Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
So what can I do if I plan to combine my visit to Jordan with a trip to Israel and Syria?
When you enter or
leave Israel, you can ask immigration officials to stamp a separate piece of paper instead of your passport.
So there's no problem then?
That depends on where you go to next. If you have, say, an exit stamp from one bor-
der and an entry stamp dated a week later from a different border in Jordan, it will be obvious to the Syrian authorit-
ies, for example, that you must have been in Israel and the Palestinian Territories in the meantime. Indeed, travellers
have been turned away from Syria's border with Jordan for having unexplained periods of time in their passport,
such as six weeks in Jordan without any evidence of a Jordanian visa extension.
So how do I get round that problem?
You can fly into and out of Ben-Gurion airport; enter and depart through
King Hussein Bridge border crossing with a multiple entry visa and ask the Jordanian officials to stamp a piece of
paper instead of your passport; or plan to visit Israel and the Palestinian Territories at the end of your trip.
Is an Israeli stamp a problem when trying to enter most Arab countries?
No, it's not a problem when entering
Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia and Morocco. Officially, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Oman will refuse you entry if
you have evidence of a visit to Israel in your passport, but in reality they don't usually look for an offending stamp.
For which countries in the Middle East is it a problem?
Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Yemen. If
you get an Israeli or Jordanian exit or entry stamp in your passport, there's little you can do. If you report that your
passport is 'lost' to your embassy in any country in the Middle East, it may be met with cynicism and even rejec-
tion. The bottom line is that the restrictions that some Arab countries make are in place for a purpose and if you try
to sidestep those rules, you can expect your intentions to be misinterpreted at some point.
