If you are non-eu you need your passport and your resident permit when you travel.

A friend was stopped at the German border and after 6 hours of trouble was escorted back to Switzerland with a nice warning about going to Germany again in the next 10 years. When he told me that story I looked at the Schengen agreement and remember I found somewhere that you indeed need your permit AND passport when you travel.

Yes, most of the time they don't check when you travel in schengen countries but the law is the law.

That's my opinion about non-eu, if you are eu maybe another eu person can tell us if you can travel without passport in the schengen area.

Good luck,

Leo

Thanks Leo! Thats really useful, unfortunate, but useful. 

I travel on a New Zealand passport. I should have just applied for my Australian passport then i wouldnt have this problem! 

Thanks again for your help, 

K

Katherine,

You can have two passports issued by most countries for the same visa reason.

You can use the second passport while they process the visa with the other one.

This is quite usual.

M

It's covered here http://europa.eu/travel/doc/index_en.htm

I travel on a NZ passport as well. (In some cases) you need your passport to gain entry to another EU country. But I've never been asked by a border guard for a resident permit which should accompany it. As for travelling without your passport and relying on your carte. I'm sure it could be done - with the right border guard ;)

But coming back in to Switzerland it's the opposite. They dont seem to care about the passport. You can just hand over your carte and that's enough.

It`s true that not often you are checked when you are in the Schengen area already. The question is if you want to take the risk and suffer the consequences. I think I have been checked at aiports around 10 to 20% of the time.

It is not possible to travel without a passport using airports. I think with an EU drivers license you can get away with it when traveling by car, but being none EU also that is very unlikely to happen.

To give an idea of strictness: In Holland everyone is obliged to always carry a form of identification, and then I dont mean a library card.

"To give an idea of strictness: In Holland everyone is obliged to always carry a form of identification, and then I dont mean a library card."

This is probably true in every single country. It is the case in my home country and it is the case in Switzerland.

The police (in Switzerland) can always stop you to check your identity. If you don't have any form of identification they can take you to the station and look for you in the records. You have to stay there until your identity is confirmed.

That has never happened to me in more than 5 years in Switzerland but again many things can happen if you a have an unlucky day.

Cheers

Leo: the carte de legitimation is meant to have the same power as the passport, however as i am not a european citizen im not quite sure how it works.

Thanks for all your help everyone! It was not the answer i was hoping for but very useful all the same. I happened to find out about a quick processing time for the Ukrainian Visa, so I think i might try and get that, although it will give me not much leeway.

yeah i should definately think about doing this for the future. I have never really had the need to get an Australian passport as NZ and Australia are practically the same country but it might also come in useful in these situations! Thanks for your help