Europe with ID other than passport

[PAXboy]

I have just been invited on short trips to France and Holland in April and discovered that my passport expires this week. I was convinced that it was September for historical reasons that need not trouble us now!

Can one travel to these places using the new UK plastic Driving License that has the photo on it? I can't be sure if I want the bother of making a rushed application - not to mention the cost.

Thanks in advance, I guess this is what they call advancing in years ... as the memory retreats.

"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different."
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

[The_Banking_Scot]

Hi paxboy,

I think to travel you need either a passport or an ID card ( which the UK does not have yet)- I do not think a Driving license would be adequate.

Unfortunately, I think you will need to spend money on an expedited serivce or visit in person the passport office.

I will be happy to be proved wrong though.

Good luck!


Regards

TBS

[Tex37]

From personal experience (loosing my passport!) I can tell you that in order to leave and enter the UK you need a passport. When you are insulde the "real" EU, then the Shengan (?) treaty applies and you can travel with the new photo driving licsense.

So it's off to the UKPA office I'm affraid!

Tex

[PAXboy]

Ah, thanks folks! Since it is Holland and France, then the new driving license might earn the high cost of it's acquisition! I am not visiting darkest Europe until later in the year. But, you are saying that the UK will insist that I have a passport?????

[lexxity]

You will need your passport to present to the immigration guys on your return. Sorry, but it's the passport office for you.

[ExSimGuy]

I wouldn't recommend it but, many moons ago, when working on the computers at LGW for Bcal, I had an urgent call to Rotterdam. I didn't have my passport with me but left LGW on a "staff airside pass" as ID. The immigration ("exiggration"?) guy gave me a hard time saying that I'd not be able to come back in again.

Finally got to RTM, local agent saw me thru passport control and back again, and I went back thru the UK passport control with my "airside pass", explaining the situation and got no hassle.

Probably wouldn't try it these days though ("9/11" and "June 2005"), what with the beard, the suntan, and all the "Gulf State" stamps in my passport

[Globaliser]

Originally Posted by lexxity

You will need your passport to present to the immigration guys on your return.

Moreover, you will need your passport to enter Schengenland on arrival from the UK. So the airline will not permit you to travel without a passport.

Only travel entirely within Schengenland is OK without a passport. You have to get there first.

So I agree that it's off to the Passport Office. The good news is that they are very efficient these days.

[Memetic]

The fast service...

http://www.passport.gov.uk/faqs/faq....rAreaNo=321_13

Will sort out a quickie passport.

I got a swift (same day) replacement a couple of years back, very efficient service. Found the "lost" passport in a jacket about a month later

[Henry Hallam]

I was once told that a British citizen always has the right to enter his country regardless of whether or not he has a passport or if it is expired. Can anyone confirm/deny?

(this doesn't mean French immigration have to let you in to France without one)

[Memetic]

Henry, we probably do have the right, we just need a valid passport to prove it...

[skydriller]

It wont help your case, but now living in France, I have seen many French people travel all around the EU on aircraft (not just Schengen) without passports, but with just photo ID.

On a completely different subject - I thought the whole point of the Photo ID driving licence (note name - PHOTO ID DRIVING LICENCE) was so we could use it as ID?....

I think there should be one rule for all - ie, everyone needs a passport to travel, or, photo ID is acceptable for all. Seems to me that again the british citizen gets the short end of the stick regarding EU rules, they should be the same - EVERYWHERE - for ALL EU citizens.

[Flying_Frisbee]

I think there should be one rule for all - ie, everyone needs a passport to travel, or, photo ID is acceptable for all. Seems to me that again the british citizen gets the short end of the stick regarding EU rules, they should be the same - EVERYWHERE - for ALL EU citizens.

I don't think the entry requirements are set by the EU, but by each member state. The Schengen agreement sets out requirments for the countries that signed it. The UK didn't.

[Globaliser]

Originally Posted by Henry Hallam

I was once told that a British citizen always has the right to enter his country regardless of whether or not he has a passport or if it is expired. Can anyone confirm/deny?

Memetic is absolutely right. You do have the right (the "right of abode"), but you need a valid passport to prove it. The technical language for that is in section 3(9) of the Immigration Act 1971 which says:-

A person seeking to enter the United Kingdom and claiming to have the right of abode there shall prove that he has that right by means of either —

(a) a United Kingdom passport describing him as a British citizen or as a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies having the right of abode in the United Kingdom; or

(b) a certificate of entitlement.

A certificate of entitlement is a visa-like document endorsed into a foreign passport, so that doesn't help those of us who are British citizens.

Originally Posted by skydriller

It wont help your case, but now living in France, I have seen many French people travel all around the EU on aircraft (not just Schengen) without passports, but with just photo ID.

I think that it's not just any old photo ID, but a proper government-issued national identity card. This is valid for travel all over the EU, whether within or outside Schengenland. Of course, we in the UK have been resisting such a document tooth and nail for years ...

[bealine]

I don't want to give you false hopes (Paul Simon song???) but I seem to recollect that you can travel within Europe on an expired passport up to six months beyond its expiry date!

Phone your Travel Agent / Airline and check this out!!!

[Henry Hallam]

Thanks for the reference, Globaliser - so you do need a passport, but is an expired one ok? The paragraph you quoted doesn't say the passport has to be in date, but maybe it's taken as given?

[Globaliser]

Originally Posted by Henry Hallam

Thanks for the reference, Globaliser - so you do need a passport, but is an expired one ok? The paragraph you quoted doesn't say the passport has to be in date, but maybe it's taken as given?

It does have to be valid. Section 33(1) defines "United Kingdom passport" as meaning "a current passport issued by the Government of the United Kingdom, or by the Lieutenant-Governor of any of the Islands or by the Government of any territory which is for the time being a British overseas territory within the meaning of the British Nationality Act 1981".

[Bealzebub]

In the UK, your passport is your international travel document. No amount of wishful thinking will change the fact. The post office operates an expedited passport service, where you pay them to check and special deliver the application, using this you normally get the the passport back in a few days. Otherwise you can visit the passport office in person which may result in a quicker return.

Some countries insist on 6 months remaining validity on the passport for entry, so it is well worth getting it renewed within this timescale as you never know when you might need it. In fact in this industry you probably do know and the renewal needs some careful planning.

[Paul Wilson]

My Father always had 2 passports, both British. Mainly because he was a sales guy and his area was the Middle East (including Isreal) and required frequent trips to the USA. UK Passport Agency happy to oblige and issued two passports - one for the "real world" and the other for Middle East countries with manic reputations for handling people who had visited Isreal.

Came in very handy when getting visas for countries that needed your paaport for 2 weeks to issue a visa - just use your spare. If you are a frequent traveller to countries that require your passport for a long time to issue visas, it may be worth enquiring whether it is possible to do this.

[TotalBeginner]

Globaliser and Tex37 have it spot on!

[Henry Hallam]

Paul - I did enquire about that six months ago but despite many phone calls and even letters from my MP (I was pretty desperate!) they refused to provide a second passport without a "legitimate business reason", i.e. the Israel thing.