Passport card finally on the way.

Irishmale0399

The Highwayman wrote: »

You bring both? So what's the point in getting one in the first place?

As I live in Germany and work everyday in and around the Belgium/Dutch borders its grand and handy to have in my wallet in case your cross over. If I head further away I tend to bunker the ould passportbook in the hotel safe as a reserve just in case I misplace my wallet.

The Highwayman

Irishmale0399 wrote: »

As I live in Germany and work everyday in and around the Belgium/Dutch borders its grand and handy to have in my wallet in case your cross over. If I head further away I tend to bunker the ould passportbook in the hotel safe as a reserve just in case I misplace my wallet.

I live in Germany too have done for 5 years.

You don't need either to drive from Belgium into Holland all you need is a drivers license.
Ref/ I driven from Germany to Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Poland. Never brought a passport of any kind with me.
It's just a national ID card tarted up as a passport. It serves no purpose and the chip in it is useless in airports.
I don't get oh the passport booklet is too difficult to carry or I might loose it narrative. If that's the case you might deem a person to be too stupid or careless to be given one in the first place

Irishmale0399

The Highwayman wrote: »

I live in Germany too have done for 5 years.

You don't need either to drive from Belgium into Holland all you need is a drivers license.
Ref/ I driven from Germany to Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Poland. Never brought a passport of any kind with me.
It's just a national ID card tarted up as a passport. It serves no purpose and the chip in it is useless in airports.
I don't get oh the passport booklet is too difficult to carry or I might loose it narrative. If that's the case you might deem a person to be too stupid or careless to be given one in the first place

I am here 17 years now. Your a brave man entering Holland for example without a passport. Dutch law states very clearly that you have to carry your Dutch ID card (Dutch passportcard) or passport with you at all times. As a foreigner you are legally oblieged to carry a passport. Drivers license isnt enough for the Dutch. Likewise in Germany (NRW anyway) if you meet the wrong cop you will be requested to present your passport within 10 days or less at a stated police station should you have dealing with them. Most police officers will accept your driver license as they dont want to deal with the paper work but if you meet the wrong one......

redcup342

The Highwayman wrote: »

I live in Germany too have done for 5 years.

You don't need either to drive from Belgium into Holland all you need is a drivers license.
Ref/ I driven from Germany to Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Poland. Never brought a passport of any kind with me.
It's just a national ID card tarted up as a passport. It serves no purpose and the chip in it is useless in airports.
I don't get oh the passport booklet is too difficult to carry or I might loose it narrative. If that's the case you might deem a person to be too stupid or careless to be given one in the first place

I would disagree, a non Dutch driving license is not valid identification in the Netherlands for the purpose of a penalty (e.g. traffic violation) this incurs a 60 euro fine on top of your other fine.

For me it's been very handy so far, for example I complete my Schufa check with my Passport card, I used it in the bank to verify my identity with no problem.

Airports I've had no issue so far.

In Germany for example a mate of mine didn't buy a tram ticket and didn't have an ID card, so he spent 2 hours in the cop shop while the police verified his identity, again passport card would have meant he could have just shown it to the VRR ticket inspector and all would be fine.

Also, you would be stupid to carry around your passport with you all the time, it's a valuable document and it's size means it's not easy to securely carry it on you or indeed carry it without damaging it from being in your pocket.

redcup342

Qiaonasen wrote: »

I have ready checked it. But I cannot post the link. Lots of Eastern European countries can take the EU ID card for entrance. Moldova is another example.

Serbia I have an entry and exit stamp so no Passport card possible I'm afraid

catbear

Hi, anyone know how quick a turnaround there is for the PP card at the moment?

They said it would be within 10 working days but I've read other reports saying people got theirs sooner.

Impetus

Mr.S wrote: »

And what happens if you are stopped in Belgium and are asked to produce a valid ID? Belgian law requires everyone to carry ID (either Belgian national ID, resident permit, or passport) at all times - your driving license won't be accepted.

As someone mentioned above, chances are whatever cop won't be bothered but some will be.

Obviously you don't get asked when crossing boarders by car etc, the issue arrises when you get stopped by the police / get in accident / need to produce ID for whatever reason.

Belgium is a civil law country like most of the rest of the world - Continental Europe, Russia, China, Latin America, etc. Only British common law countries allow people to walk around without ID and they all provide an ID card in credit card form. The Irish passport card while it acts as an ID, is missing a chip allowing one to electronically sign and approve documents. It also does not have your address (neither does a passport). And of course Ireland is not a full EU member yet - because it refuses to join Schengen. Gov.ie use the Northern Ireland excuse. Everyone entering or leaving NI on a flight or ferry has to show ID for trips to GB. The island of Ireland could join Schengen. With the result that anyone who has to prove their address has to bring a 'utility bill' - which is easily faked - rent a place for a month and get a phone, electricity or cable TV bill sent to it.

