Sunday, May 18, 2008

I Have a Canadian Stamp in My Passport, Part Two

Six years ago (to the day!), I posted about finally getting a Canadian stamp in my passport after years of disappointment. I assumed that the stamping had something to do with Quebecois particularism. But last night, when I arrived in Calgary, they stamped my passport (without my having to ask). I changed passports 5 years ago, so I now have a stamp in my new passport. This new passport has been neglected by Calgary (2003) and Vancouver (2006) as well, so I have no idea why it got stamped. Either the Canadians have tightened things up, or it was at the whim of the guy with the stamp.

About two-and-a-half years ago, I sent my passport in for additional pages. They tripled the size of my passport. There is not always a clear reason for where officials choose to stamp, but they have uniformly avoided the third section. As the passport has gotten more crowded, the officials are more likely to stamp on the first "available" page, although each official has a different definition of "available".

Pages 8-12 have been completely filled up (1-7 are not for stamps). Then we switch to letters (the way they added the new pages is a little strange). A-C were full, and now the guy in Calgary finished off D. There's one space in E -- we'll see if that's the next one to go -- two on F, then it's pretty full until we get to L (though I bet the Brits would be willing to squeeze a stamp or two in). I despair whether there'll be a chance to finish it up through X and move on to the other new section before 2013.

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