Passport card finally on the way.

NachoBusiness

NachoBusiness wrote: »

Need my birthcert to apply. Does this need to be done online these days or can you pop in somewhere and get it?

For anyone interested:

Just got my birth cert there in Joyce House (just down from Pearse St train station near the lights) and was in and out in five minutes. Was only one other person waiting and Murder She Wrote was on the TV. No such thing as long Birth Certs anymore apparently. Cost was €20. Only €1 if you need it to apply for a PPS card.

ohnonotgmail

NachoBusiness wrote: »

For anyone interested:

Just got my birth cert there in Joyce House (just down from Pearse St train station near the lights) and was in and out in five minutes. Was only one other person waiting and Murder She Wrote was on the TV. No such thing as long Birth Certs anymore apparently. Cost was €20. Only €1 if you need it to apply for a PPS card.

Out of curiosity why do you need a copy of your birth cert? To apply for the passport card you need to have a passport proper. To get a passport you need to supply a birth cert but only the first time, not for renewals.

NachoBusiness

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Out of curiosity why do you need a copy of your birth cert? To apply for the passport card you need to have a passport proper. To get a passport you need to supply a birth cert but only the first time, not for renewals.

It's needed along with a Certificate of Identity when you don't have your old passport or a current driver's licence to hand (lost mine- waiting on a replacement).

ohnonotgmail

NachoBusiness wrote: »

It's needed along with a Certificate of Identity when you don't have your old passport or a current driver's licence.

ah right so basically the same requirement as a first time application.

Gerinspain

I had no problem using my Passport Card in Malaga last month. The guy took it, bent it a bit and gave it back!

mackerski

I just applied for mine - was finally able to shoot an acceptable selfie by misusing a photo kiosk as others did. But I still had to use the web process rather than the app.

Anyway, I've begun to wonder exactly how delivery is arranged, as I'm out of the country until next week, and if they deliver by, say, registered post, I recall that an uncollected delivery is only held for a certain length of time before being returned.

How did you all receive yours? I'm already at stage 5 of 6, so it feel as though it might go out pretty quickly...

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Arbie

mackerski wrote: »

I just applied for mine - was finally able to shoot an acceptable selfie by misusing a photo kiosk as others did. But I still had to use the web process rather than the app.

Anyway, I've begun to wonder exactly how delivery is arranged, as I'm out of the country until next week, and if they deliver by, say, registered post, I recall that an uncollected delivery is only held for a certain length of time before being returned.

How did you all receive yours? I'm already at stage 5 of 6, so it feel as though it might go out pretty quickly...

It's registered post which is returned after 3 days if uncollected. When I ordered mine in October the estimated delivery was over 1 month. We went abroad for 2 weeks and while we were there it was delivered early and returned to sender. It took them about 10 days to re-send it but then they forgot to put correct postage on it and it was returned to them again. Finally got it last week.

harney

It seems quite quick, I applied on Monday and it arrived to the UK today (Friday). There is a different number to my passport number, will that cause issue if I gave my passport details to fly to both Ireland and later Spain but travel on this card?

JohnMearsheimer

harney wrote: »

It seems quite quick, I applied on Monday and it arrived to the UK today (Friday). There is a different number to my passport number, will that cause issue if I gave my passport details to fly to both Ireland and later Spain but travel on this card?

Just use the number of whatever document you will be travelling on.

The Masculinist

Traveled from Ireland to UK, Ireland to Portugal and Portugal to UK so far with the passport card. It seems people are still getting used to it but no major issues.

On two separate occasions airline staff at Irish airports have had a second look at it out of curiosity and asked me a few questions about it.

The card didn't work at the automatic passport gates at Lisbon Airport despite having the biometric symbol.

When entering the UK from Portugal the border official took the card and asked his colleague to scrutinize it saying "that's the new Irish card isn't it?". They got out a magnifying glass and had a good old look at it. I noticed they have a chart in front of them for reference with all EU identity cards that looked a bit worn so I guess the Irish passport cards is not on it. Took an extra minute but no issues.

random_guy

The Masculinist wrote: »

Traveled from Ireland to UK, Ireland to Portugal and Portugal to UK so far with the passport card. It seems people are still getting used to it but no major issues.

On two separate occasions airline staff at Irish airports have had a second look at it out of curiosity and asked me a few questions about it.

The card didn't work at the automatic passport gates at Lisbon Airport despite having the biometric symbol.