Meanwhile Irish people have to queue like animals at passport checks at airports and before they board the aircraft. Next they will want oirish human beings to wear yellow ear tags like they put on cows. The EU is a single market / with freedom of movement. You don't have to show ID to drive from one county in IRL to another. There are no motorway passport checking points. Why should there be controls to drive / fly to other counties/cantons/states in the EU?

And they make a mess of the picture on the Irish passport card - I sent them a high resolution, colour picture, and a poorly cropped monochrome picture appeared on the card when it arrived about 21 days later. I took the pic with an Sony A7rii camera with a lens that cost €1'500 (total cost nearly €5'000 EUR) just for the lens against a wall that was painted ultra brilliant white. And the system rejected it. My pic was lit by Mediterranean sunshine. Only by checking the box that I had a medical problem providing a picture allowed me to get past the photo vetting. process.

The card is well worth getting if you travel frequently, despite all the roadblocks that the brain dead civil servants have installed in the system to block you.

3DataModem

catbear wrote: »

Hi, anyone know how quick a turnaround there is for the PP card at the moment?

They said it would be within 10 working days but I've read other reports saying people got theirs sooner.

Got mine within a week, over easter.

Qiaonasen

Flying to London Heathrow tomorrow from Germany. I assume I can leave my passport at home and just take the passport card. Don't want to pack anything that I don't need.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Qiaonasen

Fred Swanson wrote: »

Yes, you can but note the automated border controls do not accept the card. You will have to queue up with all the non EU citizens.

On a recent trip to Frankfurt, it was quick and easy to use the automated controls rather than join a queue that was very long.

Do they not also have a normal EU line with a guy checking like everywhere else? My wife will have to stand in the foreigner line anyway so it is not a big deal

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Qiaonasen

Fred Swanson wrote: »

Not in Frankfurt T1, it was automated control for EU passports, and manned for all others.

Bit off topic. But why the hell would anyone go to Frankfurt. What a **** city

JackHeuston

Mr.S wrote: »

And what happens if you are stopped in Belgium and are asked to produce a valid ID? Belgian law requires everyone to carry ID (either Belgian national ID, resident permit, or passport) at all times - your driving license won't be accepted.

As someone mentioned above, chances are whatever cop won't be bothered but some will be.

Obviously you don't get asked when crossing boarders by car etc, the issue arrises when you get stopped by the police / get in accident / need to produce ID for whatever reason.

Why wouldn't a driving licence be okay for that? Same laws in Italy about carrying IDs, but I've never renewed my national ID when I was 16, and after that I always used the driving licence for everything. It always went just fine, even while driving in France, Germany, and some other countries Belgium included (but I've never been stopped). You can't use it in airports though and for some other very specific situations.

I know driving licences are not 100% IDs, but for most things they seem to be accepted. Even in the official Police website they state you only need to bring a valid driving licence with you, no national ID or passport. I assumed it's like that in all mainland Europe.

Arbie

The passport card won a design award: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/life/2016/05/10/irish-passport-card-wins-international-design-award

I use it as often as possible and it's even handier than I thought. The only trouble I had was in Belgium but they were being rude to everyone. No issues in Ireland, UK, France, Italy, Spain.

I used it in the USA for getting into bars & even to board 3 domestic US flights! I kept my passport booklet in my bag just in case ;-)

Anyone know when it will be possible to use with the automated gates? The NFC chip is detectable (shows up on my phone) but the gates always reject it. Tried in 4 different airports.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Arbie

Fred Swanson wrote: »

Frankfurt gates rejected mine, had to use a regular passport.

I spoke to the Passport Office via DM on Twitter (https://twitter.com/PassportIRL) and they are very responsive. I asked when we would be able to use cards at electronic gates and told them about my bad experiences; they replied:

they are meant be able to work through the electronic gates, we have been advised by the immigration offices of all EU countries and the 3 EEA countries that they are acceptable... I am very sorry for this, can you please email the passport card times the airports where you have had difficulty and they will bring it up with the airports passportcard@dfa.ie

There was a problem when I was first getting my card and they were very good, replied quickly by DM on Twitter and sorted everything.

smash

I keep trying to apply online and it keeps rejecting my photo.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

tetsujin1979

keep getting a "error with credit card" message on the website. I've confirmed there's no problem with the card with my bank, but still no luck. Tried this at home, and at work, with IE, Firefox and Chome - same error every time.
Anyone else with the same problem?

the perfect ten

tetsujin1979 wrote: »

keep getting a "error with credit card" message on the website. I've confirmed there's no problem with the card with my bank, but still no luck. Tried this at home, and at work, with IE, Firefox and Chome - same error every time.
Anyone else with the same problem?

