Passport for France?

[Smowball]

I was told that you dont necessarily need a full passport to get the ferry to France if you can show other forms of ID ie birth certificate. Is this true??

[bednobs]

no, you need a passport

[cathfromsaron]

and britain won't let you back in without one! xx

[redcrx]

http://www.theanswerb.../Question1041497.html it was discussed at length here. majority said no chance of getting into france without a passport

[Smowball]

I thought not, so were you able to get there without one in the past then?

[bednobs]

many years ago you used to be able to get a thingy from the post office to go to france

[cathfromsaron]

that was insurance not a passport xx

[tara20]

Apart from a passport, the only valid travel document as far as I know is the EU ID card, but I don't know if they're issued in the UK

[bednobs]

no, you used to be able to get a thingy thingy from the PO to travel to france

[craft1948]

One of my colleagues once got into Belgium using his BT ID card.........

[jno]

that's right, bednobs, it was just an ID thingy but it was okay for France. Long time ago now, though.

[bednobs]

WAS IT LIKE A TEMPORARY DAY PERMIT/PASSPORT OR SOMETHING?

[boxtops]

Yes, there used to be a British Visitor's passport, about 20 years ago - but now you need a passport to get on the ferry, let alone to get off the other side!

[spudqueen]

Aswell as the one year passport there did used to be a day trip visa thingy for France. My family all got one when we went to Jersey on holiday when I was 15 and we went to France for a day.

[Buenchico]

Most EU citizens (including the French) can travel on a ferry from the UK to France without a passport. That's because most of the EU's 27 member countries issue their citizens with identity cards, which are valid for travel anywhere within the EU. If the UK's coalition Government hadn't abolished Labour's plans to introduce ID cards (on a voluntary basis), there would be a cheaper alternative than having to pay for a passport for UK citizens wishing to travel to any other EU country.

Further, the EU has had a long-standing commitment to introducing document-free travel within the whole of the EU. 25 of the member countries are either already fully signed up to the 'Schengen Travel Agreement' or will shortly become so. So anyone (even non-EU citizens) can already travel without a passport or ID card between, say, France and Spain or between Portugal and Latvia. (Airlines or other carriers might require ID for security purposes but that's an entirely separate matter, with many carriers accepting things like driving licences anyway). Only the UK has refused to sign up to the agreement, with Ireland being forced to stay outside it because of the open border between the Republic and Northern Ireland.

That leaves UK citizens needing a passport to travel to any non-UK destination, except to the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and Ireland. Ferry companies and airlines have no discretion in the matter.

Between 1961 and 1995 British citizens could obtain a one year passport (for much less than the price of a full passport) which was valid for travel to many European countries but that was withdrawn because it didn't conform to international security protocols. At one time there was also a (very cheap) identity card available at ferry ports, which was valid for short visits (up to 72 hours?) abroad but that was also abolished because of security concerns. As stated above, these days (for UK citizens) a full passport must be held by the traveller.

Chris

[spudqueen]

Oh, by the way, that was a very long time ago............. 1977!

[boxtops]

You're right chris - we see EU citizens flashing their ID cards to buy ferry tickets, whilst we have to take our passports...

[Andyvon]

Hi Smowball,

I used to go on day trips to France from Buckinghamshire (the booze cruises from Dover to Calais and through the tunnel) and all passengers must have a valid 10-year passport.

However - and I've had ABers beg to differ with me in the past - there has only been one occasion when my wife and I had our passports examined on the coach trips. When the line of coaches arrived at the Customs Post the drivers would be asked if anyone didn't have a valid British passport. Only those people (I remember an Australian and some Irish passengers) would then be checked, otherwise we would just be waved through. The only time we had our passport checked was when the coach was pulled over for an intensive search coming back from Belgium once.

Some people say it's changed now and we did have our passports checked in May when my wife and I went to Calais as foot passengers. I wouldn't chance being caught without a passport Smowball. However, we quite often saw Customs chasing or escorting illegals without passports and I don't think much happens to them!

[Dee Sa]

years ago you could get a one year passport from the post office, issued there and then with your photo, they have stopped them yonks ago.