When entering the UK from Portugal the border official took the card and asked his colleague to scrutinize it saying "that's the new Irish card isn't it?". They got out a magnifying glass and had a good old look at it. I noticed they have a chart in front of them for reference with all EU identity cards that looked a bit worn so I guess the Irish passport cards is not on it. Took an extra minute but no issues.

I've noticed also that it hasn't worked on the automatic gates in Frankfurt. It's a bit of a shame since that makes a huge difference to the time you spend in queues.

Hopefully it's just something that needs to be activated.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

random_guy

Fred Swanson wrote: »

They don't work in any automated gates anywhere.

Hopefully it's something that comes along later.

mackerski

In and out of CDG yesterday, no issues and the French chip reader seemed to process it OK.

Edit: for clarity, I mean the chip reader used by the official, not the self-service gate.

RupertsHabit

Definitely want one of these.

Irishmale0399

Stopped by Dutch customs on Saturday morning last crossing the border back into Germany with the car close to Groningen. German reg car/driving license and an Irish Passport card.....took the 4 lads about 35 mins. to get the OK for the card over the phone. Must say we all had a good old laugh when I downloaded the app to show them how the application process works, they were impressed. Otherwise I have used it in most German airports, Schipol, Eindhoven, Warsaw, Vienna, CDG and a number of English airports with no problems since I got it. Just wish they would activate the chip on it to avoid waiting times.

Impetus

Irishmale0399 wrote: »

Stopped by Dutch customs on Saturday morning last crossing the border back into Germany with the car close to Groningen. German reg car/driving license and an Irish Passport card.....took the 4 lads about 35 mins. to get the OK for the card over the phone. Must say we all had a good old laugh when I downloaded the app to show them how the application process works, they were impressed. Otherwise I have used it in most German airports, Schipol, Eindhoven, Warsaw, Vienna, CDG and a number of English airports with no problems since I got it. Just wish they would activate the chip on it to avoid waiting times.

Are you saying that the RFID chip (which is supposed to be on the card, because it bears the RFID logo) is not active?

Or are you saying that there is no EMV payment card type chip on the Irish card - which does appear on many European ID cards? Together with two PINs - ie one for authorising something and one for signing a document electronically?

If there is no RFID activation, the card is rubbish and will cause all sorts of problems at checkpoints.

The EMV style chip is a nice to have.

Impetus

Irishmale0399 wrote: »

Stopped by Dutch customs on Saturday morning last crossing the border back into Germany with the car close to Groningen. German reg car/driving license and an Irish Passport card.....took the 4 lads about 35 mins. to get the OK for the card over the phone. Must say we all had a good old laugh when I downloaded the app to show them how the application process works, they were impressed. Otherwise I have used it in most German airports, Schipol, Eindhoven, Warsaw, Vienna, CDG and a number of English airports with no problems since I got it. Just wish they would activate the chip on it to avoid waiting times.

One of the longest delays I have had with the passport card was at Dublin airport immigration polezi. She looked hard at the card front and back, and then put it under what appeared to be UV light. The card is new, and is hard to counterfeit. I have used it about 20 times in the last few months. If they decide to scan it at a French airport, it seems to take about 15 seconds to respond - while the card number etc are sent via over-worked French and Schengen Information System data communications systems to perform searches to see if you are a criminal in France or in the other Schengen countries - the French system checks each country's database during the scan.

While one has been a second class citizen travelling between Ireland and mainland EU for decades (unlike most of the rest of Europe), having to go through passport control, the new measures proposed by the European Commission that all cards and pp docs be scanned on entering/leaving Schengen will lead to 20 odd minute queues at passport checks. Making us third class citizens moving within our country - which is the EU. Period.

I am amazed at the number of people queueing for flights to Ireland, most of whom are Irish citizens, and they are still fiddling with passports, boarding passes, and often babies/young children in various modes of transport at the airbridge gate. The card is far easier to handle. And if your card or passport is lost or stolen while away, you can use the document that wasn't stolen (assuming you keep them packed separately). If an ID is stolen it can mean an extra 2 or 3 days at a hotel while the not so local consulate or embassy comes up with a temporary passport. Time and money wasted.

If more people had the card, it would be more likely to be accepted at border points without question.

Irishmale0399

Impetus wrote: »

Are you saying that the RFID chip (which is supposed to be on the card, because it bears the RFID logo) is not active?

Or are you saying that there is no EMV payment card type chip on the Irish card - which does appear on many European ID cards? Together with two PINs - ie one for authorising something and one for signing a document electronically?

If there is no RFID activation, the card is rubbish and will cause all sorts of problems at checkpoints.

