National identity cards in the European Economic Area
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National identity cards are issued to citizens of all European Union member states except Denmark and the United Kingdom, and also to citizens of Liechtenstein and Switzerland (the latter not formally part of the EEA). Citizens holding a national identity card, which state EEA or Swiss citizenship, can not only use it as an identity document within their home country, but also as a travel document to exercise the right of free movement in the EEA and Switzerland.[1] Identity cards that do not state EEA or Swiss citizenship, including national identity cards issued to residents who are not citizens, are not valid as a travel document within the EEA and Switzerland.
National identity cards are often accepted for unofficial identification purposes (such as age verification in bars) in other parts of the world.
At present, four EEA member states (Denmark, Iceland, Norway and United Kingdom) do not issue national identity cards to their citizens. Therefore, citizens from these four countries can only use a passport as a travel document when travelling to other EEA member states or Switzerland; however when travelling within the Schengen Area or Common Travel Area, any valid identity document is often sufficient, if anything at all. Norway has decided to start issuing such cards from 2016.
Contents
Use[edit]
Travel document[edit]
As an alternative to presenting a passport, EEA and Swiss citizens are entitled to use a valid national identity card as a travel document to exercise their right of free movement in the European Economic Area and Switzerland without a visa.
Strictly speaking, it is not necessary for an EEA/Swiss citizen to possess a valid national identity card or passport to enjoy the right of free movement. In theory, if an EEA/Swiss citizen can prove his/her nationality by any other means (e.g., by presenting an expired national identity card or passport, or a citizenship certificate), he/she must be permitted to enter and reside in the EEA and Switzerland without a visa. An EEA/Swiss citizen who is unable to demonstrate his/her nationality satisfactorily must nonetheless be given 'every reasonable opportunity' to obtain the necessary documents or to have them delivered within a reasonable period of time.[2][3][4]
Additionally, EEA/Swiss citizens can enter a number of countries and territories outside the EEA/Switzerland on the strength of their national identity cards alone, without the need to present a passport to the border authorities (Sweden does not allow its own citizens to leave directly for a non-EEA/Switzerland country without a passport):
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1. Unlike the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, the British overseas territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia and the British Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Jersey are not part of the European Union. Nonetheless, EEA/Swiss citizens are able to use their national identity cards as travel documents to enter these territories.
2. Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City are de facto part of the Schengen Area.
3. EEA/Swiss citizens can use their national identity cards when travelling directly between mainland Europe (usually France) and French overseas territories.[18][19][20][20][21][22] In practice, the only French overseas departments/collectivities which can be reached directly by plane from mainland Europe are French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion. In addition, EEA/Swiss citizens can use their national identity cards when travelling within/between French overseas territories (e.g. when flying directly between Guadeloupe and Saint Martin.
4. The national ID card must be in card format.
5. The national ID card must be in card format and biometric.
6. Applies to EU citizens only.
7. Applies to EU citizens, awaiting confirmation from IATA regarding EFTA nationals
8. Not applicable to nationals of Liechtenstein
Turkey allows citizens of Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland to enter using a national identity card.[23] Egypt allows citizens of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Portugal to enter using a national identity card with a minimum remaining period of validity of 6 months.[24][25] Tunisia allows nationals of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland to enter using a national identity card if travelling on an organized tour. Dominica and Saint Lucia allow nationals of France to enter using a national identity card for max 14 days. Gambia allows nationals of Belgium to enter using a national ID card.[26] Finally, Greenland and the Faroe Islands[27][28] allow citizens of Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland) to enter using a national identity card (currently only Sweden and Finland have them, whereas Norway will introduce them in 2016). In practice, all EEA/Swiss citizens can use their identity cards, because no passport control takes place on arrival in Greenland, only by the airline at check-in and the gate, and both Air Greenland and Air Iceland accept any EEA/Swiss ID card. To the Faroe Islands, EEA/Swiss (including Nordic) ID cards are only accepted by Atlantic Airways for travels to/from the Schengen area.[27][28]
Although, as a matter of European law, holders of a Swedish national identity card are entitled to use it as a travel document to any European Union member state (regardless of whether it is belongs to the Schengen Area or not), Swedish national law did not recognise the card as a valid travel document outside the Schengen Area until July 2015[29] in direct violation of European law. What this meant in practice was that leaving Schengen directly from Sweden (i.e., without making a stopover in another Schengen country) with the card was not possible. This partially changed in July 2015, when travel to non-Schengen countries in the EU (but not others, even if they accept the ID card) was permitted.[30]
