously applied stamp would constitute “altering”.

 

While a foreign official has no jurisdiction to address the matter as such, they can however refuse to accept the passport — ostensibly under the premise that it’s an altered passport - thus not valid.

 

We hear sporadic reports of people being denied aircraft boarding due to passports having “novelty” stamps, again, rendering them altered and now invalid.

 

example: 

https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/15131117/passport-stamp-warning-novelty-souvenir-ban/

 

 

yes, but when you remove some unnecessary BS it is not altering the passport.

[mrwebb8825]

On 3/29/2024 at 9:56 AM, MrPancake said:

Do you know why some immigration officers skip half a page or more on your passport and start stamping on a new page ?

Is there a reason for that or are they just behaving like morons for fun ?

It happened to me twice already; that's a 2 full pages loss of space on my passport.

Any technique to prevent that.

I was thinking about clipping my blank pages together or using sticky notes to block access....

 

Clearly it's avoid getting old ink on their hands. It can be quite toxic when eating Som Tom and sticky rice for lunch shortly after.

[new2here]

14 hours ago, rexpotter said:

yes, but when you remove some unnecessary BS it is not altering the passport.

Naturally the exact definition of “alter” can vary from person to person.  IMHO, when it comes to passports - I personally take the narrow definition .. that being any change constitutes “altering” .. and that would include the addition, deletion of any stamp, mark or other official act made within the passport itself…