Flying within Schengen
 

I am fairly certain I know the answer, but..... I am USA citizen and my passport is at the South Sudan embassy waiting on a visa. I was supposed to fly to Barcelona from AMS for a work meeting on Friday. Is there anything I can do in terms of documentation to get on a plane? If I took a train would my resident ID be enough if I was asked to show ID.

Depends on flight, departure, transiting and arrival country.

E.g. France had reintroduced border controls for the duration of the COP21 and extended those in the aftermath of the attacks in November '15. AFAIK Spain has airlines conduct checks on all departing passenger. Depending on who you fall on, you might be in trouble. With exotic documents, you might end up being denied boarding by airlines despite holding valid documentation.

BTW: Checks are conducted in cross-border train services as well. French border force regularly checks (and has been doing so for years) TGV services that leave/enter France. Just a question of (bad) luck.

Such a hassle. No exotic documents. Not even sure what that means. I am traveling from Amsterdam to Barcelona. Just no USA passport as stuck at the embassy. Dutch resident permit. Fairly straightforward trip. I look Dutch if that matters to blend.

What does "look Dutch" mean? :confused:

You need to check directly with your air carrier as to what is required right now as opposed to last week or 3 months ago.

Schengen would generally not have a document check, but countries do sometimes run these checks and, if they do, the carrier will check as well.

I think from AMS should be ok, but you may have trouble getting back.

You need a valid travel document to travel. Full stop.
A travel document in your case is a Passport. Full stop.

Having said that, if you still want to risk it and hope there will not be a check of travel documents anywhere, feel free...

That's the point. It's going to be exotic to a gate agent in Spain. Depending on the training said agent will have, he may deny boarding. Best course of action is to travel with a passport while abroad. A national ID usually does the trick as well for identification purposes.

That's simply not true. There are multiple types of documents he could be using. OP therefore has only to check if traveling within Schengen with his Dutch resident permit is permitted or if he has to carry other documents.

For non-EU citizens, only a passport is a valid travel document, for EU citizens, a national ID is accepted as well, but not resident permits/driving licenses etc. etc.
https://www.government.nl/topics/tra...n-going-abroad

That's incorrect as countries - including the NL - issue travel documents to non-nationals as well. While passports and national ID (something that several countries don't have. E.g. UK) are the most common travel documents, there are other types of travel documents that can be issued.

I doubt however that a resident permit is a valid travel document on their own outside the country, it's being issued by. But even so, presenting a resident permit may have an impact on visa requirements.

This is where it is unclear. I've read that VERBLIJFSTITEL (Dutch resident permit) is valid to travel freely within Schengen - it is unclear to me if that means it can be used as an ID card. I guess I will call the Dutch government office tomorrow to see if I can get clarity.

Then of course it comes back to risking traveling by train.

Mind giving an example of why and how the OP can get such a travel document?

Of course, a residence permit is also a valid visa for the rest of the Schengen area, and some other countries that accept Schengen visas, but not by it's own, it must always be accompanied by a passport

This depends on:
1. Which airline you're flying - some airlines like FR and EZY are more strict.
2. The ground handler. When I had a PT residency card, TP said it was ok, a ground handler gave me a hassle over it.
3. Border controls in a specific country.

VY and HV clearly state that a residency card doesn't cut it. KL is not clear but does not explicitly allow it.

In the longer term - consider applying for a second US passport.

KLM

Yes, definitely applying for a second passport. I travel too much to Africa, which can have long visa turnarounds. Too frustrating to be stuck. This is the second time this has happened. The first time I could cancel my plans, but this time it is a huge inconvenience. Thus the risk of trying train travel.
The traveling freely within the Schengen area isn't so easy despite having two obviously me useless ID cards - USA DL and Resident permit.

You need at least your passport, your residence permit doesn't make the cut.

If it helps I took the TGV Schiphol-Paris Gare du Nord a month ago and once we crossed into France border guards came onboard and conducted ID checks on everyone.
An East African guy tried to seek refuge in the train's bathroom though they waited for him until he voluntarily surrendered himself.

Before the 2015 attacks I could've told you just go for it by train/car/bus to Barcelona, yet now France tightly controls its borders and there's a good chance you might get into trouble.