“I have to go to an Italian island by ferry with my children. For one of them, the passport expired more than a year ago. Will it be a problem getting there? », asks Nicolas, from Rennes. To travel within the European Union and in some European countries, national identity card or passport are mandatory. But can you travel with an expired passport or identity card? West France answers you.
Differences between countries in the Schengen area
Since 1is January 2014, the period of validity of the identity card went from ten to fifteen for adults. In theory, it is therefore possible to continue to use his identity card five years past its expiration date for travel to Europe. However, this French law is not applicable in all countries of the Schengen area.
To list them, only Switzerland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg and Malta have officially confirmed that they accept the expired identity card and consider this document to be trip as valid, after the regulatory ten years. On the other hand, Belgium, Norway and Lithuania do not recognize it.
Finally, others, such as Germany, Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, UK, Slovakia and Sweden did not comment.
In any case, it is advisable to consult Ministry of Foreign Affairs website before booking a trip to check if the country you are going to applies the 2014 law. On this site, you can print an explanatory sheet available in several languages to show in the event of a problem on arrival.
What about the passport?
To travel with an expired passport, the rules are a little different. He is possible to travel to Europe with an expired passport for less than five years, indicates the Court of Cassation in a judgment of February 5, 2020.
This judgment is the result of a case judged by the Court which opposed a French traveler to an air carrier. This traveler had been refused boarding by the airline when he left for a stay in Greece, because of the expired passport for three years of one of the children.
The Court of Cassation relied on the 1957 Council of Europe treaty which stipulates that nationals of signatory states “may enter the territory of others and leave it through all frontiers under cover of one of the documents listed in the annex”. However, in France and in several other countries, this appendix lists the valid passport or expired for less than 5 years and the valid identity card.
It is therefore theoretically possible to travel within the European Union with a French passport that has been expired for less than five years.
Read also: Covid-19. Corsica, Spain, Greece, United States… What are the rules for traveling this summer?
Ferry, plane… Are the rules the same?
Are the rules the same for all types of transport? What is the rule for ferries, as Nicolas asks us? “Generally ferries ask for valid identity documents, because they are confronted with maritime border legislation and to be able to meet all the legislation of the countries of possible stopovers (planned or emergency)”explains Arthur Lindon, communication officer of the European Center for Consumer Affairs.
“If we start from the principle that the ferry never leaves French and Italian waters, the European Agreement on the Regime of the Movement of Persons between the Member States of the Council of Europe (ETS No. 025) may prove useful and has already been used successfully by an EasyJet passenger”. Arthur Lindon refers here to the judgment of the Court of Cassation of February 5, 2020, which is explained in the paragraph above.
For a flight, the best thing is to ask the airline. It is she who checks identity documents, so she can answer on her own policy in this regard.
No exception outside the European Union
Outside the European Union, a valid passport is required. This means a passport issued less than five years ago for a minor and less than ten years ago for an adult.
Some countries even require that the passport be valid for six months after the end of the visa, as is the case for India for example. It is the same scheme for the United States, where the validity of the passport of a foreign national must cover a period of six months after his departure. For other countries like Senegal, three months is enough.
Finally, the best thing is to apply for a passport renewal when the expiry date is approaching. “In order to avoid any inconvenience during your trip, you are strongly recommended to favor the use of a valid passport rather than an identity card with an expired expiry date, even if it is considered by the French authorities as still valid, advises the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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