5 ms·

TL;DR: Some people are idiots and don't carry passports with them AT ALL TIMES when travelling abroad. AFAIK, having a legal identification document at all tim

by tomp 12y ago

TL;DR: Some people are idiots and don't carry passports with them AT ALL TIMES when travelling abroad. AFAIK, having a legal identification document at all times is a legal requirement even for citizens in the EU, or at least in Slovenia.

BenC88 12y ago
Some would argue what carrying your passport at all times is riskier than facing a small fine.
- nraynaud 12y ago
  I would advise you to at least keep a copy of it. In France that I know best, they could book you up to four hours to find your identity without any suspicion of wrongdoing. But if you carry a copy of it, everything changes, because now they have to either accept it as true or make a case for falsification of papers ID.
  - wila 12y ago
    Same in Thailand. The copy is not legally valid, but helps a lot when asked for your ID. If you show enough respect to the officer then it might be sufficient. Side note I lived in Thailand for several years and was never asked for an ID.
cageface 12y ago
Carrying a copy of your passport is an excellent idea. Carrying your actual passport around is a great way to lose it and spend the rest of your vacation in an immigration office dealing with paperwork.
- qwerta 12y ago
  + driving license as valid ID.
  - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
    Driver licenses are useless as IDs abroad.
    - cageface 12y ago
      They will actually sometimes accept them here in Vietnam for various things but Vietnam is still kind of the wild west legally. Certainly not a good idea to count on it.
      - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
        They are useless in China, but mine expired 8 years ago.
    - nwh 12y ago
      An Australian one is fine in the UK, you can even drive using one.
      - mapleoin 12y ago
        That's pretty amazing how Australians can use a driver's license to drive a car.
    - kissickas 12y ago
      I live outside of the US for most of the year and can say that my driver's license is not at all useless as an ID. In fact, I have been at police checkpoints in two countries where they refused to see my passport and specifically requested that I present my driver's license - but these were both when I was driving, of course.
  - legulere 12y ago
    At least in Germany driving licenses aren't valid ID.
    - qwerta 12y ago
- billpaetzke 12y ago
  Ya I carried a laminated two-sided copy of the info and signature page of my passport scaled down to the size of a credit card/driver's license. Worked throughout Western Europe and Latin America for authorizing credit card purchases in person and entry into venues. Cost me $2 to make at FedEx Office/Kinkos and an employee did it all for me, since I came at an off-peak hour. Of course at official border crossings, you need the real passport.
ashconnor 12y ago
It's not a legal requirement in Thailand. Whomever is telling them this is wrong.
- peteretep 12y ago
  Yes, but it's a super good idea if you're getting out of major cities. I've been stopped on trains a few times and asked for my passport. If you can't produce it, you get 24-48 hours to produce at a police station, which is a ballache
corford 12y ago
It's not a requirement in the UK.
throwaway_xl5 12y ago
No such requirement in the UK, although it can be helpful in that if you are stopped by the police and they don't believe you are who you say you are, then they _may_ detain you until your identity can be confirmed.
- jonasvp 12y ago
  No such requirement in Germany either. We have a national ID that you're required to have somewhere but you're not required to have it on you. Same as above, though: in case you're involved in some fracas, they may detain you until your identity can be checked.
  - celticninja 12y ago
    Papers please!
gioele 12y ago
> AFAIK, having a legal identification document at all times is a legal requirement even for citizens in the EU, or at least in Slovenia. Nowhere in EU countries there a requirement for their citizens to _carry_ a legal ID. Some may require you to _possess_ at least a valid one (at home maybe) and all of them require that you are _able to be identified_ by police officers (this means you accept to go to a police station to check your identity).
- jabbernotty 12y ago
  Did you do a web search before you wrote that? The first hit when I did: http://www.iamsterdam.com/en-GB/living/official-matters/compulsory-identification http://www.iamsterdam.com/en-GB/living/official-matters/comp... "In 2005 the Dutch government introduced a law to improve public safety stating that everyone must be able to produce valid identification when requested by the police or supervisory officials. Those who fail to produce vailid identification risk being fined. Read on to learn more about valid identification, and to whom the law is applicable."
  - wila 12y ago
    That's correct. Everybody needs to be able to produce an ID when asked for it by the police. Note however that it is not common for police to ask you for your ID, so not everybody carries it at all times. You get a fine if you don't have it on you or the police can take you to their station. link (in dutch) http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/paspoort-en-identificatie/vraag-en-antwoord/wat-gebeurt-er-als-ik-geen-identiteitsbewijs-kan-laten-zien.html http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/paspoort-en-identifi...
- corford 12y ago
  I'm fairly certain it's a requirement in France.
  - a3_nm 12y ago
    Not that I know of. At least, for French citizens, within the scope of identity checks ("contrôle d'identité"), you need to be able to prove your identity but there is no required list of established means to do so (and some are not even documents, e.g., appeal to a witness): http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/F1036.xhtml#N10101 http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/F1036.xhtml#... The relevant article of the penal procedure code ("Code de procédure pénale"), 78-2, is especially broad: "by any mean" ("par tout moyen"). To my knowledge, the French state does not even require that a French citizen even requests or obtains an identity card or a passport (although having some ID document may be useful in practice).
nraynaud 12y ago
generally It's not required for nationals, but mandatory for foreigners.
- the_mitsuhiko 12y ago
  It is in Germany.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
celticninja 12y ago
it is not a legal requirement in the UK, which is in the EU.