The EMV style chip is a nice to have.

What I am saying is the automatic gates on arrival at airports, which you are supposed to be able to use withbiometric chiped European passports/passcards, do not function resulting in one having to go through the manual check.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Impetus

Irishmale0399 wrote: »

What I am saying is the automatic gates on arrival at airports, which you are supposed to be able to use withbiometric chiped European passports/passcards, do not function resulting in one having to go through the manual check.

Which sounds to me like the RFID chip on the card is defective or disabled. Typical Oirish government.

Can I have a replacement card please Mr gov.ie. Defective merchandise etc.

(The chip should have a scan of your photograph as biometric data).

You didn't mention what airport the card failed at. It could be that the airport / country in question had not updated their electronic border control identity tables to incorporate the Irish card.

Incidentally I found it very difficult to take a selfie against a white wall that passed the https://www.dfa.ie/passportcard picture validation algorithm. I tried a Galaxy Note 4 mobile phone, and a Sony A7R on a tripod with a 16-35 lens to no avail. The lens alone cost about €1'300. The wall was ultra brilliant white with Mediterranean sunshine pouring in through the window. In the end I had to use the check box to say that due to medical reasons I could not come up with the type of picture dfa.ie wanted.

This was no lie. I was so angry with these hackers that my blood pressure would have hit the ceiling if a card did not arrive from all the work I put into the photograph.

The photo comes out on the card in B&W, even though a high quality colour image was uploaded. Confirming my belief that Ireland is a second rate country when it comes to doing anything properly - especially at government level. Gov.ie do not see themselves as being there to provide a service to the customer - ie citizen, resident, visitor etc.

Irishmale0399

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Yes Fred but if you take Düsseldorf or Schipol airports for example...they have the self service gates which clearly state...If you have a passport or passcard with the biometric symbol you can use the system. The passport works fine, whereas the passcard doesnt....thats why I think there is still something to be activated on the card.

According to the Dutch customs officers I dealth with....it wasnt so much the biometric reading that was the problem, they showed me what they could see in their system...it was more the card itself. They had never seen it and in their little booklet Ireland was stated to have a passport only for travel.

Impetus

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Any gov that uses self-ID checks with automated gates has enabled biometric chip reading. The system wouldn't work otherwise, because the person using the ID card could have stolen it.

Irishmale0399

Impetus wrote: »

Which sounds to me like the RFID chip on the card is defective or disabled. Typical Oirish government.

Can I have a replacement card please Mr gov.ie. Defective merchandise etc.

(The chip should have a scan of your photograph as biometric data).

You didn't mention what airport the card failed at. It could be that the airport / country in question had not updated their electronic border control identity tables to incorporate the Irish card.

Incidentally I found it very difficult to take a selfie against a white wall that passed the https://www.dfa.ie/passportcard picture validation algorithm. I tried a Galaxy Note 4 mobile phone, and a Sony A7R on a tripod with a 16-35 lens to no avail. The lens alone cost about €1'300. The wall was ultra brilliant white with Mediterranean sunshine pouring in through the window. In the end I had to use the check box to say that due to medical reasons I could not come up with the type of picture dfa.ie wanted.

This was no lie. I was so angry with these hackers that my blood pressure would have hit the ceiling if a card did not arrive from all the work I put into the photograph.

The photo comes out on the card in B&W, even though a high quality colour image was uploaded. Confirming my belief that Ireland is a second rate country when it comes to doing anything properly - especially at government level. Gov.ie do not see themselves as being there to provide a service to the customer - ie citizen, resident, visitor etc.

Airports where I have tried it and failed (havent actually got it to work anywhere): Palma, Düsseldorf, Eindhoven, Stansted and Schipol.

Re photo...dont know how mine was accepted, think its hit and miss. Looks sh1te and I took it after a load of drink on a Samsung s5 in a hotel room against a white wall. The wife had her phone on for added light....

Impetus

Irishmale0399 wrote: »

Yes Fred but if you take Düsseldorf or Schipol airports for example...they have the self service gates which clearly state...If you have a passport or passcard with the biometric symbol you can use the system. The passport works fine, whereas the passcard doesnt....thats why I think there is still something to be activated on the card.

According to the Dutch customs officers I dealth with....it wasnt so much the biometric reading that was the problem, they showed me what they could see in their system...it was more the card itself. They had never seen it and in their little booklet Ireland was stated to have a passport only for travel.

1) 'Their little booklet Ireland = pp only = "database problem" - ie it should be set to PP and IPIRLC.

