Can I travel to the rest of the EU with only my Austrian Residence Permit?
- Keith Davies
- Jul 26, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Feb 10, 2024
This is a question that gets asked frequently, especially during holiday season.
Question
Can I travel to the rest of the EU without my passport and just an Austrian Residence Permit?
Answer
An Austrian Residence Permit is not an officially recognised EU travel document and must ALWAYS be accompanied with a valid passport. In addition non-Schengen countries (e.g. Ireland, Cyprus) may have additional restrictions (e.g. visa requirements for some Third Country Nationals).
Please note that according to EU rules the passport must be valid for at least 3 months after the date you intend to leave the EU country you are visiting and was issued within the previous 10 years (Source: Europe Direct Contact Centre).
It is true, that in most cases there are no border controls between Schengen countries; however that does not stop them carrying out police checks and also there are temporary border controls in place at some Schengen borders (see link). Austria regularly has checks at the borders (e.g Slovakia, Czechia, Slovenia, Hungary). Germany also regularly carries out spot checks on Austrian trains.
You might get away with it crossing some Schengen borders, but if stopped you could have issues and may get forced to return to Austria (or worse, deported).
In addition when checking in to a hotel, campsite etc. you will be asked for the passports of all members of your group.
Note: A Residence Permit used for Third Country Nationals is different to an EU National ID (e.g. Personalausweis) which is available for Austrian and other EU Nationals.
Other Potential Options
If your passport is away because you need a Visa for another country; some Visa processing centres offer "Added Value Services" which might be worth exploring. In addition, you may be able to contact your Embassy for an Emergency Travel Document. Both of these options, will come with an associated cost.
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