When I arrived in South Korea this weekend, all lines were completely empty for the first time in my life, and I was surprised when the customs officer put a physical entry record to my passport again.
One of the countries that used to give you a printed slip as an entry record was South Korea, which stopped doing that in the year of 2019.
The last time I visited Korea in April, I still got the printed receipt, so I wouldn't have expected them to change their policy and start issuing sticks of passports again.
When they stopped the stamp, I wrote an article about it.
No More Passport Stamps For Arrivals & Departures Into South Korea (Arrivals Slip Only)
Reducing stamps makes life easier for frequent travelers as a large number of stamps means renewing the passport more quickly, but it also takes away another novelty factor of travel.
When another country eliminates passport stamps because of a clearly printed arrival record, it makes me sad. I keep my passport even after it has been invalidated.
I requested an exit stamp in order to see if it was available.
Entry/Exit Passport Stamps Are Still Available, Even As Some Countries Officially Did Away With Them
Travelers who enter a checkpoint where stamps are no longer given automatically may be able to request one from the customs officer.
There are sometimes good reasons for having a stamp in the passport as a visual proof of when you have entered and left a country, and many places eliminating stamps doesn't make it easy to reconcile your travel in some cases.
Thailand uses stamps for everything. Japan has been using printed stickers for a while. As long as I get something, I don't care. Brazil is one of the countries with large stamps. If you are a frequent visitor, then you need to get a bigger passport.
It is possible to have proof of being in a foreign country for 180+ days for purposes of tax liability. A copy of the passport stamps was satisfactory when I was asked to provide such proof.
It was the conclusion.
Over the years, we have reported on some of the countries that no longer give entry/exit stamps. There are many practical reasons why stamps make sense, even though this has mostly presented an annoyance.
Korea has begun attaching little entry stickers again. Not that I was ever asked for it, but having all your entry/exit records handy without keeping an extra side collection of receipts is just so much more practical.
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