UK Border Force officials have been known to place extra scrutiny on and to spend longer processing national identity cards issued by certain member states which are deemed to have limited security features and hence more susceptible to tampering/forgery. Unlike their counterparts in the Schengen Area (who, by law, must only perform a 'rapid' and 'straightforward' visual check for signs of falsification and tampering and are not obliged to use technical devices – such as document scanners, UV light and magnifiers – when EEA/Swiss citizens present their passports and/or national identity cards at external border checkpoints),[31] as a matter of policy UKBF officials are required to examine physically all passports and national identity cards presented by EEA/Swiss citizens for signs of forgery and tampering.[32] In addition, unlike their counterparts in the Schengen Area (who, when presented with a passport or national identity card by an EEA/Swiss citizen, are not legally obliged to check it against a database of lost/stolen/invalidated travel documents – and, if they do so, must only perform a 'rapid' and 'straightward' database check – and may only check to see if the traveller is on a database containing persons of interest on a strictly 'non-systematic' basis where such a threat is 'genuine', 'present' and 'sufficiently serious'),[31] as a matter of policy UKBF officials are required to check every EEA/Swiss citizen and their passport/national identity card against the Warnings Index (WI) database.[32] For this reason, when presented with a non-machine readable identity card, it can take up to four times longer for a UKBF official to process the card as the official has to enter the biographical details of the holder manually into the computer to check against the WI database and, if a large number of possible matches is returned, a different configuration has to be entered to reduce the number of possible matches.[33] For example, at Stansted Airport UKBF officials have been known to take longer to process Italian paper identity cards because they often need to be taken out of plastic wallets,[34] because they are particularly susceptible to forgery/tampering[35] and because, as non-machine readable documents, the holders' biographical details have to be entered manually into the computer.[34]
Identification document[edit]
EEA and Swiss citizens exercising their right to free movement in another EEA member state or Switzerland are entitled to use their national identity card as an identification document when dealing not just with government authorities, but also with private sector service providers. For example, where a supermarket in the UK refuses to accept a German national identity card as proof of age when a German citizen attempts to purchase an age-restricted product and insists on the production of a UK-issued passport or driving licence or other identity document, the supermarket would, in effect, be discriminating against this individual on this basis of his/her nationality in the provision of a service, thereby contravening the prohibition in Art 20(2) of Directive 2006/123/EC of discriminatory treatment relating to the nationality of a service recipient in the conditions of access to a service which are made available to the public at large by a service provider.[36]
On 11 June 2014, The Guardian published leaked internal documents from HM Passport Office in the UK which revealed that government officials who dealt with British passport applications sent from overseas treated EU citizen countersignatories differently depending on their nationality. The leaked internal documents showed that for citizens of Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden who acted as a countersignatory to support the application for a British passport made by someone whom they knew, HM Passport Office would be willing to accept a copy of the countersignatory's passport or the national identity card.[37] HM Passport Office considered that national identity cards issued to citizens of these member states were acceptable taking into account the 'quality of the identity card design, the rigour of their issuing process, the relatively low level of documented abuse of such documents at UK/Schengen borders and our ability to access samples of such identity cards for comparison purposes'. In contrast, citizens of other EU member states (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Romania and Spain) acting as countersignatories could only submit a copy of their passport and not their national identity card to prove their identity as national identity cards issued by these member states were deemed by HM Passport Office to be less secure and more susceptible to fraud/forgery. The day following the revelations, on 12 June 2014, the Home Office and HM Passport Office withdrew the leaked internal guidance relating to EU citizen countersignatories submitting a copy of their national identity card instead of their passport as proof of identity, and all EU citizen countersignatories are now able only to submit a copy of their passport and not of their national identity card.[38][39]
Common design and security features[edit]
On 13 July 2005, the Justice and Home Affairs Council called on all European Union member states to adopt common designs and security features for national identity cards by December 2005, with detailed standards being laid out as soon as possible thereafter.[40]
On 4 December 2006, all European Union member states agreed to adopt the following common designs and minimum security standards for national identity cards that were in the draft resolution of 15 November 2006:[41][42]
- Material
The card can be made with paper core that is laminated on both sides or made entirely of a synthetic substrate.
- Biographical data
The biographical data on the card is to be machine readable. (However, note that three European Union member states — Cyprus, Greece and Italy — as well as Gibraltar continue to issue non-machine readable national identity cards.)
