Is laziness about stamping passports common at the Bosnian-Montenegrin, Montenegrin-Albanian and Macedonian-Kosovan land borders?
The concerned person, a Dutch citizen, is going on a bus tour in former Yugoslavia, travelling Germany-Austria-Slovenia-Croatia-Bosnia-Montenegro-Albania-Macedonia-Kosovo. They only hold a passport and not a national ID card.
By law, Bosnia, Kosovo and Montenegro are to stamp Dutch passports on entry and exit. Thus, at the Bosnian-Montenegrin border, the person should get both stamps, at the Montenegrin-Albanian border a Montenegrin exit stamp, and at the Macedonian-Kosovan border a Kosovan entry stamp.
In your experiences, is laziness/a lax attitude about stamping EU passports at these particular borders common? I know it's a common issue at the Croatian-Bosnian land border, and we're trying to establish whether the person should verbally ask the officers to issue one whenever they collect the passports from the bus passengers.
Best Answer
They may be lazy to stamp any passport, not only EU. I personally prefer to ask to stamp the passport if the border offices forget to do it. In my own experience, I had to ask to stamp my passport at Albanian-Montenegrin border.
While some people suggest that its OK, I would advice to always check that passport was stamped and was stamped with the correct stamp. A few months ago when entering Portugal the border offices stamped my passport with an exit stamp instead of entry stamp. It was pretty hard to explain the Hungarian border officer why I am trying to exit the EU if I have an exit stamp dated a few days ago but no new entry stamps in the passport.
Pictures about "Is laziness about stamping passports common at the Bosnian-Montenegrin, Montenegrin-Albanian and Macedonian-Kosovan land borders?"
Does Albania stamp your passport?
Albania \u2013 Although not in EU, passport stamps are not issued for nationals of EU, Andorra, Monaco and San Marino. Liechtenstein \u2013 Not part of EU but does not stamp passports for Schengen Zone traveler.Does Macedonia stamp passports?
"Although Macedonia is not a European Union or Schengen Area member state, and is outside the EU freedom of movement area, it has adopted the common Schengen design for passport stamps. In addition, passports of EU/EFTA countries are not stamped." 2. Re: No exit stamp from Macedonia...Does Bosnia stamp passport?
The passport stampWhen arriving in Bosnia and Herzegovina over a land border, you may or may not get an entrance or exit stamp. Immigration officers collect the documents on the bus before returning them to the driver. Passengers usually don't get off.Does Serbia Stamp EU passports?
Serbia does whatever it likes, including stamping the passports of EU and non-EU citizens alike.Documentary - How do I See My Neighbour - Part 1/3 - Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia
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Images: Antony Trivet, Tom Fisk, Selmon Bajramaj, Nothing Ahead