Are there countries that are known to place their stamp at the end of the passport?
Like many travelers, I like collecting country stamps in my passport, and review them once in a while. I have visited a few countries on my current passport, and I've noticed an intriguing tendency.
Most countries seem content with the practice of stamping in the first viable spot they find, starting from the front of the passport. (Let's keep in mind it's a human border controller doing this, who won't necessarily care exactly where the stamp is, but that's the general process)
However, in the case of Georgia, they seem to consistently put their stamps on the last page; starting from the back instead. That's on both entry and exit, which I've done twice, by air and by land. So I have four Georgia stamps on the last page.
Is this some kind of habit or local procedure depending on the country? Do we know if there are countries known for doing this, or some unusual way, even anecdotally? Are there identifiable tendencies of some countries to proceed a certain way? I'm curious as to what could be the reasons behind this.
Best Answer
Yes. Every time I flew to Russia and Ukraine, both always stamp my passport on the last page, or on a previous one. Considering they all do that, we can safely assume there is a procedure.
I suspect this may be the case with more ex-USSR countries as you mentioned with Georgia.
Also at Helsinki airport they also stamp the last page, even though Finland was not part of ex-USSR. "Warsaw block" countries (Poland, Romania, Hungary) however do not do that at all.
Pictures about "Are there countries that are known to place their stamp at the end of the passport?"
Does Germany stamp passport on exit?
So Germany is NOT like the US. It does stamp passports upon exit but it doesn't if you're a resident in a EU country.Do they stamp your passport when you leave the US?
As there is no specific CBP interview or check by any customs officers as part of the exit process, no one will put an US Exit stamp on your passport. Your passport will only have the entry stamp from Port of Entry, that's about it. No US exit immigration stamp !Does Turkey stamp your passport?
Re: Does Turkey still stamp passports? Yes, they always stamp passports and we come a couple of times per year. We both got the passports with more pages. The guy at the Passport Desk looks for an empty page in your passport before he stamps it.Does the UK stamp your passport on exit?
The UK do not have any passport control upon exiting the country as the EU/Schengen has so nobody gets an exit stamp.Visa refusal stamps || Countries which put refusal Stamps on Passport || Babaaz Travels
More answers regarding are there countries that are known to place their stamp at the end of the passport?
Answer 2
Morocco does that too, in this case I suppose it has to do with right to left way of reading.
I traveled to Morocco at least twice a year for a few years, I am now living there since a few years and traveling from there, every single stamp has been put at the end (at least thirty, a hundred if I count my wife's and my kids ')
Answer 3
After checking my passports I can add Albania as a country doing this. It was communist but certainly not part of the Soviet influence sphere.
Furthermore, I confirm Morocco and the ex-USSR countries. An notable exception is my Nagorno-Karabakh visa which is in the middle of my passport.
Answer 4
Tally based on answers received so far
Stamps on last page
The following countries place their stamp on the last page:
Former Soviet countries
- Russia
- Ukraine
- Georgia
- Belarus
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Moldova
Other
- Albania
- Finland (ties to Russia, but not part of USSR)
- South Korea
- Mongolia
- Morocco (based on right-to-left writing?)
Does not stamp on last page
One could expect the following countries that they would, but they don't:
- Poland
- Romania
- Hungary
Stamps in other interesting ways
- Mexico: go through pages until they find a US stamp, stamp close to there
Answer 5
According to a comment here on Travel.SE by @CMaster:
On a recent trip to Mexico, the officer at the border went through until they found a US stamp, and the Mexican entry stamp as close to that as possible. No idea why.
Answer 6
It seems that policies are changing. My stamps (from 2012 and/or 2013) from Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova and Armenia are all in the front. It doesn't seem to be a one-time-thing as I have eight stamps from Georgia (or they try to place it close to the old ones, I don't know).
The only stamps I have in the back are from Belarus.
Answer 7
From my personal experience, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, and Mongolia all stamped on the last page of my passport.
Answer 8
Timeframe 1970 to 1993:
Poland with Visa: any free page (first in the middle, next after previous in my first passport)
Poland and Czech Republic without Visa: last pages
DDR (East Germany) without Visa: first free page, with the next entry/exit stamps on the same page
West Germany entry/exit stamps: near exit stamp of previous country
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Lara Jameson, Maria Orlova, Nataliya Vaitkevich, Nothing Ahead