When entering USA (after travel), do they not stamp the passport with entry date?

CrossHairs

Registered Users (C)
Recently, I travelled out of the country and the authorities at the country I travelled to stamped the entry date on the passport when I entered and departure date on the passport when I left the country.

However, when I presented my passport and GC to the immigration counter on arriving back in US at the airport, they scanned my GC, took a look at the passport and let me in. I was tired after the journey and did not look at my passport immediately there. Later when I looked at it, I saw there is NO STAMP on the passport by the US authorities at the airport.

Exactly the same for my wife. They took her GC and passport, scanned her GC by sliding it on a card reader, and then verified her passport and returned it. There are no stamps by US authorities.

On prior travel - a few years back - they used to stamp the passport when you ENTERED USA after traveling abroad. Have they changed the procedure?


PS:
I have retained my boarding passes with me as proof of travel and dates, just in case.
 
Not sure if the rules changed recently but I came back to USA in August 2007, my passport was stamped by the immigration officer on O'hare airport. Its when you are leaving USA, no immigration officer stamp your passport with exit stamp but for entry they do.
 
Not sure if the rules changed recently but I came back to USA in August 2007, my passport was stamped by the immigration officer on O'hare airport. Its when you are leaving USA, no immigration officer stamp your passport with exit stamp but for entry they do.

Yes, in the past they did stamp at port of entry. But they did not stamp our passports on entry to US this time.

Just scanned our Green Cards on the card reader, verified our Passports (no stamping) and let us in.
 
Yes, in the past they did stamp at port of entry. But they did not stamp our passports on entry to US this time.

Just scanned our Green Cards on the card reader, verified our Passports (no stamping) and let us in.
Yeah, this is pretty normal. CBP officers may stamp your passport upon arrival in the US, but are not required to do so. In my experience, you are more likely to have your passport stamped if you arrive via air then if you cross through a land or sea port of entry.

Other countries may or may not stamp your passport - again, they are not required to do so. Just remember that if your passport and / or GC were swiped in the US, then the DHS has a record of your entry, even if it is not reflected in your passport. If you are worried about it coming up at your interview, just make a note of the dates you were out of the country and you can also keep a paper trail (itinerary, hotel bills, boarding passes, credit card receipts etc.) Passport stamp is not the only way to prove one's travel dates.
 
Yeah, this is pretty normal. CBP officers may stamp your passport upon arrival in the US, but are not required to do so. In my experience, you are more likely to have your passport stamped if you arrive via air then if you cross through a land or sea port of entry.

Other countries may or may not stamp your passport - again, they are not required to do so. Just remember that if your passport and / or GC were swiped in the US, then the DHS has a record of your entry, even if it is not reflected in your passport. If you are worried about it coming up at your interview, just make a note of the dates you were out of the country and you can also keep a paper trail (itinerary, hotel bills, boarding passes, credit card receipts etc.) Passport stamp is not the only way to prove one's travel dates.

Yes - I will do so. To keep track of it for citizenship interview.

I was aware that if you enter US via land (say, from Mexico or Canada) they may not stamp it. I was under the impression, they will stamp passport on entry for Air Travel. Apparently they dont always do it.
 
Passport stamping is rather hit & miss. Probably 50% of my trips weren't stamped, and these were typically the ones where I reentered the US via sea. One time the CBP officer even asked me if I wanted a stamp or not!
 
My passport has always been stamped upon entering the US by air. Upon entering the US after my only land trip to Mexico, US immigration scanned my GC through the card reader but did not stamp my passport. I travelled to Canada by air some time back, and the US immigration at Montreal airport did stamp my passport. I had been under the impression that US Immigration always stamp passports upon entry, but seemingly perhaps not.

CrossHairs.. I'd recommed keeping the details and documents as proof of your travels.. would've been convenient to have an entry stamp in your passport, but I wouldn't worry too much about the lack of one.
 
I had a stamp rate of 10%. I simply maintained an excel document for the 10 trips I made when I had GC status.
 
Recently, I travelled out of the country and the authorities at the country I travelled to stamped the entry date on the passport when I entered and departure date on the passport when I left the country.

However, when I presented my passport and GC to the immigration counter on arriving back in US at the airport, they scanned my GC, took a look at the passport and let me in. I was tired after the journey and did not look at my passport immediately there. Later when I looked at it, I saw there is NO STAMP on the passport by the US authorities at the airport.

Exactly the same for my wife. They took her GC and passport, scanned her GC by sliding it on a card reader, and then verified her passport and returned it. There are no stamps by US authorities.

On prior travel - a few years back - they used to stamp the passport when you ENTERED USA after traveling abroad. Have they changed the procedure?


PS:
I have retained my boarding passes with me as proof of travel and dates, just in case.
Is this a concern or just a question? All your travel history is entered into the IBIS system every time they scan your green card, so no need to worry that they will miss your travel history because they didn't stamp your passport.
 
Is this a concern or just a question?

All your travel history is entered into the IBIS system every time they scan your green card, so no need to worry that they will miss your travel history because they didn't stamp your passport.

Question was "Is this normal procedure?" The concern was whether they missed a procedure that should have normally taken place - since this serves as proof of travel dates. (Without this, I need to keep other documents safely to serve as proof of travel dates)
 
Question was "Is this normal procedure?" The concern was whether they missed a procedure that should have normally taken place - since this serves as proof of travel dates. (Without this, I need to keep other documents safely to serve as proof of travel dates)

Even if they missed stamping the passport, they won't require you to prove the travel dates that show up in their IBIS system at the interview since they already scanned your green card at the time. In other words, you don't need to prove what's already in their system. If IBIS showed you entered the country on Jan 6 2007 , they won't ask you to provide documents that show you actually did enter on that date.
 
Even if they missed stamping the passport, they won't require you to prove the travel dates that show up in their IBIS system at the interview since they already scanned your green card at the time. In other words, you don't need to prove what's already in their system. If IBIS showed you entered the country on Jan 6 2007 , they won't ask you to provide documents that show you actually did enter on that date.


Ok, thanks for that info. Appreciate it.


Side note:
Interestingly, they dont scan the GC on departure date from US, only on arrival date into US. (or wait a minute...do they scan the GC when you checkin your luggages during departure from US? the person who checks you in at the ticket counter does ask for Passport and GC, not sure whether they scan it)
 
My breakdown was as follows:-
(1) 6 trips to Canada by land
(2) 2 trips to Canada by air
(3) 1 trip to Pakistan/Maldives/UAE but drove to Canada and flew in and out of Pearson
(4) 1 trip to Pakistan/India/UAE using JFK

Only #4 resulted in a stamp.

Triple Citizen,
Did this 10% stamp rate include trips by air and to countries other than Mexico/Canada?
 
my passport was always stamped when i was a LPR. they even wrote howmany days was I out of the country. CBP hasn't stamped my U.S. Passport till date :)
 
my passport was always stamped when i was a LPR. they even wrote howmany days was I out of the country. CBP hasn't stamped my U.S. Passport till date :)

To date? You've only been a US Citizen for 5 months or so! How many times have you left the country so far? Are the trips retribution or a lash out at the residency BS we face as LPRs?! :D

You are a citizen my friend - let CBP stamp the passport or not - what difference does it make to you? They can't tell you that you overstayed, that you are making too many trips, or prevent you from coming back into your country. Isn't life good?!
 
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