But as delightful as it is to have a paper trail of evidence of your past adventures, your large stamp collection could lead to issues on future trips if you don’t pay close attention. That’s all due to a passport validity rule that many people overlook.
“One rule many travelers miss is needing an adequate number of blank pages in their passport for visas, and entry and exit stamps,” David Alwadish, the founder and CEO of the passport and visa concierge service ItsEasy.com, told HuffPost. “This is often forgotten, especially by those with passports close to expiring or having only a few blank pages.”
“Some countries require passports to have at least two to four blank visa or stamp pages, and thus, some airlines will not allow you to board if this requirement is not met,” said Caroline Tanner, a trends writer at The Points Guy.
Just as travelers often need to have at least three to six months of passport validity beyond the dates of an international trip, they may also need to have a certain number of empty pages depending on the requirements at their destination.
“The basis for this rule is maintaining proper security measures and part of the entry and exit requirements,” Alwadish said. “Not meeting this requirement can cause problems at borders. If the traveler does not have the required blank pages in the passport, the passport will technically be invalid and the person may not be allowed to board the plane.”
“If for whatever reason it is overlooked in the U.S., the traveler may take a big risk once they arrive at their destination country, as every border patrol officer has the right to determine the outcome,” Alwadish explained. “They may have travelers detained, pay a fine or let them pass.”
Taking that kind of risk in a foreign country is not advisable, he added. And there’s a long list of countries that have this rule in place. Italy, Portugal, Singapore, Germany, India, Belgium, South Africa, the Netherlands, Cuba, Iceland, Zimbabwe and Indonesia are among the destinations that require two blank pages. Countries that require one page include France, Japan, Mexico, Greece, Thailand, Australia, Morocco, Argentina and Vietnam, among others. But you’ll need at least three blank pages if you want to visit Namibia, Botswana, Madagascar and Zambia.
Immigration authorities in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos have also emphasized that the “endorsement” pages found at the back of many passports are different from visa pages and thus do not count as blank pages for the purposes of entry and exit stamps. (Newer passports have the endorsement section closer to the front.)
“The issue of blank passport pages will likely become less of a significant problem for travelers as more countries are phasing out manual stamping of physical passport books,” Alwadish said. “The European Union is spearheading this shift with the introduction of the Entry/Exit System, intended to expedite the border control process and improve data accuracy.”
“It is always best to make sure your passport is valid and has at least two blank pages,” Alwadish noted. “If a traveler does not have enough blank pages available, they cannot add more to their physical book.”…Read more by Caroline Bologna
