I will be going from Israel to Egypt and perhaps one or two more Arab countries. How do you go about getting the officials to not stamp your passport while in Israel? How critical is this?
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Cat:Middle East and AfricaForum:0EE6B35C
Cat:Middle East and AfricaForum:0EE6B35CDiscussion:ab50f8e7-046f-4f27-bde5-b9fb324e11ff
I will be going from Israel to Egypt and perhaps one or two more Arab countries. How do you go about getting the officials to not stamp your passport while in Israel? How critical is this? Any advice would be sincerely appreciated!
It's not critical for Egypt; Egypt and Jordan have peace treaties with Israel and transit is openly allowed. I have heard that Tunisia and Morocco don't care, and some say the UAE does not. But just request that they stamp a separate sheet of paper, and they should comply.
Note, however, that you may not be able to avoid the VAT when renting a car or checking into hotels because you will not have the paper showing that you are traveling on a tourist visa on a foreign passport. Still, it should not be a problem.
I will be going from Israel to Egypt and perhaps one or two more Arab countries. How do you go about getting the officials to not stamp your passport while in Israel? How critical is this? Any advice would be sincerely appreciated! Posted by aquariusdee
What are the other countries you will be visiting? For some Arab countries it's quite imperative that you not have an Israeli stamp, for others it's OK.
I went to Israel 2 years ago and I asked them not to stamp my passport. The customs agent was snitty about it but she complied. As I left Israel I asked again that they not stamp my passport. That time the agent politely complied.
I don't know how accurate this is but someone on another message board said they will not honor this request anymore. Also a person on that same board did have problems in the UAE. He had an overnight layover there but because of the Israeli stamp he was not allowed to leave the airport. I don't know how long ago that happened and things can always change with time. Again everything in the paragraph is heresay but certainly worth checking out.
As Doug mentioned you will be OK in Egypt and Jordan.
If you leave Israel to go to Egypt the Egyptain stamp will show which border crossing you entered at and it will be obvious that you visited Israel. If you are going to a country where this is problematic then not having an Israeli stamp won't help. The only time it helps is when you are going in and out of israel at the airport or something--so there is no record of any connecting entry.
I believe you are too late for this----I was told that about a year ago Israel stopped stamping a seperate paper for people. I was there about 2 1/2 years ago--before this--and did not have my passport stamped, for this very reason.
However, now I wish I had--Israel is very important to me. My passport needs to be renewed in a year, and I wish I had that stamp for a keepsake.
I do have some friends that have two passports each---for this very reason.
Having just returned from a business trip to Saudi Arabia - I can tell you that an Israel stamp in your passport will prevent you from entering the Kingdom.
I concur with previous comment about the Egyptian border town. Even though Israel won't stamp your passport, Egypt will. So better not to enter Egypt at a land crossing from Israel. Because the Egyptian stamp will show other countries that you were in Israel, even though you don't have the Israeli stamp. And some countries do not like that.
So much depends on your own luck with the agent at passport control. We had researched this, I had stapled a blank page onto one of the pages in our passports back in'06 as we were hoping to take a tour in Morocco in the next year or two. Unfortunately she insisted on flipping to another page and stamping it regardless of how kindly I had asked her asssitance with this. We did visit Tangiers as a port of call with no problem but I still hope to see Fez and Merekesh. I have since replaced my passport so it's no longer any issue either way and I have to say- the people in Israel are some of the nicest I've ever met and one of the most wonderful trips we've ever been on. We're not of any particular religious persuasian, just Christian and there is no unkindness from Anyone. We took a wonderful day trip to Petra and had no problem at the border and just loved Israel. If you get a chance to visit the Holocaust Museum it's unbelievable and I'm not normally a big museum fan. You'll have a wonderful time, if you have to renew your passport sooner because of the stamp it's more than worth it- Israel is an amazing country. We were questioned more carefully there than even here in the US and were glad for their care and concern. Enjoy your time there, it's amazing.
I'm not sure why anyone would expect the Israeli officials to help them violate the laws and policies of other countries. If a terrorist got into this country by persuading an official somewhere else to falsify a record, you'd be horrified, wouldn't you?
Why would you even want to support governments that would give you this kind of reception. But if you can't live without seeing the wonders of these places, go to them first and visit israel last.
I understand the practical issue raised here. Some people may very much want, or need, to visit a country that will nonetheless refuse entry if an Israeli stamp is on the passport. May I suggest this: Don't go to those countries. The fact that a country refuses entry for such reasons bothers me. I do not want to subsidize such behavior by visiting those countries. So, practical issues notwithstanding, I say this: Get the stamp, get it with pride, and do not visit countries that have a problem with it.
The first time I went to Israel I got a large visa stamp in my passport.That was in 1962. After that I never got a stamp in my passport again. They gave an entrance stamp on a piece of paper and stapled that in my passport. At departure they took the paper out and that was it. It has been a few years since I was last in Israel, but I would think this practice is still in use.The Israelies know ,or should know, that a lot of countries do not allow people into their countries who have been to Israel. They should accommodate everybody who needs to go to these countries for business or whatever.
It can be done -- I asked for and got a separate piece of paper stamped on entry 10 days ago. The immigration officer didn't look too happy about the request and asked me why (upcoming business trip to UAE) but i got it, and it was taken back at the airport on the way out.
I was in Israel a couple of months ago with friends. One friend did not want the Israel stamp due to future travel requirements. The agent at Passport Control very happily complied ... no problem at all. Enjoy your trip to Israel ... it is truly amazing! We travelled freely into Bethlehem and the Palestinian Territories. Well worth the passport stamp. I'm proud to have it in mine.
I just came from israel. I live in Qatar holding Brazilian passport and travelling all over for work. Since I had a Lebanon stamp and a Iranian single visa on my old passport (I just renewed it before travelling), I guess it raised a lot os suspicious. We waited for almost 3 hours until they decided to let us go.
Although stamped, the agent was surprised when I said I asked for no stamp. And said that next time, I should remind them again.