Overview of national identity cards[edit]
Member states issue a variety of national identity cards with differing technical specifications and according to differing issuing procedures:[43]
| Member state | Front | Reverse | Compulsory/optional | Cost | Validity | Issuing authority | Latest version | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Austria |
Optional |
|
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1 January 2005 | ||||
Belgium |
Compulsory for Belgian citizens aged 15 or over |
|
|
|
1 March 2010 | |||
Bulgaria |
Compulsory for Bulgarian citizens aged 14 or over |
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The police on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior. | 29 March 2010 | |||
Croatia |
Compulsory for Croatian citizens resident in Croatia aged 18 or over | HRK 79.50[45] |
|
The police on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior.[46] | 8 June 2015 | |||
Cyprus |
Compulsory for Cypriot citizens aged 12 or over | €20.00 | 10 years | 1 July 2008 | ||||
Czech Republic |
Compulsory for Czech citizens over 15 years of age with permanent residency in the Czech Republic |
|
|
municipality on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior | 1 January 2012 | |||
Denmark |
No national identity card (See Identity document#Denmark). | |||||||
| N/A | N/A | Identity documentation is optional | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||
Estonia |
Compulsory for all Estonian citizens and permanent residents aged 15 or over |
|
5 years | Police and Border Guard Board | 1 January 2011 | |||
Finland |
Optional |
|
5 years | Police | 31 May 2011 | |||
France |
Optional, however it is compulsory for all persons to have some form of valid government-issued identity documentation |
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|
|
1 October 1994 | |||
Germany |
Optional, however it is compulsory for German citizens aged 16 or over to have either an ID card or a passport |
|
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City or town of residence | 1 November 2010 | |||
Gibraltar |
Optional, however an ID card is required for employment | Free of charge |
|
Civil Status and Registration Office, Gibraltar | 8 December 2000 | |||
Greece |
Compulsory for Greek citizens aged 12 or over |
|
15 years | Police | 1 July 2010 | |||
Hungary |
Optional, however it is compulsory for Hungarian citizens aged 14 or over to have either an ID card, passport or driving licence | 9 April 2001 | ||||||
Iceland |
No national identity card. Icelandic state-issued identity cards do not state nationality and therefore are not usable as travel documentation outside of the Nordic countries. | |||||||
| N/A | N/A | Compulsory for all persons to have identity documentation | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||
Ireland |
Optional |
|
|
Passport Office | October 2015 | |||
Italy |
Some municipalities issue a new plastic, electronic version | Compulsory for Italian citizens aged 15 or over | €10.00 (€5.00 if an expired Id is returned) | 10 years | Town Hall | 2001 | ||
Latvia |
Optional, however it is compulsory for Latvian citizens aged 15 or over to have an ID card or passport |
|
5 years | Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs | 2012 | |||
Liechtenstein |
Optional |
|
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Immigration and Passport Office, Vaduz | ||||
Lithuania |
Optional |
|
1 January 2009 | |||||
Luxembourg |
Compulsory for Luxembourgian citizens resident in Luxembourg aged 15 or over |
|
1 July 2014 [48] | |||||
Malta |
Compulsory for Maltese citizens aged 18 or over |
|
|
|
12 February 2014 |
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Netherlands |
Optional, however it is compulsory for all persons aged 14 or over to have valid identity documentation |
|
9 October 2011 | |||||
Norway |
No national identity card currently, however planned to be introduced in 2016.[53][54] | |||||||
| Identity documentation is optional | Norwegian Police Service | 2016 | ||||||
Poland |
|
|
Compulsory for Polish citizens resident in Poland aged 18 or over | Free of charge |
|
Wójt/Mayor/President of the City | 1 March 2015 | |
Portugal |
Compulsory |
|
5 years | Notary and Registry Institute (IRN) | 1 June 2009 | |||
Romania |
Compulsory for Romanian citizens aged 14 or over |
|
12 May 2009 | |||||
Slovakia |
|
|
Compulsory for Slovak citizens aged 15 or over | Free of charge |
|
1 December 2013 | ||
Slovenia |
Optional, however it is compulsory for Slovenian citizens aged 18 or over who are permanently resident in Slovenia to have a form of ID with photo |
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|
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20 June 1998 | |||
Spain |
|
|
Compulsory from the age of 14 | €10.50 |
|
Police | 16 March 2006 | |
Sweden |
