I know this is a stupid question, but I'm interested in the purpose behind this practice. I know some countries rely on such developed countries as Singapore to prove your visa. For example, my US/UK/EU visas made it easy for me to enter almost any country even when my friends get rejected.
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4For clarification, do you mean visas or entry/exit stamps?– jcaronCommented Apr 29 at 10:06
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@jcaron both of them– えるまるCommented Apr 29 at 14:28
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3It should be useful for them. Singapore has a very different size (geographically) as the US/EU (and magnitude less entry points): upgrade of systems and also check at central point is much quick and easier.– Giacomo CatenazziCommented Apr 29 at 14:58
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3Israeli customs will often not stamp passports as a courtesy to people who may get into trouble back home. Bangladeshi passports forbid travel to Israel, but there is no ban in Israel that forbids these people from visiting, so they don't get stamped– Neil MeyerCommented Apr 30 at 18:01
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2No one really hates singapore enough that a hypothetical exit/entry stamp would be an issue. Also if memory serves, we have two functioning civil airports, 2 land checkpoints, and about half a dozen or so sea checkpoints (though we'd likely be losing a few as the port consolidates to tuas from the 3-4 previous terminals we had), and a integrated system that manages all this.– Journeyman GeekCommented May 2 at 0:40
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5 Answers
You're confusing visas and entry/exit stamps. One can have stamps in a passport without needing a visa (/me raises hand). Or a visa without stamps, come to think of it...
Not stamping passports is more common now, and frequent travelers appreciate this: pages in a passport can fill up quickly, and renewing passports is always a pain.
Some places do not stamp passports, either on exit, or both entry and exit. They keep computer records so they know if and when you've left. Places like Korea, HK, Macau give you a small piece of paper that proves your entry, and tell you how long you can stay (or, in most cases, to be unambiguous, by when you have to leave). They don't give another on exit though.
Singapore is trying to go completely paper-free, so their machines and manned counters do not generally produce paper, but an electronic record. You receive by email a "Notification of Electronic Visit Pass", which serves as proof you entered Singapore legally. You can print that if you need to show proof.
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18@Willeke - to be fair, there is a large difference in the number of people with passports going into one vs the other. Commented Apr 29 at 12:36
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2OP of this answer is very precise when editing answers written by other people, I expect that same precision in their own answers.– Willeke ♦Commented Apr 29 at 13:41
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2"Some places do not stamp passports..." True from a practical/technical sense, but I like having the stamps in there, so if you ask them to stamp it, I've found a lot of countries' border agents still have a stamp, and they're happy to do so.. They just don't need to from any practical sense, so they don't, but you can still ask if you like to "collect'' the stamps. Commented Apr 30 at 16:56
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3@Willeke note that both governments claim to own the whole single country of Korea. Commented Apr 30 at 17:35
I know some countries rely on such developed countries as Singapore to prove your visa.
The utility of a visa and entry/exit record for Singapore in for Singaporean interests alone. The utility for the travellers to prove their travel record to other countries are not of their concern.
For Singapore, an electronic system for visa, entry/exit record etc. are beneficial since it is counterfeit-proof, more secure (e.g. to identify people with different passports or block someone from getting on a plane), and more efficient to process (e.g. e-gates).
Physical stamping is being phased out in many countries.
Australia and New Zealand have been issuing fully digital visa for many years and allow the use of e-Gates for many nationalities without physical entry/exit stamps.
U.S. and Canada no longer routinely stamp passports and I-94 has been electronic for most travellers for a while.
The UK will be phasing out physical visa and residence permit next year and implement a fully digitalised system.
Schengen countries have wanted to phase out physical stamps for 15+ years an this is delayed due to legal and technical difficulties. The EU has already passed the necessary regulations and the electronic entry/exit system should be (unless delayed again...) implemented this year. The EU also aims for visa digitalisation by 2028 (but if EES and ETIAS are of any indication it won't be done until 2035...).
It will likely pose problems for e.g. the implementation of transit or other visa exemptions granted to holders of these visas in other countries, but again, this is not really a concern for the countries delivering these visas, but the countries that give these beneficial treatments.
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1It's worth noting that airlines can query a country's ETA system for the existence/validity of an ETA for a given passenger. They routinely use it to check that one has an ETA to travel to that country. No idea if they could/would do that to check the existence of an ETA for country A when travelling to country B.– jcaronCommented Apr 29 at 10:03
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2There's also the issue of certain countries' being more, ah... suspicious of someone with stamps from their avowed enemy. E.g. Israel gives the option of stamping or not stamping a passport in case a traveler may wish to visit other ME countries, many of which may harass or delay entry if one has an Israeli stamp in their passport. Commented Apr 29 at 21:33
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2@JedSchaaf some countries even go so far as to issue a second passport for that reason as well. Commented Apr 30 at 18:04
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The EU visa digitalisation plan only covers Schenge (short-stay) visas, it's not quite comparable to the Australian scheme and physical visas will remain a thing for Schengen countries even after that plan comes to fruition.– RelaxedCommented May 1 at 5:13
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@Relaxed The EU plan (2023/2667) also allows the digitalisation of national visas, though not residence permits.– xngtngCommented May 1 at 10:48
Quoting the official announcement by the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA):
No More Inked Endorsement Stamp in Passport
To realise our New Clearance Concept (NCC) vision of automated clearance as the norm by 2023, ICA is progressively launching the electronic Visit Pass (e-Pass).
Instead of inked endorsement stamps in passports, the e-Pass is issued via an email notification to the email address declared by the foreign visitor via the electronic SG Arrival Card. It contains details of the visit pass granted, including the maximum number of day(s) of stay and the last day of stay allowed in Singapore.
answered Apr 29 at 13:17
Everything is digital and there's no need to.
Not going into excessive detail but over time, the plan is to go almost fully automatic, essentially using biometrics entirely. On the short term, there's almost no manned counters (and people to do the stamping), unless there's an exception. You might have to enroll the first time, but after that, its literally a self service system with no one to stamp your passport.
We're actually at a stage where some immigration processes are passport free both on land and air checkpoints. The high degree of automation both makes the need for stamping inefficient and unnecessary.
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I'm not sure if its directly relevant but we also dropped physical arrival cards for digital ones tied into our covid/health reporting requirements for everyone. Commented May 2 at 0:38
Singapore wants to attract as many visitors as possible. Not stamping passports removes an obstacle for some travelers who wish to visit other countries without traces of prior trips.
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1In which countries would having a Singaporean stamp create an issue? Commented May 3 at 0:13
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1That doesn’t match reality: to enter Singapore, now you have to register online, whereas before you just walked through immigration. As a traveler, entering Singapore got more difficult, not less.– freganteCommented May 3 at 8:54
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@fregante I don't think Sarah meant it is less tedious to enter Singapore, but rather that countries that might have a problem with you having visited Singapore now will not know without the stamp in your passport. That being said, I'm not aware of any countries that have a problem with having visited Singapore. More of an issue with, say, Israel, Iran, or North Korea. Israel stopped stamping passports a while back for this reason. Some majority-Muslim countries would not admit people with Israeli stamps in their passports.– reirabCommented May 3 at 20:41