2) Maybe there is a bit in the Irish card that has not been properly set?

PS I am guessing that fewer Irish residents have this card than foreign residents..... the latter being used to the convenience of ID cards issued by the country they live in.

3) If it is called a "passport card" surely it should work in any country that does not require a visa, that does not need to stamp the identity document? Has anyone tried to use the card outside of the European Space?

Irishmale0399

Impetus wrote: »

1) 'Their little booklet Ireland = pp only = "database problem" - ie it should be set to PP and IPIRLC.

2) Maybe there is a bit in the Irish card that has not been properly set?

PS I am guessing that fewer Irish residents have this card than foreign residents..... the latter being used to the convenience of ID cards issued by the country they live in.

3) If it is called a "passport card" surely it should work in any country that does not require a visa, that does not need to stamp the identity document? Has anyone tried to use the card outside of the European Space?

2. Aggree fully. When the family heard I had one they couldnt understand. Great here in Germany living so close to Belgium and Holland with the times that are in it. Its always in my wallet and I dont have to worry about crossing borders by mistake when out in the car.

3. Used it in Switzerland without a problem before Xmas. Was chancing my arm and they took it. Had my passport in my pocket as a back up.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Impetus

Irishmale0399 wrote: »

Airports where I have tried it and failed (havent actually got it to work anywhere): Palma, Düsseldorf, Eindhoven, Stansted and Schipol.

Re photo...dont know how mine was accepted, think its hit and miss. Looks sh1te and I took it after a load of drink on a Samsung s5 in a hotel room against a white wall. The wife had her phone on for added light....

I know the problem of 'sh1te' photos on ID cards. You should see my drivers' license card. It was taken by the local drivers license issuing agency, and is a proper standard EU drivers' license. It was taken just after I came out of hospital. And I moved home a few years ago and asked for a new license with my new address. The same 'sh1te' photo appeared on my new payment card style license.

I have given up using machines for immigration. In France, you have to apply to the police for them to switch on your card for machine-readability. Given that I only breeze in and out of the country, in transit, it is not worth the hassle of queuing up to register.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

The Ging and I

Impetus wrote: »

I know the problem of 'sh1te' photos on ID cards. You should see my drivers' license card. It was taken by the local drivers license issuing agency, and is a proper standard EU drivers' license. It was taken just after I came out of hospital. And I moved home a few years ago and asked for a new license with my new address. The same 'sh1te' photo appeared on my new payment card style license.

I have given up using machines for immigration. In France, you have to apply to the police for them to switch on your card for machine-readability. Given that I only breeze in and out of the country, in transit, it is not worth the hassle of queuing up to register.

Can you tell me how this is done ?
I have used it in and out of France and they were looking at it for a long time- including using a magnifying glass at Cherbourg.

Impetus

Irishmale0399 wrote: »

3. Used it in Switzerland without a problem before Xmas. Was chancing my arm and they took it. Had my passport in my pocket as a back up.

But that is Switzerland. One of the few countries that is administered for the benefit of the customer/citizen/resident/tourist whatever. The one country that gets things right 99.9999% of the time.

I was pickpocketed in a Geneva department store a few years ago. I was paying for some purchase at a point of sale at the time. People around started to shout at me. I looked around, thinking it was related to somebody else. I felt in my pocket for my wallet and it was gone. The store detective system has the scene captured on a CCTV recording. I filled out a form in the store with my address etc. A month later I received a report on the court case against the (Romanian) thief and his accomplice, complete with names, dates of birth, place of birth, - court decision, evidence summary, and sentence (which was six months for both of them).

You would not get that level of vigilance/care from the public, or a store detective or the police or courts in any other country on the planet.

I didn't even have to call the police or wait for them to come.

Impetus

The Ging and I wrote: »

Can you tell me how this is done ?
I have used it in and out of France and they were looking at it for a long time- including using a magnifying glass at Cherbourg.

I think the French have done such a deep dive into identity validation that the biometric id reading cabins work at all. During the few flights I have taken of late from CDG to outside of Schengen, the automated cubicles have been all marked with a red 'X'. ie system not operational.

As usual the French go overboard on something and it turns into a dog's dinner of a system.

In contrast the Swiss create a minimalistic system for all administrative procedures, and it works a treat. (eg no RFID bus tickets - just plain paper or a plastic card for an annual ticket). The difference between an EU country, and the civilised part of the free world, not burdened by Brussels and zillions of layers of local bureaucracy. Swiss un-employment 3.7% - with well over a million 'blow-ins' working in the country.

