Perhaps another unique question from me… I’m a Canadian citizen who arrived in the UK on May 28th. I have dual citizenship and am here on a UK passport. I’m going to travel through Europe on Eurail for a month.
Problem is that Eurail says the passes are for non-EU citizens only, which I AM (Canadian), but I’ll be using a British passport.
Eurail also clarifies “You are considered to be a resident of a country if you have been living in this country for longer than 6 months on the first day on which you use the Eurail Pass.” I haven’t been in the UK this long. My passport was only issued about a month ago.
As for Canadian documents, I have my Canadian citizenship card (but with my baby picture on it), my Canadian driver’s license, my Canadian Health Card and my Canadian student card.
Can anyone speak to my situation? Should I expect problems?
i cant speak to this specific situation, but do you have an apartment in canada still? maybe something like a hydro or internet bill corresponding to the appropriate dates in conjunction with a copy of your lease could be of some help. getting them over there might be a pain, but its a thought…
Eurotrip Developer
thanks for the reply swill, only problem is i leave for amsterdam in only a few hours! im hoping with those IDs i’ll be able to convince them that i live in canada and not in the UK!!
Good luck — the conductor sometimes asks to see your passport with your Eurail pass. I’d just try to avoid showing a passport. If you get questioned, try to explain the situation if there’s a problem and show your other documents.
I could be wrong, but I always thought that Eurail excluded European residents ...not European citizens. For example, a Canadian that’s a legal resident of any European country (not just EU, nor just participating Eurail countries) plus some countries near Europe like Morocco, is not eligible for Eurail, but is eligible for Interrail. Perhaps the reverse is also true…a citizen of a European country living in Canada is eligible for Eurail. Hence, you can buy Eurail passes in Canada, but not in Britain. Likewise, you can buy Interrail in Britain, but not in Canada.
Stueythompson,
Why aren’t you traveling wtih your Canadian passport? When you return to Canada, won’t you have to stand at the non-Canadian citizen line at passport control? I guess that’s not much of a hassle, but most dual nationals travel with the passport of the country they live in, unless they decide to bring both passports with them (or unless the passport of your residency nation doesn’t allow extensive visa-free travel like a Canadian, American, or UK passport does).
Hi there, I know its a bit late but I was just wondering how everything worked out for you traveling with your citizenship card and all. My husband is about to do the same thing potentially, he had to hand in his canadian passport in Paris (which is where we are right now) to apply for a Indian visa, and while waiting for the visa to get approved we want to do some traveling around Europe, however he would only have his Candian citzenship card, his drivers licence and a bank statement proving his address. I tried to call the Canadian embassy but they seem unable to pick up their phone. Do you think that he would be able to travel around Europe with just those documents? Did that work for you? He also has a photocopie of his passport that has been stamped by Visa services India to say that they have his orignal passport. How often did you get asked to show your passport when traveling by train through Europe?
I hope that everything worked out for you
SeeTheWorld,
Which countries are you and your spouse planning on visiting?
Travel within the Schengen group of countries is passport-free. As of September 2008, the following countries have signed the Schengen Agreement and are fully implementing it:
Andorra
Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Malta
Monaco
Norway
Poland
Portugal
San Marino
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Britain and Ireland are not in the Schengen zone; they maintain passport control for travelers arriving from Schengen states.
Switzerland and Lichtenstein have signed the Schengen Agreement but have not yet implemented it. They are expected to do so sometime in late 2008 or early 2009. Cyprus has signed the agreement and is expected to implement it sometime in 2009. Romania and Bulgaria have signed the agreement, and are expected to implement it by 2011.
Hey, yes everything worked out fine for me!
I got my Eurail pass stamped in Amsterdam. They looked at my passport but didn’t give my citizenship a second glance. I had my Canadian citizenship card with me just in case, but I didn’t need it.
Also, the reason why I didn’t travel with my Canadian passport is that it EXPIRED a while ago, and since I wanted to work in the UK I applied for that instead.
Good to hear that your EXPIRED Canadian passport created no problems for your Eurail adventure.