We’ve just had a great week skiing in Les Arcs. Heading to catch the TGV back to Paris this morning, one of our group (not me) can’t find their passport. They had it last night, so gut feel is it got dropped in the restaurant.

We’ve all jumped on the TGV, heading for Paris. The miscreant has applied for a temporary travel document online, but that’s 48 hours turnaround. They have all the travel tickets, plus a photo of their passport on their phone and emails confirming application for the temp travel doc.

What’s the chance of them being able to blag their way onto the booked Eurostar train…?

Any advice from similar situations gratefully received!

Thanks!

Check the weather forecast and look for one of the guys who’ll set them up with a space in a dinghy for the crossing?

Oh that’s a shame. Just stay in France for ever? Travel insurance cover costs?

Doable. Pasportless wife blagged onto a plane back from Amsterdam in 2010 with just a note from the UK embassy.

Ive been through the border with France without a passport, Border Control were content with my driver’s licence and a photograph of my passport.

We we’re coming back on the Calais/Dover Ferry, stopped to show our passports at the booth, somehow, my wife had our nephew’s passport. 10 minutes in the office there explaining the mixup and we were on our way.

Border Control were content with my driver’s licence and a photograph of my passport.

I don’t understand – who has a photograph of their passport? Surely it would set off the same alarm bells that a car driver stopped by a copper sucking a polo mint does?

I’m guessing that you don’t have very dark skin?

I don’t understand – who has a photograph of their passport? Surely it would set off the same alarm bells that a car driver stopped by a copper sucking a polo mint does?

Now I’ve never done it. But it was sugested to me years ago that when traveling you should scan or photograph every key document and then put it online. At the time they said email it to yourself but now you’d use google drive etc.

Say you had everything stolen accept your cloths. How else would you start rebuilding contacts, contacting insurers and prooving who you are

So I think the border staff would understand.

When we travel usually have a scan paper copy and photos of passports on phone. Peace of m8nd have numbers if need them if lost/ stolen.

I don’t understand – who has a photograph of their passport?

Err, me?

When you fill in paperwork you don’t have to take your passport out of your bag. When you lose it you’re able to give the number to the embassy or Border Force.

I don’t understand – who has a photograph of their passport?

Me, had it on Google Photos for years. Quite handy when booking stuff too where it asks for passport details, I don’t have to dig it out or have it with me (e.g. booking stuff when not at home). Means I can access the info from pretty much anywhere with an internet connection.

When you lose it you’re able to give the number to the embassy or Border Force.

Well yeah that makes sense, but only I would have thought for the British consulate to issue temporary travel documents. I had no idea that things were so lax that simply a photograph of your passport was sufficient. Why does anyone carry a passport then?

Edit: Does this mean that a photo of your passport/driving licence/whatever on your phone will be sufficient to vote in this May’s coming local election?

In which case it will make it even easier than trying to find your polling card.

I thought the law was such that they had to let you into the UK as long as you could prove you were British..

I thought the law was such that they had to let you into the UK as long as you could prove you were British..

Not really. If you are one of those foreign looking Brits, such as British national (overseas), you do not have the automatic right of abode in the UK.

I don’t understand – who has a photograph of their passport?

Everyone who travels a lot! Plus photos of driver’s license and insurance docs.

I honestly thought everyone did this.

Well I have never owned a UK passport, would a photograph of non-British passport also work? Or should I take a photograph of someone’s British passport?

I don’t understand – who has a photograph of their passport?

I always carry one on my phone, in case I lose the real thing.

I thought the law was such that they had to let you into the UK as long as you could prove you were British..

The biggest problem is getting on the flight / train to the UK as if it turns out they won’t let you in, the carrier gets fined for letting you board in the first place.

@ernielynch I think you may be misunderstanding. Real passports are needed for passport control. Lots of places use the Biopassport so definitely need the genuine passport to get through. But having the details on your phone helps with completing visa’s, instance details etc. it just means your passport only comes out of your bag at the airport/ferry terminal.
I also copy all of my travel documents to the cloud. Purely as a safety net.

I don’t understand – who has a photograph of their passport?

It used to be part of the official foreign office guidance for travel to certain locations (though a photocopy, because phones didn’t have cameras back then).
It’s also a general recommendation from my current foreign office and company guidance as well.

A British consulate will issue you a temporary passport (buff coloured) for a fee and you can then claim that back on your insurance. Having had our passports stolen in Barcelona I found this out the hard way.
Oh, and for all you wannabe yanks, it’s a driVING licence here in Blighty. 😉

Or should I take a photograph of someone’s British passport?