Impetus

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Those countries are antiquated basically in their immigration systems. There is no need for paper or rubber stamps. They are already tracking your every movement electronically. It is like the Irish car tax disk, resident street parking, and NCT stickers. Ugly on the windscreen. Gardai and traffic wardens can check these data electronically. By all means use a single green sticker to prove insurance, showing a barcode, insurer name, car ID and expiry date. And it can be much smaller than the current white (green is the international standard for insurance certificates).

The Highwayman

So...... What's the consensus?
Good idea or not?
Are they more hassle than they are worth?
Will the system be better in the future?
Will the chips ever work so you can walk through the fast pass lanes?

Impetus

The Highwayman wrote: »

So...... What's the consensus?
Good idea or not?
Are they more hassle than they are worth?
Will the system be better in the future?
Will the chips ever work so you can walk through the fast pass lanes?

Of course they are more user friendly than a pp. Why aren't more people getting them... aside from ie.auslanderern?

Lack of advertising... TV and ads on airline websites targeted at Irish IP space. When someone first suggested an ID card for IRL the idea was that they would auto issue to new passport holders as well. Or else check box option on pp order form. As in 'do u want insurance' on Ryanair. ... extolling benefits...

+ colour pics that are easier to upload
+ change date format to 10.01.2016 style ... Non Irish speakers get confused with current EN/IE word for month...leading to delays and errors.
+Get rid of 'fast pass lanes' and let Island of Ireland be in Schengen.

Qiaonasen

Used it to enter Germany last week. No questions asked. Card looked at me and handed back in no time.

The Highwayman

Qiaonasen wrote: »

Used it to enter Germany last week. No questions asked. Card looked at me and handed back in no time.

Did you use the fast track or have to wait in line with all the non EU passports?

If you need to wait in line what's the point? A passport has done me fine up till now

Irishmale0399

The Highwayman wrote: »

If you have to wait in line what's the point? A passport works fine and it lasts 10 years not just 5 . If you can't use the fast track it's a waist of time and money

For me living here in Germany the passportcard is a totally new feeling. First thing any German civil servent, public office or police officer will ask is to see you passport. Now I have the card in my wallet and dont have to remember to take my passport with me when going to the bank or dont have to plan to drive accross the border.

Also it is law in Germany to carry a form of official photo ID with you as a non German. Up to now I used the German driving licence which wasnt always accepted.

Personally think the Irish government have to be a little more clever with the card and either...
1. Introduce law that every adult must carry it to identify themselves when needed.
2. It has to be issued automatically with the passport. Think this will happen in the long term with passport renewals.

Impetus

Qiaonasen wrote: »

Used it to enter Germany last week. No questions asked. Card looked at me and handed back in no time.

As is to be expected. Until EU bureaucrats enforce computer checks on everyone entering/leaving Schengen.

Sweden had a large problem with illegal migrants coming via DK. They launched a high profile media campaign on ID checks over Ottersund bridge from Copenhagen area to Malmo area..... By Friday illegals were down to a trickle.

US is suing Volkswagen $90 bil for emissions lark. EU should be suing Anglo Saxon countries for their racist, oil grab bombing attacks on Middle East... which caused much of this migration. Use the money to set up new towns and stability in Syria etc. ie Get to the root of the problem.... rather than erecting real or electronic barbed wire between EU states.

Negative_G

Irishmale0399 wrote: »

1. Introduce law that every adult must carry it to identify themselves when needed.

How dare you suggest carrying a form of identification!

You'll give some users on here a fit at the suggestion.

The Highwayman

Irishmale0399 wrote: »

For me living here in Germany the passportcard is a totally new feeling. First thing any German civil servent, public office or police officer will ask is to see you passport. Now I have the card in my wallet and dont have to remember to take my passport with me when going to the bank or dont have to plan to drive accross the border.

Also it is law in Germany to carry a form of official photo ID with you as a non German. Up to now I used the German driving licence which wasnt always accepted.

Personally think the Irish government have to be a little more clever with the card and either...
1. Introduce law that every adult must carry it to identify themselves when needed.
2. It has to be issued automatically with the passport. Think this will happen in the long term with passport renewals.

I've lived in frankfurt For the last 5 years I just dropped my folks to the airport. In the 5 years I've never once had ID with me. Yes when using some services you need your passport. I've just had a child over here and I'm in the middle of a lot of paperwork. My passport will be required for this.
As I've said before this thread it's just ID cards by the back door. They are simply useless as a form of passport if the are not used in the fast pass lanes.

