Paris 2024 - passport question

I always leave mine in the room. 20 Plus years and never found a reason to keep it on my person. J

I'm with joanne1108, but do a search and you will find tons of opinions.

Depends what you are doing. If just wandering the neighborhood, going to dinner close, etc. Then I leave it in the room.

If I will be taking Public transport, I usually take it with me. If I am venturing outside of the city, then I always bring it.

For France, a copy will work.

I keep my passport, back up credit/debit cards and spare money in my moneybelt which I wear all day. At night it’s beside my phone in case I need to grab and go, although that’s never happened. As a solo traveler, I don’t have someone watching over me.

I don't want to sidetrack the main discussion, but please clarify
"For France, a copy will work".
Is that in a legal policy somewhere?

Yep, generally the forum is divided in to 2 camps on this. You will not get a consensus.

As I understand it your legal identification and verification for eligibility to be in the country is your passport. I’ve never been asked for it but I work hard to obey the laws of the country I am visiting. I carry my passport with me, also in a money belt.

My thought is also if there is some kind of catastrophe and I need to evacuate to another geographic area I have my passport and credit cards to do just that.

Those of us who traveled in Eastern Europe in the Cold War era were cautioned to always, always, carry our passports and official ID cards. I lost my "legitimatsiya" or Soviet issued ID when in the Soviet Union in 1968, and it made for several unhappy visits to the police.

Carrying the passport is a hard habit to break, although I've pretty much shaken it.

Pam. good point about having to evacuate.

"For France, a copy will work".
Is that in a legal policy somewhere?

I have yet to see any convincing official reference that passport copies are accepted. Copies do not contain the integral document and its entry stamps. Lacking something tangible, people are just guessing that copies are officially accepted. This is the only reference I have concerning the presentation of required ID:

Pour un séjour de maximum 90 jours, l'étranger doit présenter un passeport revêtu d'un visa valide, sauf s'il fait partie des
nationalités dispensées de visa.

https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F31208

Basically, you need to carry your passport. However, I would not, as long as it is relatively nearby, such as in your hotel room. Why do I say this?

I have a friend who works at the US Embassy in Paris. I asked her to inquire about the number of lost/stolen passport replacement requests that the embassy processes per day. The average per day is 30 on slow days, 60 on really busy days. There are hundreds of lost US passports reported every week. If you lose your passport, you are not going anywhere until it is replaced. You do not want to lose your passport.

What happens if you are asked for ID and you do not have your passport with you?

L'étranger qui ne peut pas présenter son document de séjour peut être conduit dans un local de police ou de gendarmerie. Il y sera retenu pour vérification de son droit au séjour.

https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F31208

Basically, you can be held at the station until you can produce identification. I believe that this would only be in an extreme case, but it can be resolved much quicker than if you lose your passport and need to have it replaced.

For those who say they have never been asked for identification by the police, you just have not been in France long enough.

I keep it in the hotel safe or apartment. I have had business at the Embassy and been surrounded by sometimes weeping tourists whose entire trips have been upended by a lost passport. If I will be doing a day trip well out of Paris, then I carry our passports in the money belt under my clothes and I use it also in transit if I am taking public transit to apartment or hotel.

In 65 years of European travel, sometimes for months at a time, I have never been asked for my papers except at the obvious places i.e. Embassy, bank, buying phone sim, or immigration/emigration. If it should happen on the streets I imagine having to fetch it from the apartment would be the least of my problems.

I don’t have an opinion on what anyone else should or shouldn’t do with their passport. There are a myriad of reasons to carry or not carry. I consider it the most critical document over anything else that I could carry including money. Therefore I have been able to conveniently and comfortably carry it concealed on me 100% of the time.

It is true that theoretically in the event of a police request you should present your passport and not a copy.

But legally the police must have a valid reason to check your identity, for example suspecting you of being illegally on French territory or of having committed or being complicit in an offense, theft, or a crime, etc.

In such a case, a copy will not be accepted.

So, comparing the probabilities of being stopped by the police in a context where police officers would not be satisfied with a copy with the probabilities of losing or having your passport stolen, it seems reasonable to leave your passport in your hotel.

I suspect too it depends on who you are. I am an old white woman; if I were a young African man I would make different choices about ID and probably carry the passport in a moneybelt under my clothes. The fact is that police treat people of different ethnicities differently all over the world.

Appreciate all the thoughtful responses

I put it and all my "extra cash" and backup CCs straight into the hotel room safe where it stays until we checkout.

Our passports are scanned and on both our phones, but I DO carry our US driver's licenses with my "daily cash" & primary & backup CCs. I have found our DLs are sufficient for checks of tickets with names, and the scanned passport useful for other stuff.

I have the money belt I wear for the traveling bits as I like not having to worry about losing things or theft, but like others mention, as an older white guy I don't really worry too much about confrontations in Western Europe where having the passport handy is essential. Farther abroad in less "friendly" countries - even somewhere like Turkey or Morocco - I am more likely to keep it on my person (cash, CCs, and passport).

I also offer the caveat of "your hotel option may determine your level of confidence in having your belongings secure when you are not there." Also, NO hotel safe is "safe". Any real thief could either use the security override codes/keys to get in or just rip it out altogether and take it somewhere to break into. A honest or crooked hotel manager will have the ability to get into your safe.

...your legal identification and verification for eligibility to be in the country is your passport...obey the laws of the country I am visiting... if there is some kind of catastrophe and I need to evacuate...I have my passport and credit cards...

Agree with Pam's above thoughts. I don't understand why it is so difficult to follow the rules and laws of a host country about such a minor thing. With regard to catastrophes, we've be in a location that had an earthquake, and have a couple of demonstration break out very close to us. And while it hasn't happened to us, hotels do have fires, and, as someone pointed out, hotel safe is an oxymoron.

P.S. See the post by carolclements37167 about incident at a B&B.

Not just in France, but in any country, how do you carry your passport when visiting a beach to swim or a spa for a thermal soak or the Rick Steve's float down the Swiss river? Logistically and statistically, I gotta think those are no go's for someone carrying their passport 24/7.

Tom, There are many, many small waterproof bags that will hold passports, phones, wallets, and such. After many years canoing whitewater rivers (upside down at times) I can say that the good ones do work.

@TC - absolutely there are waterproof options out there. I just haven't noticed folks at the beach or pools or spas with their passports on any sort of display in such a way. I personally would be far more worried about swimming in the Mediterranean with my passport in hand than I ever would be about keeping it in the hotel safe - out of my immediate custody, but also unlikely to be lost, ruined, or even stolen.
My ignorance and/or lack of observation, though, doesn't mean many folks aren't, in fact, carrying their passports in all sorts of situations I would never.

As the PharmaPhil said, there are two opinions on this ... Your Choice and No

Seems the arguments for and against are all valid. I usually just take my Passport Card and leave the book in a safe.

But, scanning some threads about Rome --- To combat scalping and bots, I think many of the heavily visited tourist sites are going to start checking ID's and comparing to the names and information used to purchase on-line tickets.

No match, no entry. A passport might be the only valid id for the match game. If it works in Rome, why not Paris?

If I'm going to be using Museum Passes, on-line ticketing, and Rail/Bus passes -- I will carry my book.

Depends on if complying with law is more or less important than what you feel most comfortable doing.