12

I recently entered Albania with an EU passport, but I noticed that I received no entry stamp.

  1. As an EU citizen, was I supposed to receive an entry stamp?
  2. If I was, would this cause problems for me when trying to leave Albania, as they would not have a record of me entering in the first place and they might wonder how I even entered Albania?
Improve this question
2
  • It's ok. I didnt get one either and had no problems exiting to Kosovo. Especially at land borders I've found they're kind of lax about it here in the balkans. The only way to guarantee a stamp (if you're collecting or something) is to ask the official at the border crossing personally.
    – Roddy of the Frozen Peas
    Commented Dec 9, 2016 at 22:09
  • 1
    @RoddyoftheFrozenPeas that's also been my experience, traveling into and out of Slovenia (pre-Schengen Italian border), Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina by car. Sometimes they didn't even take the passports from the driver's hand before waving us through.
    – phoog
    Commented Dec 9, 2016 at 22:29

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
10

As per the Albanian law on border control (article 16.2.a):

Nuk vendoset vulë në hyrje ose dalje në: dokumentet e udhëtimit të shtetasve të Republikës së Shqipërisë, të Bashkimit Europian, të Zonës Ekonomike Europiane, të Zvicrës, të Andorrës, të Monakos dhe të San Marinos

Translated:

There are no stamps on entry or exit for: travel documents of citizens of the Republic of Albania, the European Union, the European Economic Area, Switzerland, Andorra, Monaco and San Marino.

So no, as an EU citizen you weren't supposed to have your passport stamped.

Improve this answer
4
  • Ok, thanks for you answer! Yes, I had flown in, so I will keep the things you said in mind. However, I cannot use my identity card, as it is a special one (I live in a different EU county than my passport) and on that ID card it is specifically stated that it cannot be used for international travel. However, I've also noticed that upon entering the US with my American passport, I used to receive passport stamps but not anymore. Is this the same scenario as in Albania, or is this just a case of them storing their information electronically now ?
    – user49558
    Commented Dec 10, 2016 at 8:13
  • Ok, but in the case of entering the US (as I described in my first comment) is that the case of them also being lazy, or here they actually do store the "stamp" electronically instead of actually stamping it ?
    – user49558
    Commented Dec 10, 2016 at 21:27
  • Also no I can't get an identity card because I don't currently live in the country of my nationality, so that's not an option for me at the moment. Anyways, I think that would almost defeat the purpose of having a passport if I were to get an ID card just to bypass this problem .
    – user49558
    Commented Dec 10, 2016 at 21:34
  • Let us continue this discussion in chat.
    – user49558
    Commented Dec 10, 2016 at 22:38

You must log in to answer this question.