Impetus

The Highwayman wrote: »

Did you use the fast track or have to wait in line with all the non EU passports?

If you need to wait in line what's the point? A passport has done me fine up till now

Something like 500 passports are lost / stolen in IRL every week. Many of which are being recycled for fraud reasons. One of main loss sources is young people travelling to concerts or other venues. Have a few drinks etc.

In civil law countries .... most of EU + Asia... Russia... Latin America etc I'D is required. Passports get grubby and are inconvenient to carry securely. (Nothing to do with drink).

Once people get ID card with pp... they will renew ID card due to convenience experience.

And once this online photo vetting system stops rejecting perfectly good pictures. A pic that is good enough for a pp should be OK for an ID. Without hours of Photoshop on the image.

The wait in line will be as a result on new EU Hitleristic dogma on pp checking ... for both pp and ids.

Impetus

The Highwayman wrote: »

I've lived in frankfurt For the last 5 years I just dropped my folks to the airport. In the 5 years I've never once had ID with me. Yes when using some services you need your passport. I've just had a child over here and I'm in the middle of a lot of paperwork. My passport will be required for this.
As I've said before this thread it's just ID cards by the back door. They are simply useless as a form of passport if the are not used in the fast pass lanes.

The Spanish have a word for this.... you were indocumentsdo. I don't understand your apparent obsession with fast pass lanes. There should be no systematic checking within European space. Foreigners arriving in Eurospace should have to have Schengen visa at point of first Schengen entry. And IRL should issue and accept Schengen visas. So Chinese with Sch. Visa checked at CDG should be able to travel to IRL without further bureaucracy.

Impetus

Negative_G wrote: »

How dare you suggest carrying a form of identification!

You'll give some users on here a fit at the suggestion.

Body floating on river... ID problem if no I'd card.

The Highwayman

Garda ID's are fine for young people to take out to gig or pub. There is no need to bring a passport with them. In fact I've used both USIT and college ID cards in the past and never had a problem with them. Also if a 13 Years old gets a 10 year passport and a card with a 5 year expiry on it them they will be using that pic of themselves going out. It could be anyone really. At least Garda or student ID would have an up to date pic.
500 lost passports is down to stupidly you can legislate for that.

I've travelled all over the world and my passport has gotten a bit battered, but it was also full of stamps, visas and memorys.

Mena

Impetus wrote: »

The Spanish have a word for this.... you were indocumentsdo. I don't understand your apparent obsession with fast pass lanes. There should be no systematic checking within European space. Foreigners arriving in Eurospace should have to have Schengen visa at point of first Schengen entry. And IRL should issue and accept Schengen visas. So Chinese with Sch. Visa checked at CDG should be able to travel to IRL without further bureaucracy.

And dump the common travel area with the U.K.?

Irishmale0399

The Highwayman wrote: »

I've lived in frankfurt For the last 5 years I just dropped my folks to the airport. In the 5 years I've never once had ID with me. Yes when using some services you need your passport. I've just had a child over here and I'm in the middle of a lot of paperwork. My passport will be required for this.
As I've said before this thread it's just ID cards by the back door. They are simply useless as a form of passport if the are not used in the fast pass lanes.

Hey Highwayman,
In your 5 years in Frankfurt how many times have you:

1. Signed a contract, phone, mobile, electricity...
2. Changed your car/been stopped when driving
3. Opened a bank account/bought a flat/house
4. Had a car accident or had contact mit die Bullen
5. Picked up a DHL package at your local post office
6. Visited the Einwohnermeldungsamt/Finanzamt

For all the above you would need your passport in Germany, add to that that the law states you must be able to identify yourself with official photo ID at all times hence the reason the Germans have there Ausweis which is no different to the passportcard.
In my situation I am driving nearly daily along the German border to Belgium, France and Holland. Since Paris and with the refugees I have been stopped a few times since the beginning of Dec. Very nice to have a card in your wallet to cover all in my opinion. My passport is permanently on the bedside table now

Irishmale0399

Negative_G wrote: »

How dare you suggest carrying a form of identification!

You'll give some users on here a fit at the suggestion.

Personally also think we should all give a DNA test and finger prints before getting a passport of any kind. :P:P:P

If you have nothing to hide no reason to worry...:D:D

The Highwayman

Impetus wrote: »

Body floating on river... ID problem if no I'd card.

ATM card will do in fact anything in your wallet will lead to a positive ID. You don't need an official ID for a body to be identified