Do I need to carry my passport with me in Germany?
May 18, 2018, 3:54 pm
#46
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Germany
Programs: Some
Posts: 11,520
May 21, 2018, 5:29 am
#47
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 48,168
May 23, 2018, 1:50 am
#50
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 48,168
You can see how disappointed they are when I pull out my German national ID and nicely ask in German to please ID themselves as per PAG Article 6 and please let me know why they are asking me for ID as per Article 13.
PAG: Gesetz über die Aufgaben und Befugnisse der Bayerischen Staatlichen Polizei (Polizeiaufgabengesetz ? PAG) in der Fassung der Bekanntmachung vom 14. September 1990 (GVBl. S. 397) BayRS 2012-1-1-I (Art. 1?78) - Bürgerservice
PAG: Gesetz über die Aufgaben und Befugnisse der Bayerischen Staatlichen Polizei (Polizeiaufgabengesetz ? PAG) in der Fassung der Bekanntmachung vom 14. September 1990 (GVBl. S. 397) BayRS 2012-1-1-I (Art. 1?78) - Bürgerservice
May 23, 2018, 3:09 am
#51
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Capetown
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Plat, IHG and Hilton Diamond, LH SEN, BA Gold
Posts: 10,167
May 23, 2018, 10:47 am
#53
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Germany
Programs: Some
Posts: 11,520
May 30, 2018, 9:12 am
#54
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 18
Just like Germans, you are supposed to own a passport or whatever equivalent that allowed you to enter the country. However, just like Germans, you are not required to carry it with you (unless you carry a weapon, which is not advisable, or are on a specific job that requires it the ID). https://www.juraforum.de/forum/t/mit...aender.595315/
If, however, there is a suspicion you might have committed a crime (even of lesser kind), the police are allowed to hold you until you have proven your identity and right to be in the country.
Now, with respect to making copies of passports or id papers. This was strictly VERBOTEN until July 2017. Now the law has changed, but there are still strict conditions under which you can copy a passport or ID. Specifically, only the owner is allowed to copy, take a photo, or scan it; the copy needs to be permanently identifiable as a copy, for example, you have a black/white copy of an original that is in color, or you have COPY written on it.
https://www.datenschutzbeauftragter-...eises-erlaubt/
If, however, there is a suspicion you might have committed a crime (even of lesser kind), the police are allowed to hold you until you have proven your identity and right to be in the country.
Now, with respect to making copies of passports or id papers. This was strictly VERBOTEN until July 2017. Now the law has changed, but there are still strict conditions under which you can copy a passport or ID. Specifically, only the owner is allowed to copy, take a photo, or scan it; the copy needs to be permanently identifiable as a copy, for example, you have a black/white copy of an original that is in color, or you have COPY written on it.
https://www.datenschutzbeauftragter-...eises-erlaubt/
May 30, 2018, 10:18 am
#55
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 74
I've been travelling to Germany, two or three times most years, since the age of 13 - so over forty years now!
Being British, I have no national ID card, and I don't drive so have never had a driving license, so in theory I need to carry my passport with me all the time
I don't
I have never been asked for ID, not even when reporting a stolen mobile 'phone, other than showing my passport on arrival & departure, so I don't know what I would have done if I needed it
I have had the misfortune to be in the situation where my wife left two days early, taking my passport with her, and the Germans could not have been more efficient or helpful (no surprises there) at Duesseldorf, in marked contrast to the UK who left me cooling my heels for over an hour while they went through the same checks that their Teutonic colleagues completed in under fifteen minutes
Being British, I have no national ID card, and I don't drive so have never had a driving license, so in theory I need to carry my passport with me all the time
I don't
I have never been asked for ID, not even when reporting a stolen mobile 'phone, other than showing my passport on arrival & departure, so I don't know what I would have done if I needed it
I have had the misfortune to be in the situation where my wife left two days early, taking my passport with her, and the Germans could not have been more efficient or helpful (no surprises there) at Duesseldorf, in marked contrast to the UK who left me cooling my heels for over an hour while they went through the same checks that their Teutonic colleagues completed in under fifteen minutes
May 30, 2018, 6:00 pm
#56
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: NW London and NW Sydney
Programs: BA Diamond, Hilton Bronze, A3 Diamond, IHG *G
Posts: 6,344
I have had the misfortune to be in the situation where my wife left two days early, taking my passport with her, and the Germans could not have been more efficient or helpful (no surprises there) at Duesseldorf, in marked contrast to the UK who left me cooling my heels for over an hour while they went through the same checks that their Teutonic colleagues completed in under fifteen minutes
May 30, 2018, 7:43 pm
#57
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: BOS
Programs: UA MM
Posts: 1,580
Yes. This happened to me last week. BTW the DB phone app is great and you can buy your ticket on the phone and store your ticket (a QR code actually) there. But once out of several trips I was asked to with my Bahn card (which I don't have) or passport for ID. I have heard they don't consider a driver's license from a foreign country to be an ID.
May 31, 2018, 8:13 pm
#58
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: HEL
Programs: lots of shiny metal cards
Posts: 14,105
In a wider context, there are advantages of both having your passport on you at all times and having only a photocopy. The latter is obvious - you are more prone to lose it than in a hotel safe. For the former, there are situations, where you just can't get back to the hotel to fetch it and you need to leave NOW. I had a medevac in Moscow where I learned this. Even though these are rare, they still happen.
Even when not carrying the passport on me, I like to have some ID - I really don't fancy being a John Doe for days on end. The level of ID I'm ready to show/part with depends on who asks. At an office reception, a DL is more than ample to show/exchange for a visitor's pass (a library card would do, too if only they had pics) If someone in authority needs to establish my identity, the DL is enough. Now if they need to establish my nationality, in most case it isn't, an ID usually is. And when immigration comes into the picture, passport is probably the only accepted one, with the proviso that many EU ID cards are valid for travel in quite a few non-EU countries, too.
Even when not carrying the passport on me, I like to have some ID - I really don't fancy being a John Doe for days on end. The level of ID I'm ready to show/part with depends on who asks. At an office reception, a DL is more than ample to show/exchange for a visitor's pass (a library card would do, too if only they had pics) If someone in authority needs to establish my identity, the DL is enough. Now if they need to establish my nationality, in most case it isn't, an ID usually is. And when immigration comes into the picture, passport is probably the only accepted one, with the proviso that many EU ID cards are valid for travel in quite a few non-EU countries, too.