Yes, I had the same problem yesterday - tried twice with the same card. I then tried with a different card and it worked first time.:)

The first card was MasterCard and the second one was Visa.

Stasi 2.0

random_guy wrote: »

When you need to give in your passport into an embassy for a visa etc you can still travel on the passport card.

redcup342 wrote: »

Serbia I have an entry and exit stamp so no Passport card possible I'm afraid

Is this faffing around with stamps and visas not kinda 20th century ?

I mean in this day and age can they not have a website where one enters ones nationality and passport number and once ones application is accepted or denied all points of entry to the country of entry are notified.

In fact there is really no reason in this day and age for having separate cards/documents for
1) Passport
2) Driving licence
3) Social Security/Welfare
4) National ID (where applicable)

Its perfectly possible to have one card that does all.

endacl

Stasi 2.0 wrote: »

Is this faffing around with stamps and visas not kinda 20th century ?

I mean in this day and age can they not have a website where one enters ones nationality and passport number and once ones application is accepted or denied all points of entry to the country of entry are notified.

In fact there is really no reason in this day and age for having separate cards/documents for
1) Passport
2) Driving licence
3) Social Security/Welfare
4) National ID (where applicable)

Its perfectly possible to have one card that does all.

That all sounds perfectly reasonable. Then I check your username. 2.0? New and improved Stasi?

:eek::pac:

Stasi 2.0

Oddly there are people in the UK who still have driving licences issued before the 1980's with no expiry date or photo.

GreenWolfe wrote: »

Strangely, the Age Card doesn't have any expiry date.

Well its pretty unlikely that you're going to wake up some morning and find you're 17 again ?

the perfect ten

the perfect ten wrote: »

Yes, I had the same problem yesterday - tried twice with the same card. I then tried with a different card and it worked first time.:)

The first card was MasterCard and the second one was Visa.

Wow - that was fast! I applied for the card on Wednesday and it arrived this morning.

I'll try it on Sunday for getting into Switzerland.

Sono

Heading London on Tuesday from Dublin and haven't used passport card before, should I bring passport as a back up in case it doesn't work or have all the early teething problems been resolved? Thanks in advance

Arbie

Sono wrote: »

Heading London on Tuesday from Dublin and haven't used passport card before, should I bring passport as a back up in case it doesn't work or have all the early teething problems been resolved? Thanks in advance

I've used it dozens of times with Ryanair and Aer Lingus to different UK airports and no issues at all.

Irishmale0399

Sono wrote: »

Heading London on Tuesday from Dublin and haven't used passport card before, should I bring passport as a back up in case it doesn't work or have all the early teething problems been resolved? Thanks in advance

Have used it all over Europe and have never had a problem.

Sono

Arbie wrote: »

I've used it dozens of times with Ryanair and Aer Lingus to different UK airports and no issues at all.

So do you bring your passport as a back up just in case?

harney

Sono wrote: »

Heading London on Tuesday from Dublin and haven't used passport card before, should I bring passport as a back up in case it doesn't work or have all the early teething problems been resolved? Thanks in advance

I regularly fly from the UK to other EU countries, including the day after the Brexit vote without issue, so you'll be fine with just the passport card.

Arbie

Sono wrote: »

So do you bring your passport as a back up just in case?

No I just bring the card now - much handier.

Sono

Is it to do with the airport whether they accept it or is at the discretion of the airline? Flying with cityjet. Last question I promise!

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Sono

Fred Swanson wrote: »

No. All airlines accept them for destinations within the EU/EEA/CH.

Thanks for this, all the early teething problems have been resolved so.

