Passport stamp for EU citizen travelling from EU to UK and back

Question

I am a German citizen. 2 weeks ago I travelled to the UK (using Eurostar, so I went through French and British border control), and then came back on a plane and went through German border control.

I realised after that my passport never got stamped. Granted I didn't ask for it to be, but I was under the impression that when leaving the Shengen area (or entering it again) you were meant to get a stamp.

I'm going back (again with Eurostar) a couple weeks from now and would like to get whatever stamps I can for no reason other than that I think it would be cool.

Does anyone know if I'm able to get any in the first place though, provided I ask? Or are stamps out of the question for people making that trip? Thanks :)

Answer 1

It is strictly regulated in the Schengen Border's Code which passport must be stamped and which must not be stamped when crossing an external Schengen border. Some countries deviate slightly from the regulation, particularly for residence permit holders, but in general:

• Passports of EU and EEA citizens must not be stamped. If the border guards follow the regulation, they will not even stamp your passport if you ask for it.
• In general, but with some exceptions, passports of non EU/EEA citizens must be stamped both on entry and exit. There is no Schengen wide database with electronic records of entries and exits, so the border guards need to rely on the stamps to check if the passport holder has not exceeded the allowed duration of stay in the Schengen area. Such a database (Schengen EES, Entry/Exit System) is planned to go into operation next year.

UK is already operating a database with all entries and exits, so they do not need to stamp your passport anymore to keep track of the time you spend in the country.