I wonder why US officers sometimes stamp non-US passports, since nowadays all entries/exits are electronically recorded. E.g., I have a green card + French passport, and I don't the point of receiving US stamps when I enter the US.
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Franck Dernoncourt
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More info: Not stamping my foreign passport at US border – Greg Hewgill Sep 23 '21 at 01:17
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@GregHewgill thanks, which part of the links explain why US officers sometimes stamp non-US passports? – Franck Dernoncourt Sep 23 '21 at 03:24
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4Whenever I get a stamp in my non-US passport it is a stamp with a date usually ~6 months away and something like "Admit until" - tells me how long I can stay in the US and I don't need to look this up. – Midavalo Sep 23 '21 at 05:12
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1Some people are creatures of habit. If they stamped passports for 20 years, they're not necessarily going to stop because things have changed. Or if they stamp 9 out of 10 passports because they need to, they will probably stamp the 10th even if they don't need to (put yourself in their shoes and imagine what it must feel like seeing hundreds of people and passports every day for years). Or maybe they like a good old-fashioned paper trail and don't trust all this computer stuff. – jcaron Sep 23 '21 at 12:53
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1I think the question should be 'why do US passport officers sometimes not stamp passports from foreigners' and/or why do US passport officers sometimes stamp US passports and passports of US Greencard holders. – Willeke Sep 23 '21 at 16:12
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Might tend to be different depending on whether it's a land or air entry. – Spehro Pefhany Sep 23 '21 at 19:01
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@SpehroPefhany thanks, I'm curious about both cases. – Franck Dernoncourt Sep 27 '21 at 02:13
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I think the answer is simply: because they feel like it.
US CBP (Customs and Border Protection) officers have an unusual amount of leeway and there is little oversight, so the experience tends to be very inconsistent and unpredictable. The "why" is often a moot question since the answer is simply "because that's what the officer wants to do".
I've seen officers that behave professional and courteous, I've seen officers that were outright abusive. I've seen people getting the Nth degree interrogation, I have seen people being waved through without looking at ANYTHING AT ALL.
I've seen an officer in secondary inspection ripping a page out of a non US passport. That's clearly illegal, but there is no recourse and no consequences for the officer.
