Getting your passport stamped is a highly satisfying ritual of entering a new country. These ink souvenirs serve as the ultimate flex that definitively prove your status as a world traveler. But in the eyes of a customs officer, they can also easily become a seal of disapproval—evidence that you’ve traveled to an “enemy” country. In fact, possessing the wrong stamp can hinder you from adding more in the future.
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“As I threw together my last-minute trip to Lebanon, I had just one small issue, and for once, it wasn’t an overweight suitcase or an overloaded itinerary. No, it was a tiny stamp in my passport: one from the Taba border in Egypt,” writes Alexandra Baackes, the blogger behind Alex in Wanderland. “That little flash of ink revealed a truth that could result in me being banned from Lebanon: I’d been to Israel before. The same fate would await me in the other countries that do not allow travelers who have been to Israel to enter: Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.”
Baackes’ solution? Applying for a second passport.
According to the State Department, second passports may be issued if “a foreign country will deny a visa or entry to you because your passport has stamps showing travel to certain countries. Example: an Israeli visa, or entry or exit stamp in some countries in the Middle East.”
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A few other examples: A Kosovo stamp would prevent you from visiting Serbia, which doesn’t recognize Kosovo as a country. Meanwhile, a Pakistani stamp might not stop you from getting into India—the same for an Amernian stamp if you’re traveling to Azerbaijan—but they will still very much raise eyebrows. And although Israel no longer stamps passports, your passport could still indicate that you once took a trip there if you have a stamp from Egypt or Jordan, revealing you crossed an overland border from Israel.
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The sheer number of stamps on your passport might also work against you—all those badges of honor for naught. “Once in New Zealand [I] got pulled aside for three hours because ‘too many stamps in my passport,’” Redditor jmiele31 writes. And novelty souvenir stamps, which you can get at places like Macchu Picchu, could potentially invalidate your passport.
Your second passport, then, can serve as a blank slate, an erasure of your travel history. “I essentially now have one passport I use for Israel and the rest of the world, and one passport I use for Muslim countries, including Malaysia or Indonesia, which trigger questioning at Israel entry points,” Baackes explains.
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Another qualifying reason for seeking out a second passport might be to skirt visa processing times—i.e., if “you need a U.S. passport for urgent travel, and a foreign country delayed your application for a visa or cannot process it in time for your travel,” the State Department website explains. A real-world example of this: You’d like to vacation in Copenhagen this fall while your passport is being held up at the Indian embassy for a subsequent trip to Darjeeling.
A third reason for a second passport might be that you work for an airline or a multinational corporation, and “you need visas for several countries on an ongoing basis because of frequent international travel,” per the State Department.
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This is the case for Redditor MattyHurrican’s wife. “(She’s) a corporate flight attendant, and has two U.S. passports,” he writes in the Passports subreddit. “That being said, she didn’t randomly decide to apply for a second one. It was requested and ‘sponsored’ by her employer who had to submit paperwork to justify the need. One of the reasons being having to send her primary in to foreign embassies for visas.”
Your second passport will be an exact replica of your primary one, containing the same information. Though it’ll only be valid for four years, it’ll cost you the same amount in fees (around $130). If you can part ways with your current passport, send it along with form DS-82 in the mail. If that’s not possible, apply in-person with form DS-11 and another proof of citizenship. You’ll also need to submit a signed statement (sample here) explaining your situation, as well as a new passport photo.
