Comments on: Passport question

Question: Passport question

InkaLomax — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 19:59:20 -0800

Traveling from USA to Brazil, is it possible that you could present a passport but not have it stamped in anyway?

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 20:05:13 -0800

I traveled from the U.S. to Paris to Basel and the only place I had my passport stamped was in Iceland of all places when we had to go through customs on the layover.

By: dmd

dmd — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 20:07:15 -0800

Lots of countries don't stamp passports.

By: oaf

oaf — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 20:11:12 -0800

I've traveled back and forth to Canada a lot, and have hardly ever had my passport stamped by immigration in the U.S.

However, since Brazil apparently will fingerprint you if you're a U.S. citizen, I'm guessing they'll stamp your passport. If you've got another citizenship, you might not have to have your passport stamped.

By: Tacos Are Pretty Great

Tacos Are Pretty Great — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 20:22:51 -0800

Brazil has a visa, so I'm guessing not.

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 20:29:33 -0800

Most countries don't stamp your passport unless you specifically request it.

By: Lucas822

Lucas822 — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 21:01:24 -0800

Tacos Are Pretty Great is correct, Brazil does have a visa that you have to apply for if you're a US citizen. The visa is a sticker and a stamp that takes up a page in your passport.

By: lumiere

lumiere — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 21:09:10 -0800

Perhaps it's because I have a whack of sticker visas in my passport, but it's been my experience that I get stamps just about everywhere, even countries where I can enter freely (excepting Canada and the US; I'm a Canadian citizen). Unless you are a Brazilian citizen, you'll almost certainly need a pre-approved visa to get in to Brazil and, if leaving from the US, you may very well get an exit stamp at that end (as a visa national in the US, that is).

By: whatzit

whatzit — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 08:39:10 -0800

Are you a US citizen? Then intraveling to Brazil from the US, you will need a visa.

And immigrations WILL stamp your passport and your visa when you arrive. And really, you might want it stamped. Why? If your visa/passport is not stamped within 90 days of the visa's issuance, the visa will be considred invalid.

So, unless you don't ever want to use the visa again, just get it stamped. If you really have no intention of returning to Brazil and don't mind paying $100 and losing your passport for a couple weeks again, you can ask them not to, but it might not work.

By: msittig

msittig — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 10:04:29 -0800

If you can afford to "lose" your passport and get it replaced at an embassy, then you will also "lose" the Brazilian visa. But make sure to do this *after* you leave Brazil, as the government officials at the border will probably want to see the visa when you exit the country.

By: JamesMessick

JamesMessick — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 10:46:53 -0800

I recently heard Bill O'Reilly talking about journalists asking not to have their passports stamped in certain middle-eastern countries because it made it very difficult to enter certain other middle-eastern countries.

By: sablazo

sablazo — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 15:29:45 -0800

BTW, Brazil is not currently (as of last month) fingerprinting/photographing any U.S. citizens upon entry to the country.

Also, what has been mentioned about visas expiring without a stamp certainly holds true for tourist visas on U.S. passports, but is not true for some (but not all) research/business visas.

I cannot think of any reason to avoid getting your passport stamped in Brazil - it isn't Cuba after all! What country in the world will accept a U.S. passport but balk at one that has a Brazilian entry stamp in it?

DO NOT try to go to Brazil without a visa (you'll find the airlines probably won't let you anyway).