sdspieg

I just flew back from the US to The Netherlands and must have left my passport on the plane. I submitted a United Airlines Lost Item Report but have no idea when I will hear back from them. I am flying to London Monday morning and was wondering whether I would be able to get through customs here in the Netherlands and in London City with any other form of personal identification (for instance a driver's license). I do have a scanned copy of my passport that I could also take. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

-Stephan

NWIFlyer

As you know, the UK Border Force - part of the Home Office - generally requires a passport to establish identity and nationality, but its official policy does allow "other documentation" to be used, without specifying what. A driving licence or National Identity card might suffice, but - given the increased checks currently employed on both incoming and outgoing immigration - I would think the very best you could hope for would be an extended interview.

Given the real risk of refusal, you may even find your airline refuses to carry you in the first place for fear of being fined if you are returned to the Netherlands.

Yoshi212

There is also the chance the airline will refuse to board you without proper documentation.

Silver Fox

I think you stand no chance of getting on the plane without a passport.

From my experience of leaving something on a United plane at Heathrow, you need to *NOT* deal with the American side of the operation. Do not wait for the email to be answered, ring whichever NL airport it was and find the person in United that knows who it gets passed to before it gets sent to the US. The US side of the operation were worthless when I called them and did not want to get involved in any shape, form, or manner. I had to ring about 4 numbers in Heathrow (speaking to locals who knew how Heathrow worked) and found the person. I picked it up from the ticket desk on my next flight out.

Be persistent, it paid off for me.

duvin

Your driving license won't show your nationality, so how are you going to convince the border force that you are an EU national?

JTCz

The driving licenses in Europe show the driver's nationality quite clearly, they also have lots of EU stuff and logos on them.

You can enter the UK with your national ID if you are a EU citizen. I never bother to take the passport to the UK. The driver's license is not an ID for this purpose though.

PS. Your lost items, unless they went unnoticed, were picked by either the cabin crew or the cleaners, and will be waiting at the lost&found of the ground handling company at your airport of arrival (Schiphol, if your flight was direct).

duvin

No they don't. I've had licenses from three different eu countries and none of them displayed my nationality.

JTCz

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_driving_licence

There is a big issuing country ID in the upper left hand corner. Depending on the country's iurisdiction, you may be required to be a citizen or have a permanent living permit to get one.

PS. My country puts the holder's permanent address and the national ID number you get at birth. To have both, you need to be a citizen or equal. I am not sure what happens if you are not a citizen and try to get one - the national ID number would certainly be a problem.

PS2. I just discovered you can now get the said number if you need it for some reason, e.g. pay social security here. So yes, technically you can now hold a driver's license not being a national.

duvin

So you agree, that the UK's Border Force won't be able to determine a passenger's nationality based on a driving license alone.

Just think of the amount of immigrants and refugees we have all around Europe. Most of them have to get a driving license from the country they live in. The issuing country of a driving license doesn't have anything to do with nationality.

Some of my students are (mainland) Chinese, and have driven a EU license while studying in Europe. They are still required to apply for a visa for entry to the UK though.

sdspieg

Thanks for all of this feedback. And incidentally, I am a Belgian citizen living in The Netherlands. I have a Dutch driver's license, which mentions the (Belgian) city where I was born. It does not, indeed, mention my nationality.

The UK regulation says they have to admit EU/EEA citizens who can produce either a passport or a national identity card. See also here. I unfortunately do not have a national identity card. I have been living abroad for a long time, and remember trying to get one some 10 years ago, only to be told that Belgians living abroad could not receive one. I do see that this has now changed and that we can get an e-id. I'll start that process, but it apparently takes 4-6 weeks.

It is also true that the UK regulations do seem to leave a BIT of wiggle room
But so unless somebody knows exactly what to do (what is a reasonable period of time? what are these 'other means'?), I think I'd rather not risk it.

So I guess my only hope to get on that that flight Monday morning is to get my passport back. I've started the United 'Lost and Found' process and I'll also follow all of your suggestions. I also filed a form at Schiphol, but I found out that when a passport is found it does not go into the 'lost and found' register, but goes directly to the Royal Marechaussee. And they're not answering their phones now - I'll try them again tomorrow. I will also start searching on this forum what the exact protocol is for items that are left on a plane. And if I don't find that, I might open a new thread on that [UPDATE: I asked the question here]. But thanks to all contributors here!

beckoa

As this is a UK specific item and we have some rather prolific UK posters, we'll relocate this thread in that forum for increased exposure. Best of luck to the OP^

mfkne

Without proper documentation you won't even be allowed to board the plane. Any chance of going to the Belgian embassy/consulate to get an emergency document?

Aviatrix

OP, how did you get back into the Netherlands if you left your passport on the aircraft?

sdspieg

Aviatrix - I have Privium. And if I was flying from Schiphol, that would at least get me to London. But I'm (hopefully) flying out of Rotterdam airport tomorrow.

David-A

Pedant mode: Your problem would be immigration in the UK, not customs.

Additionally, your airline will need to see ID that is acceptable to them for travel, and also ID that will convince them you have right of entry.

Drivers licence will not do. You will need a passport or an EU issued national ID card.

Presume you best course of action will be emergency replacement passport. And if you are sorting things out, try to get the ID card - it is a great backup for this scenario.