also called departure stamp · passport exit stamp
The border control mark or electronic record showing you left a country, used later to prove you did not overstay.
An exit stamp is the mark or electronic record that proves you left a country, and it becomes your evidence later that you did not overstay. It is the counterpart to an entry stamp, which records you coming in; this one records you going out. When it is missing or unreadable, the next time you enter you can be accused of an overstay you never committed, and land borders and automated gates are where it most often gets skipped.
You cross a land border out of a country by bus, and in the shuffle nobody stamps you out. Months later you fly back in, the officer sees no record of you ever leaving, and you are pulled aside to explain an overstay while you scramble for a bus ticket to prove when you actually left.
Missing or unclear exit records create overstay accusations on the next entry. Land borders and automated gates are where stamps are most often skipped or unreadable.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
These are the parts of clearing a border.
The point of entry is the airport or crossing where you formally enter, and the immigration checkpoint is the booth where an officer inspects your passport.
An entry stamp records the date and terms of your admission, and an exit stamp records that you left, which later proves you did not overstay.
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