How Post-it Notes Can Extend the Life of Your Passport

For frequent international travelers, there are few encounters more quietly frustrating than when a customs officer stamps a completely blank page with a flagrant disregard for visa space.

Visas require at least a full blank page — and some countries may require between two and six blank pages.

But there's one clever trick using common office supplies that can keep passport pages pristine for future visas.

Chris Chamberlin of Australian Business Traveler recommended saving blank space in your passport with two Post-it Notes and a gently written note.

Stick a note on each page you would like to remain blank with a polite and concise message to the effect of "stamp elsewhere." In his passport, Chamberlin has written "Please kindly stamp on any other page. Saving space for one visa."

"I've been travelling with these in my passport for over a year now to preserve my last remaining 'double blank' page, and all the passport officers I've encountered have been most obliging," Chamberlin wrote.

Chamberlin estimates that the trick will have extended his passport's life by about two years.

Because the Post-it Notes are impermanent and easily removed, they do not break any passport regulations. And, if worst comes to worst, the immigrations officer can rip off the Post-it and stamp wherever they please.