RE: entering israel with many arabic stamps?

My passport was almost full with Arab stamps, but Israel still let me in. Just be prepared for a little more questioning as to what you were doing in those countries.

Hi, just wondering if there would be some troubles if my passport is filled with stamps from Arab countries? I have been to the UAE 3 times, Egypt twice, Jordan twice, Iran once, as well as Oman, Morocco, Syria, and Lebanon...I am planning to visit my girlfriend in Tel Aviv, and then fly back to Paris with her...the ticket is really cheap now, but I don't know if I should buy it, because what if I am denied entry?

Cheers,
A

Sigh, here we go again. This is asked once a week on average. Israel does not+ deny entry based on where you have been, but expect some +very stiff questioning. Answer everything truthfully, no matter how stupid or irrelevant it may seem. The questions are designed to find out whether you were in those countries simply as a tourist, or for more sinister reasons.

Read this thread to get an idea. It applies to all entry points, not just the Jordan/Israel border.

You sound like a good candidate for passport cloning - so take care ... lol!

Don't let your passport out of your sight ........

Egypt, Jordan and Morocco shouldn't be too much of a problem but as #2 says you should be prepared for a very thorough grilling - especially with regards to your time in Iran, Syria and Lebanon.

You might be able to speed up the interrogation a little by having with you all the details of where exactly you stayed in those countries (I mean hotel names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses etc), as well as full names/addresses/phone numbers of ALL friends/contacts or associates you have there. If you are able to show this "evidence" of your innocent movements/itinerary in those countries it may help you. Just to give you an idea - I entered Israel with an Uzbek visa and made the mistake of NOT having ALL details of my Uzbek trip to hand (it had been several months since I returned from Uzbekistan) - so was unable to remember things like hotel addresses, names of hotel employees, numbers of buses that I travelled on whilst in Uzbekistan, names of shops I visited etc and the Israel interrogators made a big deal of this and seemed to find it quite "suspicious" - it added an extra hour or so onto my interrogation time so I strongly advise you to arrive with as much information about those trips as possible, even small details like taxi drivers' names that you might consider unimportant. You have been warned! :-)

Speaking from experience I was 'detained' and questioned at the Jordan/Israeli border for over 4hrs as I tried to enter Eilat. I had numerous stamps form Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. The only one they had an issue with was the Syrian stamps. I found it ironic but unsurprising that the staff at the border crossing were unable to read simple Arabic as they could not read the dates I was in Syria as the stamp uses Arabic numbers.

Just be patient and expect a wait. Take some food and water with you as in our case we hadn't eaten all day and ran out of water only to be told we could leave the holding room to get anything to eat, frustrating to say the least. However a nice young Israeli girl working there provided us with some bread and hummus.

As has been said above answer all their questions, they are all simple and very straight forward, you should not need excessive information as mentioned above. The questions do seem irrelevant at times, when I was asked my grandfathers name I enquired as to why I needed to answer seemingly unrelated questions, I was simply told in no uncertain terms that 'to enter Israel you must answer the questions.'

I hope this is of some help, it'll be grand.

Peace.

which boarder crossing are you going to use?
Be preparred for questiions, finally they will let you in..

You say you're visiting your girlfriend? Is she Israeli? If so get all her details, phone number, id number etc. and explain this quickly on in the questioning - it will speed things up.

#5 they do normally allow you food, in the airport I have been bought and brought food, at Allenby I was allowed to buy food and when crossing in the heat staff have been very obliging about bringing me water when I ask nicely, so sounds like you had a bad experience :(

There's no reason why they would refuse you entry, but you can be sure you'll spend several hours on the grill when arriving at Ben Gurion and when departing (you'll need to come to the airport several hours before taking-off). I suggest you get a new, clean passport to avoid such hassle.

come 3 hours befor scheduled flight to the airport.

These type of visa questions are so common I decided to write up a section on my website, a page that has proven to be very popular (see the comments below the article for even more info).

The page: http://igoogledisrael.com/2009/09/can-i-visit-arab-countries-with-an-israeli-visa-stamp-in-my-passport/

Another one for you guys:

I hold a Brazilian passport, that was issued in Malaysia. My previous one was full of stamps, among them Somaliland, Yemen, Oman. They will obviously ask why I have a passport issued in Malaysia.
Is it better to have my old passport together or send it home?
I was thinking that might not make a difference, because they will ask all the questions anyway, and I will have to answer truthfully.
I don't have a clue about the names of hotels and other things!! I hope I manege to get in...

Thanks!

I would suggest keeping your old passport with you when you enter but don't offer it for inspection UNLESS asked for it..Whenever I enter Israel I always carry my old passport with me just in case they ask to see it but nobody has EVER asked for it. It's also a good idea to carry any national Identity cards/driving license or ID cards issued by your employer or place of study. In other words, carry ANYTHING that will help satisfy them about your real identity and personal circumstances. Last time I told them I was a student and they immediately asked me show proof of that - luckily I had my university ID in my wallet at the time. You can expect a tough time and long quiz about the places you visited - take some kind of refreshments with you! Good luck.

Hello Guys,
well, I never wrote back my experience there so let me tell you.
We always hear bad news, and usually people don't tell the good ones. I crossed from Jordan to Israel, and the immigration officer asked my plans. After I told her what I was going to do there, she asked me if I had a Hotel reservation or a return ticked. I sad no, but told her the name of the hotel that I was planing to stay.
I also told her that I was planing to go "overland to Turkey". She explained me that I could no go from Israel to Syria, when I said that I was going back to Jordan first. She said " So you don't wanna a stamp?", and stamped a separate piece of paper. When we were talking about Syria, my wife even mentioned Lebanon (I was so mad with her!!!) but the Immigration officer was very kind and polite. On the way out of the country as well. Probably the most friendly Israelis that we met inside of the country. May be I was just lucky but it took us 3 to 5 minutes to get in!!!

The official that checked our passport when crossing to West Bank were very rude.

Cheers,

I agree it isn't all black ... and its good you posted a report quoting your personal experience
to encourage others not to be put off. Some of the young ladies on that border are very helpful and co-operative and as you say, when faced with one awkward official its not fair to tar the
whole lot with one brush. Admittedly the security procedures there are protracted but then this is the nature of the region. Surprised you got through in 5 minutes..... I assume you mean the interview and not the whole crossing procedure because thats impossible.

I have a passport similar to that of the OP and I've always been let into Israel within about 10 minutes of reaching the border agent. A good number of them are fluent in Arabic and have wanted to chat, but nobody's ever "interrogated" me. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I think this idea that you need to expect to be kept in a locked room and strip-searched for hours if you've been to any Arab countries is more a self-fulfilling prophecy than a description of reality.

Hello Mesha,

Less than 5 min the "interview" of course!!
The crossing procedure took longer because of the Jordanian side, bus...
On the Israel side, I would guess 20 minutes. A little mess to drop the bags, but after that a line (almost empty) just for foreigners...