Passport left at home that's great.

mallen

Hi
My daughter was travelling with Ryanair on 7th June 2016 from Stansted to Bologna and Ryanair staff at the gate refused to accept the card, even tough she had checked in online with it. Luckily she had her passport book with her as she needed it for a job she was undertaking. The Ryanair gate staff member said it was 'only valid for travel to and from Ireland' and absolutely refused to accept it.
I contacted the passport office about it by e-mail and received no reply. I contacted Ryanair by e-mail querying the reason and got back e-mails repeating 'the passenger traveled on the flight' and not giving an answer.

mallen

Hi
My daughter was travelling with Ryanair on 7th June 2016 from Stansted to Bologna and Ryanair staff at the gate refused to accept the card, even though she had checked in online with it. Luckily she had her passport book with her as she needed it for a job she was undertaking. The Ryanair gate staff member said it was 'only valid for travel to and from Ireland' and absolutely refused to accept it.
I contacted the passport office about it by e-mail and received no reply. I contacted Ryanair by e-mail querying the reason and got back e-mails repeating 'the passenger traveled on the flight' and not giving an answer.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

mallen

yes, I know, but she stood between my daughter and the flight.

vg88

mallen wrote: »

Hi
My daughter was travelling with Ryanair on 7th June 2016 from Stansted to Bologna and Ryanair staff at the gate refused to accept the card, even though she had checked in online with it. Luckily she had her passport book with her as she needed it for a job she was undertaking. The Ryanair gate staff member said it was 'only valid for travel to and from Ireland' and absolutely refused to accept it.
I contacted the passport office about it by e-mail and received no reply. I contacted Ryanair by e-mail querying the reason and got back e-mails repeating 'the passenger traveled on the flight' and not giving an answer.

I used mine in Stansted before not for an Irish flight. I'd say it was just staff didn't know what they were doing. It's just as valid as the irish book within the EU. Tweet them on twitter and see how they respond.

Sono

Dublin - London city (cityjet)
London -Dublin (cityjet)

No problems at all thanks everyone!

catbear

I did have a ground staff in Dublin at the boarding gate defer me to a ryanair staff member when I presented my card, no problem after that. I guess ground staff member who was helping with the boarding hadn't encountered one before.

jesus_thats_gre

Using it for 3/4 months now virtually every week (Germany, UK and Ireland) and not had a single issue.

vg88

Had a couple of airports in europe where they look bewildered by the card and they told me they never saw it before. But they usually went onto the department of foreign affairs website to see if it was legit.

Collie D

Used mine coming from Poitiers to Dublin on Monday. Small airport with few destinations. The two French passport control officers said it was the first time they'd seen it and gave it a good looking over. They were however aware of its introduction so there were no issues. Was more a curiosity thing and I think they were quite impressed with the security features.

Also flew from Luton to Paris about three weeks ago and had no issues so sounds like the poster's daughter in Stansted just came across someone who didn't know what they were doing. Definitely no rules on it being for flights in/out of Ireland only.

Irishmale0399

Ryanair tried the same thing with me in Düsseldorf Weeze on a flight to London.....passportcard is only for use entering or leaving Ireland. Kindly asked the lady to give the statement to me in writing with her name on it. She looked at me a little funny and refused.....a passing German border police officer then sorted it for me and made it very clear to the young lady that I was entitle to travel anywhere within the EU or Schengen Area on it. He then laughed and told me to tweet Ryanair and a good tabloid about her stupidity.

Just to prove her wrong I quickly pulled up the DFA website and asked her if she would like to read it........

Stasi 2.0

..

a good tabloid ...

Whats the German for "Contradiction in terms" ?

Irishmale0399

Stasi 2.0 wrote: »

..

Whats the German for "Contradiction in terms" ?

Bild :P:P:P

the perfect ten

It worked fine for me travelling to and from Geneva in Switzerland last week.

SemenInMyEyes

Just wondering what you guys think of this situation. Currently I am in Hungary on the passport card.

Thinking of taking the train to Belgrade for a two or three days. Now Serbia is technically outside of the EU and Schengen zone.

However it says on Wikitravel that EU citizens can use either a passport or national ID card. Now the passport card is somewhere in between. Would anyone chance getting on the train and seeing if I will be allowed in. I didn't bring actual passport. Forgot it but this wasn't originally planned.

pajor

SemenInMyEyes wrote: »

Just wondering what you guys think of this situation. Currently I am in Hungary on the passport card.

Thinking of taking the train to Belgrade for a two or three days. Now Serbia is technically outside of the EU and Schengen zone.

However it says on Wikitravel that EU citizens can use either a passport or national ID card. Now the passport card is somewhere in between. Would anyone chance getting on the train and seeing if I will be allowed in. I didn't bring actual passport. Forgot it but this wasn't originally planned.

Great username.

I think this is pretty black and white:

Where can I travel on the Passport Card?
The card is valid for travel within the EU/EEA (European Economic Area) and Switzerland.

https://www.dfa.ie/passportcard/faq/