2

In Georgia, Moldova, North Cyprus, Russia and Turkey, border control at airports stamp my boarding pass on exit.

What other countries do this, and what's the reason behind it?

(note that this question specifically concerns border control, and not general airport security)

11
  • I had India once do it to me at the BOM airport in spite of the fact that I have an Indian passport. But that was just once and never did I have that experience again. Oct 18, 2018 at 16:47
  • While exiting Pakistan, the reverse side of the boarding pass is stamped. That stamp is checked by airport security while passing the boarding counter (after the airline staff scans it).
    – Newton
    Oct 18, 2018 at 16:53
  • 1
    The stamps are checked at the gate where they check to make sure you've passed through immigration and/or security and that authorities are aware of the plane you are going to be boaring. It's just an extra check.
    – user58558
    Oct 18, 2018 at 16:58
  • 1
    @greatone At Tbilisi airport, my sweaty fingers once caused the stamp to completely fade away, but no one bat an eyelid
    – Crazydre
    Oct 18, 2018 at 17:13
  • 1
    @trollster I see, thanks for the input. Last time I flew from Turkey was June this year (9th time since autumn 2014) but I'm going back next week.
    – Crazydre
    Oct 20, 2018 at 16:28

1 Answer 1

1

Apparently I missed the question's point and I have answered for passport stamps. this is what happens when one tries to answer questions at 04:00 at night.

Well , as for boarding passes :

What other countries do this

It's not really about countries but rather AIRPORTS ( and maybe even singular terminals ).

Yes, in some countries ALL Airports apparently do that, and some countries have only ONE international airport but from my experience it is an airport thing .

Some other countries I have seen it done and can remember :

  • Russia SVO , DME - [ sometimes yes, sometimes no - apparently depends where to ]
  • China [International AND Domestic, all airports! - though different security stamp but same class of officers - stamp is also checked at the FINGER of the plane]
  • Belarus MSQ - [ sometimes yes, sometimes no ]
  • Hong Kong HKG [ used to - now not sure ]
  • Poland KRK [ got it once ]
  • India DEL, BOM, BLR [ but seems they are stopping it soon or already did ]
  • Thailand DMK ,CNX [ sporadic ]
  • Vietnam SGN [ one instance ]
  • Mexico MEX [ one instance ]
  • Turkey IST [ Depends where you are going ]

Please note that some of this info might be changed or dated as many airports now move to automatic computerized boarding systems ..

what's the reason behind it

probably like in comments it's another security check at gate or boarding , or sometimes, in some airports it's about the fact that you need to transfer terminals and pass some security checkpoint again .

In some countries apparently it's about following regulations ( read: china ) where even on a minuscule domestic airport with only one flights and the controlling officer only 2 meters from real boarding - they stamp your Boarding pass - so imagine on International bound flight at a big airport.. Chinese LOVE stamps.

And here is the wrongright info regarding wrong question - exit stamp on passports :-) :

After consuming about 23 60 pages passports for lack of stamping and visa space ( yes, another thing that most country do is change passport when full as opposed to just adding pages ) I can tell you that In my experience, almost ALL countries do that. actually the US, Canada and maybe a handful of others that I can remember are an exception.

What other countries do this

I could give you a list of over 90 countries that do this, but I think it would be a useless long list as you can verify yourself in this wiki page

Some countries recently stopped stamping at all ( for example HK and MACAU ) and replaced the stamp with an electronic slip. In these cases the countries did have an exit stamp in the past, but now that the slip has been introduced, only an entry slip is supplied .

In other cases - for example Israel, the stamp has been revoked but both entry AND exit slip are supplied .

In some cases, even if no exit stamp or slip is supplied you can specifically ASK one from the border officer - and they will supply on demand. legal reasons for insisting on a stamp may vary and are out of thee scope of this question - but I myself have done it several times.

what's the reason behind it

Reasons are many and varied .. Some use it just to check again at thee gate, some do that to apply to neighboring countries treaties and agreements ( example - free-walking borders ) some do that for own convenience for legacy reasons or lack of electronic systems and some because of immigration legislation syntax.

I must say that many countries are moving now to electronic systems and abolishing the stamps - and on a personal note - I am not a fan.

Apart from nostalgic reasons - there are a lot of cases that I have encountered in my extensive travelling where a passport stamp actually saved me from an unpleasant situation and other cases where the lack of one created these exact situations ...

6
  • Are you perhaps missing that the question seems to be about stamps on boarding passes rather than in passports? Oct 19, 2018 at 23:22
  • @HenningMakholm hehe sorry there.. yes I am. this is what happens when you are trying to answer questions at 04:00 am. Edited now. Oct 20, 2018 at 1:33
  • @ObmerkKronen Border control can impossibly stamp a boarding pass at MEX or PEK domestic, since there's no border control in those cases. We're talking about exit immigration, i.e. where you're processed by local authorities for exiting the country
    – Crazydre
    Oct 20, 2018 at 1:55
  • @Coke - like i said in the answer, it is a different stamp for domestic ( not an exit one ) but stamp nontheless. and since I was just in PEK 12 hours ago, I could post the boarding pass image if you really want .. Oct 20, 2018 at 6:06
  • @ObmerkKronen No need, just wanted to be clear about the distinction
    – Crazydre
    Oct 20, 2018 at 14:55

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .