Argentina Says Goodbye to Physical Entry and Exit Stamps in Passports

Earlier this month, the Argentine Minister of the Interior, Eduardo Wado de Pedro, announced that the process of physically stamping passports will stop and that the process of registering entry and exit from the country will be digitised.

By doing this, it is expected that the migration procedure can be made safer, cheaper and more agile.

Writing in a personal capacity, Forensic Document Expert Lic Monica R. Peralta looks at the reasons behind this decision and at how other countries are responding to the demands of travellers.

When examining a passport, the questions raised about its origin include the study of the security features that make it up, but particularly the detailed analysis of the variable data of its owner on the personal data page, in addition to the stamps and visas of their migratory route.

The physical entry and exit stamps in the passports show evidence of the regular stay in a certain country. There are different sizes, designs, and colours, depending on the security ink used, as well as being designed with special dimensions and fonts, with institutional logos, alphanumeric codes and confidential elements.

The elimination of these printed instruments in the passport is beginning to emerge in some countries; partly caused by technological progress itself, but also by the agenda that the health emergency imposed on a global level. Let us remember that the pandemic led governments to allow the digitisation of their documents to manage public policy in response to social requirements.

Since 25 April, the Argentine Republic progressively began to eliminate the physical entry and exit stamping of Argentine nationals, residents and tourists who enter and/or leave the country. In order to fulfill the purpose of validating transits, the country’s income and expenditure register was digitised.

Argentina digital entry/exit.

Firstly, it was implemented in the airport and maritime terminals and later applied at the 237 border crossings. Prior to their trip, users must complete a Sworn Declaration (with personal data), they will have an encrypted Quick Response (QR) code sent to the declared email, or they can directly access the official website of Migraciones Argentina to prove their transit.

In this procedure, the data take on an important role, which is why the correct loading of the Affidavit is vital since it becomes crucial for verifying the migratory movement.

The international scene

Many countries do not intervene in passports with physical stamps, such as Israel, Australia, and New Zealand, among others. In North America, the National Institute of Migration of the United Mexican States edits the passport with a physical stamp at entry and also in the Multiple Migratory Form (FMM), while there is no intervention by a public official at exit. The paper document is only delivered to the airline when leaving the country.

In general, the considerations for removing physical intervention on a traveller’s passport comes from several geopolitical factors; the war between Russia and Ukraine, the digital advance, and the high cost of energy, which has strongly impacted the price of paper throughout the world, all reasons for governments to favour the elimination of its use. But specifically, to speed up movement in air, sea, and land terminals without neglecting security.

As for the documentary forgery of the stamped seals on the passport’s pages, the fraud risk is eliminated. It is very common for counterfeiters to resort to spurious devices to mask dates, or section any sector of the stamp to avoid individualising it.

Regarding the forensic aspect, the security measures of these elements are not usually shared between countries, so how do you know if it is authentic or not? The best tool for comparison is the databases for verifying the real migratory movement, which is now presented as the effective alternative of accreditation.

Technological transformation contributes to accelerating border crossings. How many of us rightly complain about delays entering or leaving a country?

Everywhere in the world, travellers face nightmare queues. Queues for security checks, queues for delayed flights, masses of people collecting luggage; perhaps the initiative mentioned in this article is the first of many to reduce the waste of our valuable time