No, it needs to be your own. It’s an identification document after all.

Is it just me who thinks that this is a bizarre reaction. Somebody in my group has lost their passport in France, what should we do? I know I will go on a cycling forum and see what they say. Having said that it happened to me in France about 35years ago . I think that I went to the police station and was able to get home without a passport. Things may have got a bit tighter since then .

I can’t say for certain but I suspect the OP isn’t relying solely on this forum for customs enforcement advice. There’s people on here with alls sorts of experience, so if you’re desperate and sat waiting around, why not? Bizarre reaction.

For what it’s worth, a colleague was able to board a flight recently having left their passport at home. Their son photo’d and whatsapped it to them at the check in desk. Was only to Belfast but they still require ID whether its a passport or driving license.

Good luck getting your mate home Jon.

So we made it. French border control just wanted rid of them. UK border control wanted absolute proof that the passport was registered as lost/stolen/cancelled, but otherwise very civilised. Took about 10 minutes longer for them to get through. No doubt it helped that they were as white/anglo-saxon as its possible to get, but take the wins where you can.

I don’t understand – who has a photograph of their passport?

Plenty of sites I’ve worked want to see proof of ID in advance of you arriving, so I’ve sent driving license or passport details. Equally – for business flights where a travel co. is doing the booking, they need passport details in advance.

Is it just me who thinks that this is a bizarre reaction. Somebody in my group has lost their passport in France, what should we do? I know I will go on a cycling forum and see what they say

Its become something of a trope that everything that can happen, has happened to someone on here. Even yesterday – there was someone with experience of high power atmospheric lasers for shooting down rogue “weather” balloons. There can’t be too many of them in the world, but one is on STW…

Webb Space Telescope sister-in-law geezer will be on here in a minute to tell us they used Webb to identify the bolts on the side of the balloon sensor package as being military spec. STW for ya!

Glad you got it all sorted.

Mrs B lost her passport on a ski trip a few years back.  We borrowed a car, drove to Marseille, got a temporary passport issued by the consulate there.

End of the week, we’re packing everything up in our room, and voila, she finds her sodding passport.

We’re still married!

Well I have never owned a UK passport

Methinks you are barking up the wrong consulate ernie.

So we made it.

Good work. I was going to suggest adoption of Top Gear rules and leave your mate to fend for themselves 🙂

Good work and some useful tips. I’ll never travel without online backups of documents again. Thanks for sharing.

Last lost passport experience we had the guy who’d lost his passport just curled up in the back of the van and “went to sleep” under a huge pile of jackets.

They never even noticed him, as there were 14 or 15 of us in the van, and we were getting on a ferry at 1 am, in the pouring rain.

Funnily enough, he found his passport when putting his jacket on when we got back to Oxford. The same jacket he’d wrapped himself up in to “go to sleep”.

First holiday with my other half I dropped my passport in a airport loby in Portugal on route to the UK I’ve never been allowed an important document to hold since.

I always photograph everything when going abroad or Mrs pk13 does

I’ve never taken photos of passport and stuff before. No idea why though, seems like a bloody useful thing to do, so I’ll start doing now!

Went to Amsterdam on a coach back in the mid 90’s and a lad lost his passport, only realised when they were asking to check ours on the way home. I had one of those temporary cardboard ones you used to get, so I ripped of the back page off and told him to hold it up as they did the ‘check’ on the coach……and it worked!!

I have a photo of my phone that I keep in my passport.

I don’t understand – who has a photograph of their passport?

Anyone who’s travelled a lot – along with copies (on my email service) of any other document I thought I might need.

We’re still married!

Just not to each other… 🙃

I can see the value of taking photographs of documents I just had no idea that a photo of a passport is acceptable for using to cross hard borders. I thought these sort of issues were strictly applied – in fact even a valid passport could be a problem if the expiry date was considered to be too soon, although obviously not to return to the UK.

I don’t doubt that things might be far more relaxed than I had imagined, although I really struggle to believe that ethnicity doesn’t play a significant part.

I think getting back into your own country with a photo of your passport is generally feasible. Getting into a foreign country, probably not.

I always carry copies of I’d,laminated to look like I’d cards. I swim a lot so leave them on the beach,if nicked no worries just those and coffee money.

Losing I’d in Spain is a real pita.

Thought I’d lost a passport in Italy so headed to Milan and get a temporary one, all good! Applied for new passport at home and literally day new one arrived found old one tucked up in a book I had on me. Fast forward six months and got to Dublin, guy at immigration said this passport has been declared stolen/lost and is invalid. Never have an out of date passport kicking around.