by tomp 12y ago

BenC88 12y ago

Some would argue what carrying your passport at all times is riskier than facing a small fine.

nraynaud 12y ago
I would advise you to at least keep a copy of it. In France that I know best, they could book you up to four hours to find your identity without any suspicion of wrongdoing. But if you carry a copy of it, everything changes, because now they have to either accept it as true or make a case for falsification of papers ID.
- wila 12y ago
  Same in Thailand. The copy is not legally valid, but helps a lot when asked for your ID. If you show enough respect to the officer then it might be sufficient. Side note I lived in Thailand for several years and was never asked for an ID.

cageface 12y ago

Carrying a copy of your passport is an excellent idea. Carrying your actual passport around is a great way to lose it and spend the rest of your vacation in an immigration office dealing with paperwork.

qwerta 12y ago
+ driving license as valid ID.
- seanmcdirmid 12y ago
  Driver licenses are useless as IDs abroad.
  - cageface 12y ago
    They will actually sometimes accept them here in Vietnam for various things but Vietnam is still kind of the wild west legally. Certainly not a good idea to count on it.
    - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
      They are useless in China, but mine expired 8 years ago.
  - nwh 12y ago
    An Australian one is fine in the UK, you can even drive using one.
    - mapleoin 12y ago
      That's pretty amazing how Australians can use a driver's license to drive a car.
  - kissickas 12y ago
    I live outside of the US for most of the year and can say that my driver's license is not at all useless as an ID. In fact, I have been at police checkpoints in two countries where they refused to see my passport and specifically requested that I present my driver's license - but these were both when I was driving, of course.
- legulere 12y ago
  At least in Germany driving licenses aren't valid ID.
  - qwerta 12y ago
billpaetzke 12y ago
Ya I carried a laminated two-sided copy of the info and signature page of my passport scaled down to the size of a credit card/driver's license. Worked throughout Western Europe and Latin America for authorizing credit card purchases in person and entry into venues. Cost me $2 to make at FedEx Office/Kinkos and an employee did it all for me, since I came at an off-peak hour. Of course at official border crossings, you need the real passport.

ashconnor 12y ago

It's not a legal requirement in Thailand. Whomever is telling them this is wrong.

peteretep 12y ago
Yes, but it's a super good idea if you're getting out of major cities. I've been stopped on trains a few times and asked for my passport. If you can't produce it, you get 24-48 hours to produce at a police station, which is a ballache

corford 12y ago

It's not a requirement in the UK.

throwaway_xl5 12y ago

No such requirement in the UK, although it can be helpful in that if you are stopped by the police and they don't believe you are who you say you are, then they _may_ detain you until your identity can be confirmed.

jonasvp 12y ago
No such requirement in Germany either. We have a national ID that you're required to have somewhere but you're not required to have it on you. Same as above, though: in case you're involved in some fracas, they may detain you until your identity can be checked.
- celticninja 12y ago
  Papers please!

gioele 12y ago

> AFAIK, having a legal identification document at all times is a legal requirement even for citizens in the EU, or at least in Slovenia. Nowhere in EU countries there a requirement for their citizens to _carry_ a legal ID. Some may require you to _possess_ at least a valid one (at home maybe) and all of them require that you are _able to be identified_ by police officers (this means you accept to go to a police station to check your identity).

jabbernotty 12y ago
Did you do a web search before you wrote that? The first hit when I did: http://www.iamsterdam.com/en-GB/living/official-matters/compulsory-identification http://www.iamsterdam.com/en-GB/living/official-matters/comp... "In 2005 the Dutch government introduced a law to improve public safety stating that everyone must be able to produce valid identification when requested by the police or supervisory officials. Those who fail to produce vailid identification risk being fined. Read on to learn more about valid identification, and to whom the law is applicable."
- wila 12y ago
  That's correct. Everybody needs to be able to produce an ID when asked for it by the police. Note however that it is not common for police to ask you for your ID, so not everybody carries it at all times. You get a fine if you don't have it on you or the police can take you to their station. link (in dutch) http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/paspoort-en-identificatie/vraag-en-antwoord/wat-gebeurt-er-als-ik-geen-identiteitsbewijs-kan-laten-zien.html http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/paspoort-en-identifi...
corford 12y ago
I'm fairly certain it's a requirement in France.
- a3_nm 12y ago
  Not that I know of. At least, for French citizens, within the scope of identity checks ("contrôle d'identité"), you need to be able to prove your identity but there is no required list of established means to do so (and some are not even documents, e.g., appeal to a witness): http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/F1036.xhtml#N10101 http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/F1036.xhtml#... The relevant article of the penal procedure code ("Code de procédure pénale"), 78-2, is especially broad: "by any mean" ("par tout moyen"). To my knowledge, the French state does not even require that a French citizen even requests or obtains an identity card or a passport (although having some ID document may be useful in practice).

nraynaud 12y ago

generally It's not required for nationals, but mandatory for foreigners.

the_mitsuhiko 12y ago
It is in Germany.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

celticninja 12y ago

it is not a legal requirement in the UK, which is in the EU.