Not accepted for direct travel from Sweden to a non-EU/EFTA country, even if they accept the ID card | |||||||
| Optional | SEK 400 | 5 years | Police | 2 January 2012 | ||||
Switzerland |
EFTA member state Switzerland is not a part of the EEA, but is through a series of bilateral agreements a part of the area in a practical sense. The Swiss identity card is usable as a travel document inside the EEA and the EEA cards are usable inside Switzerland. | |||||||
| Optional |
|
|
2003 (planned change 2016) | |||||
United Kingdom |
No national identity card (UK ID Cards abolished 2011 by UK Identity Documents Act 2010) | |||||||
| N/A | N/A | Identity documentation is optional | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||
Gallery of EEA national identity cards[edit]
See also[edit]
- Identity document
- List of national identity card policies by country
- Passports of the European Union
- Passports of the European Economic Area
- Schengen Area
- European Economic Area
- European Free Trade Association
References[edit]
- ^ ECB08: What are acceptable travel documents for entry clearance, UK Visas and Immigration. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
- ^ Article 6.3.2 of the Practical Handbook for Border Guards (C (2006) 5186)
- ^ Judgement of the European Court of Justice of 17 February 2005, Case C 215/03, Salah Oulane vs. Minister voor Vreemdelingenzaken en Integratie ([1])
- ^ [2] Processing British and EEA Passengers without a valid Passport or Travel Document
- ^ [3]
- ^ https://www.geoconsul.gov.ge/HtmlPage/Html/View?id=25&lang=Eng
- ^ https://www.nyidanmark.dk/en-us/coming_to_dk/visa/the_faroe_islands_and_greenland.htm
- ^ https://www.airgreenland.com/help/at-the-airport/check-in
- ^ [4]
- ^ [5] EU residents will need only ID to enter Macedonia
- ^ [6]
- ^ http://lex.justice.md/index.php?action=view&view=doc&lang=1&id=359340v (Romanian)
- ^ [7]
- ^ [8] Montenegro: visa and passport requirements
- ^ [9]
- ^ EU citizens can enter Serbia without passport
- ^ Lov om utlendingers adgang til riket og deres opphold her (utlendingsloven) kap 2 § 15 (Norwegian)
- ^ http://www.guyane.cci.fr/fr/aeroport/informations_pratiques
- ^ http://www.guadeloupe.aeroport.fr/guide-du-voyageur/formalites-police-et-douanes.php#formalites-de-police
- ^ a b http://www.aeroport-mayotte.com/gp/Documents-et-Formalites/89
- ^ http://www.martinique.aeroport.fr/Formalites.asp
- ^ http://www.reunion.aeroport.fr/index.php?id=88
- ^ Countries whose citizens are allowed to enter Turkey with their national IDs
- ^ http://www.ibz.rrn.fgov.be/fileadmin/user_upload/CI/eID/fr/acces_etranger/voyager_avec_des_documents_d_identite_belges.pdf
- ^ http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/conseils-aux-voyageurs/conseils-par-pays/egypte-12239/
- ^ [10]
- ^ a b Passport and visa
- ^ a b Practical information (Atlantic Airways)
- ^ Passlag (1978:302) (See 5§) (Swedish)
- ^ Ökade möjligheter att resa inom EU med nationellt identitetskort (Swedish)
- ^ a b Article 7(2) of the Schengen Borders Code (OJ L 105, 13 April 2006, p. 1).
- ^ a b Home Office WI Checking Policy and operational instructions issued in June 2007 (see [11], pg 21)
- ^ See [12], pg 12
- ^ a b See [13], pg 3
- ^ See [14], table of statistics at 4.13 on pg 12
- ^ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=E-2014-004933&language=EN
- ^ The Guardian: Passport Office briefing document (11 June 2014) Note that although the list included Switzerland, in practice Swiss citizens would not have been eligible to act as countersignatories as they are not EU citizens.
- ^ https://www.gov.uk/countersigning-passport-applications
- ^ http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/12/ministers-intervene-to-prevent-relaxation-of-rules-in-passport-office
- ^ Council of the European Union: Draft Conclusions of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States on common minimum security standards for Member States' national identity cards
- ^ Council of the European Union: Draft Resolution of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council on common minimum security standards for Member States’ national identity cards
- ^ List of texts adopted by the Council in the JHA area – 2006
- ^ http://www.statewatch.org/news/2010/jun/eu-council-ID-cards-9949-10.pdf
- ^ http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=108362
- ^ http://www.mup.hr/42.aspx
- ^ Zakon o osobnoj iskaznici (Croatian)
- ^ https://www.poliisi.fi/poliisi/home.nsf/www/serviceprice
- ^ https://www.gouvernement.lu/3793755/18-kersch-carte-identite1
- ^ a b [15]
- ^ a b [16]
- ^ Paspoort en identiteitskaart
- ^ Identiteitskaart wordt 10 jaar geldig
- ^ Lover nasjonalt ID-kort i 2015 ([17])
- ^ IKT-satsingen i justissektoren trappes opp ([18])
External links[edit]
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