Passport stamps, love them or loath them?

[leadman]

In 2005 I remember walking across the border at El Paso - Juarez and not even been stopped other than paying a fee of something like 35c! From memory there was a payment booth/window then you walked through a one-way gate, no guards, no checking, no stamp. On the way back was an absolute different story; the US authorities questioned me for about 20 minutes on what an Aussie was doing walking around Juarez the murder capital of the world! The rubber glove didn't come out, but they did half smile when I told them I wanted to see the bullring. When I got there, a big sign was over the gate announcing it was the new site for Walmart!!!!

I was in Mexico last week and the entry stamp in my passport is so weak its hard to read which country it came from.

 

[kathy_syd]

I was in Mexico last week and the entry stamp in my passport is so weak its hard to read which country it came from.

I went to Mexico in 2011 and didn't even get an entry stamp. (I was going from the US though).

I'll be honest, I love getting passport stamps. (But I don't have an e-passport, due to get a new one next year).

 

[harvyk]

I went to Mexico in 2011 and didn't even get an entry stamp. (I was going from the US though).

I'll be honest, I love getting passport stamps. (But I don't have an e-passport, due to get a new one next year).

OK, it's been 20 years since I was last in Mexico, but their whole entry procedures seemed to be a little "please close the gate behind you". This was back in a time when virtually any travel required getting Visa's and jumping through hoops and yet they where very lax.

 

[PineappleSkip]

I found this out from the US Govt pages on ESTA - the new P series passport has two letters, and this ind
cates the type.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1749/~/esta---australian-p-passports

Had an official passport in murky green a few years ago and it was an F series when ordinary passports being issued at the time were N series. Only 5 year validity too.

Just picked up a shiny new 74 pager (68 visa pages - PE series not PF), the man at the BNE passport office mentioned they can issue ordinary passports but frequent traveller ones have to come from Canberra. .

Will be interested to see how the banknote plastic pages cope with stamps. Experience of that anyone? Stamps are very nice, smudged ones and mirror images not so nice.

cheers skip.