Here's Why You Should Never Put A Souvenir Stamp On Your Passport

Passports can cause us a lot of stress for a variety of reasons. For example, many countries require up to six months validity before the expiration date to let you in. You may wonder about things like whether your passport is valid with your maiden name after you get married or what to do with your old passport when it expires. A big question you may have about that all-important travel document is whether those souvenir passport stamps you can get at places like Checkpoint Charlie or at the equator have any effect on its validity. As it turns out, it absolutely does — you can be denied entry or exit from a country if you have one in your passport. 

In fact, there was a 2020 Facebook post from a woman named Tina Sibley who was trying leave Thailand for the United Kingdom (where she's a citizen) on Qatar Airlines. They wouldn't accept her passport because she had a novelty stamp from a trip to Machu Picchu. She even had issues at the British Embassy, which wouldn't initially replace it with an emergency one because they said it was valid. She got home eventually, but it highlights what can happen when you mess with an official document. Is it the same with an American passport? Are they legal? Where can you get novelty stamps in the first place? 

Novelty stamps are offered by some countries and locations as a fun way to remember your trip. While they may look very similar to real passport stamps, they are not official. You may hear that it's just going to get you some questionsat the border, but there is actually a rule around this, and it's right in your passport. 

If you have it in front of you and open to page 5 (page 1 is the first one with your picture), you'll see a heading, "Loss, Theft, or Alteration of Passport." It reads: "Alteration could make the passport invalid, and if willful, may subject you to prosecution (Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1543). Only authorized officials may place stamps or make notations or additions in this passport." It's a possibility that it might not be noticed, but if it is, you could be in trouble or have to find a way to replace it. That could cost you time (the embassy) and money (rebooking flights and hotel stays), and no one wants that on vacation or on a work trip. 

No one is supposed to stamp your passport besides officials from the U.S. State Department, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, or immigration or consul officials from foreign countries. Of course, those novelty stamps do sound fun, and there is a way you can enjoy them without compromising your ability to fly. 

Novelty stamps are a lovely idea, and there is a way to get them anyway, but not on your official passport. Instead, grab a blank novelty passport. Some on Amazon even come with their own stickers and stamps. You can even get a passport cover to keep it in good condition (though we suggest getting one in an unusual color so you don't get them mixed up).

There are a lot of places to get these stamps. For instance, Machu Picchu, as we mentioned, has one at the Inca ruins, as does Peru's Islas Uros. In Argentina, you can get one at Ushuaia, as well as "El Fin del Mundo" or end of the world at the tip of South America. Canada's Churchill, aka the polar bear capital of the world in Manitoba, has one, as does Checkpoint Charlie on the border between what was once East and West Berlin. Wales has a fun one from the town with a really long name: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. (You can listen to the pronunciation here.) 

You can get one on Rapa Nui, aka Easter Island, and in the Galapagos Islands. The United Nations in New York has one as well. That's not all of them and collecting them sounds like fun ... just don't get them in your official passport.