Fed up with Schengen

[justapax]

Sorry to launch so many threads today.

I am an EU citizen, entitled to free movement in the 27 countries, but because I am Irish, there is no land border with the rest of the EU. I have to board a plane (or boat) to get to the rest of the EU.

My passport, like a Danish passport, only requires a photo ID, not fingerprints. The final two fields of the RFID ident are blank. This gives me constant hassle. 'Where are your fingerprints?' 'I'm not Schengen, I'm EU.' 'Why don't you have a Schengen visa?' 'I don't need one, I'm EU, free movement'. They have to let me through. Eventually. Reluctantly. There are only 4-odd million of us Irishmen/women and I haven't counted the Danes, but we're treated like second class citizens.

[Abrahn]

As a UK citizen I'm struggling to find much sympathy :-(

[HOVIS]

When did EU Passorts start needing fingerprints?
I don't think my pre Brexit UK one did. Is that because the UK was never within the Schengen zone?

[justapax]

Originally Posted by HOVIS

When did EU Passorts start needing fingerprints?
I don't think my pre Brexit UK one did. Is that because the UK was never within the Schengen zone?

It's only Schengen passports that require fingerprints. EU nations like Denmark and Ireland don't require fingerprints. There is space on the RFID for fingerprints, but these spaces are blank. Schengen passport officials are expecting there to be fingerprints in these fields, and are suspicious when they are blank. Also Irish and Danish people don't have Schengen visas in their passports, they don't need to.

I paid the additional €35 for a passport card which allows me to travel in the EU without a paper passport. In Italy, as a foreigner, you have to carry ID at all times, it's a lot more convenient that a full-sized passport. It's ID, but it's not connected to any national database, and your identity and privacy are protected. Irish identity laws are pretty strict.

If I took a pic of a twin in her bikini (my twins are naturally aquatic creatures) you'd see her passport card stuck in there somewhere intimate. It's a legal requirement, and they take it seriously, they don't even leave their passport card with their clothes. They swim with it.

The Irish passport card is something of a rip-off, because you need to have paid for the paper passport which lasts ten years, and then €35 for the passport card which only lasts for five. Still, it's better than lugging a paper passport around.

[justapax]

Originally Posted by HOVIS

When did EU Passorts start needing fingerprints?
I don't think my pre Brexit UK one did. Is that because the UK was never within the Schengen zone?

Yes, it was. i.e., never in Schengen.

[justapax]

Originally Posted by Abrahn

As a UK citizen I'm struggling to find much sympathy :-(

My sisters didn't apply for Irish citizenship before their kids were born, therefore their kids are not Irish, nor EU citizens with free movement.

Can't you find an Irish grannie? Everyone is a bit Irish! One Irish grandparent, North or South, and you're in. Mind you the waiting list is now a little over two years, so many people have applied.

[Asturias56]

I think its a bit less. Sra A applied just at the start of covid and had a nice letter saying everyone had been moved to other tasks for the duration.

But once they resumed issuing them she got it in about 3 months.

[justapax]

Originally Posted by Asturias56

I think its a bit less. Sra A applied just at the start of covid and had a nice letter saying everyone had been moved to other tasks for the duration.

But once they resumed issuing them she got it in about 3 months.

That's impressive and encouraging. When I got my Clár na mBreitheanna Coigríche it took nine months back in 1989 because I couldn't produce my grandparents' marriage certificate (they eloped), and I had to get a certified translation of my parents' marriage certificate because they were married in Rome and their marriage certificate was in Italian. I heard that after Brexit the waitlist was up to two years, but the DFA must have hired extra staff to deal with the backlog. It's still a lot quicker, cheaper and simpler than acquiring British nationality, which requires filling out 19 pages in English. Not so easy if you're monoglot Ukrainian.

There are now more Irish passport holders in the UK than there are in Ireland. Everyone's a bit Irish!

[compton3bravo]

You better have two - to be sure, to be sure!!

[justapax]

Originally Posted by compton3bravo

You better have two - to be sure, to be sure!!

This is the best one to have - visa-free travel to every country!

You only get one of these if you are travelling on UN business to a country where your national passport would show partiality, and only for the duration of your travel.

[Asturias56]

Yeah but the UN isn't popular everywhere - Irish or Canadian passports are the best - then may be a Swiss one