Kathleen Walker, a Denver-based immigration attorney, describes the October bulletin as less a dramatic policy change than the formalization of a practice that has become more and more common. Joseph Kwon, a Nashville-based immigration attorney adds, “Think of the stamp as a receipt. The official record has always been the I-94.”
The United States isn’t alone in moving away from physical travel records. Europe’s Entry/Exit System replaced routine stamps with digital entry and exit records across 29 countries have also largely moved to electronic border records. Currently, at least 35 countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea, have started to phase out passport stamping, a trend that’s only expected to continue.
Can I still ask for a US passport stamp?
For travelers who like collecting stamps, it’s still worth asking politely at the inspection booth. But even though you can still ask for a passport stamp in the US, it’s no longer a guarantee that you’ll get one. CBP’s new guidance says officers may still stamp passports in certain situations, including when a traveler requests it, but only “when appropriate.”
“You can ask,” Couix says. “My advice is to treat a stamp as a favor, not a right.”
But for some travelers, a passport stamp is more than just a momento. It serves as a physical record of important travel information. According to Couix, entry stamps often come in handy as supporting proof for visa and residency applications, and certain application paperwork for banks or schools. They are also helpful for Green card holders, who generally can’t use the I-94 system to look back at their trips, and temporary workers who need to keep track of time spent outside the United States.
“Your passport used to be the archive,” Couix says. “It isn’t anymore.”
That was one of the stamp’s biggest advantages, Walker says: It gave travelers an immediate, visible record of when and how they were admitted, and it gave immigration attorneys another paper trail when reconstructing travel history or sorting out an incorrect electronic record.
