ACCESS TO TRAVEL DOCUMENTS Author: Henri de Waele Document Identifier D7.6 Report: ‘Case study (IV): Obstacles that citizens face in gaining access to travel documents’ Version 1.0 Date Due 31.05.2016 (M37) Submission date 31.05.2016 WorkPackage 7 Civil Rights Lead Beneficiary 2 UA Dissemination Level PU Change log version Date amended by Changes 1.0 31.05.2016 Henri de Waele Final document delivered Partners involved number partner name People involved 1 UU Pauline Phoa, Tom Binder & Max van Drunen 2 UA Henri de Waele 7 UCPH Silvia Adamo 12 CEU Mihály Egon Budai 15 UNITN Elisabetta Pulice & Elena Ioriatii 2 Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................ 4 II. TYPOLOGY AND FORMAT OF TRAVEL DOCUMENTS IN GENERAL USAGE ................................................... 8 III. ACQUISITION, RENEWAL AND LOSS ......................................................................................................... 12 IV. INCLUSION OF BIOMETRIC DATA AND ITS EFFECTS ................................................................................. 21 V. ACTUAL OR POTENTIAL OBSTACLES FOR EU CITIZENS ............................................................................. 31 VI. ACTUAL OR POTENTIAL OBSTACLES FOR TCN FAMILY MEMBERS ........................................................... 40 VII. ANY OTHER OBSTABLES .......................................................................................................................... 43 VIII. CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................................... 45 ANNEX 1: REPORT ON BELGIUM ................................................................................................................... 49 ANNEX 2: REPORT ON DENMARK ............................................................................................................... 116 ANNEX 3: REPORT ON THE NETHERLANDS ................................................................................................. 156 ANNEX 4: REPORT ON ITALY ....................................................................................................................... 209 ANNEX 5: REPORT ON HUNGARY ................................................................................................................ 268 3 I. INTRODUCTION 1. Context of the present report The objective of Work Package 7 (WP7) is to study, from the perspective of European Union citizenship, specific problems individuals face in exercising their civil rights and liberties in areas which fall within, but also in areas that lie beyond the scope of EU law. After the prior identification and critical assessment of the nature and scope of the civil rights that citizens are entitled to (task and deliverable 7.1), the modes of transposition and the mechanisms available at EU level and national levels for granting and enforcing civil rights were explored, with a view to identifying institutional, legal, procedural and practical barriers that EU citizens and third-country nationals face in gaining access to justice (task and deliverable 7.2). The ultimate objective of WP7 is to analyse possible limitations and restrictions of different natures that undermine the effective exercise of these rights, on the basis of four in- depth case studies. The case studies to be undertaken within the Work Package relate to i) an exploration of the obstacles that citizens face in trying to enjoy their core citizenship rights (task 7.3), (ii) an exploration of the difficulties faced by EU citizens when trying to enjoy the freedom of expression in the context of media law and policies (task 7.4), (iii) a study of obstacles that (mobile) EU citizens and their families face in dealing with life events (task 7.5), and iv) a study on obstacles that (mobile) EU citizens and their families face in gaining access to travel documents (task 7.6). It was decided in July 2015 at the bEUcitizen WP meetings in Zagreb that the partner institutions participating in task 7.6 would be UA, UU, CEU, UCPH and UNITN (replacing the earlier designated UNIOVI). Consequently, country reports were to be produced on, respectively, Belgium, the Netherlands, Hungary, Denmark and Italy. In keeping with the approach adopted in the WP thus far, the task leader (UA) drafted the following questionnaire for the purpose of drawing up country reports, a first draft of which was disseminated in June 2015 and the final version in August 2015. The current general report draws together the threads from the individual country reports that were compiled at the end of 2015. While its main aim, in line with the WP objective, is to identify possible barriers, the conclusions also contain some (policy) recommendations and suggestions for lowering or eliminating these. 2. Access to travel documents: general remarks and theoretical framework The focus in task 7.6 lies on (barriers to) the acquisition of travel documents in selected EU Member States. In ordinary usage, a travel document is considered to be an identity document issued by a government or international organization that aims to facilitate the movement of individuals or small groups of persons across 4 international boundaries. Usually, travel documents assure other governments that the bearer may return to the issuing country. They are often issued in booklet form, so as to allow other governments to place visas as well as entry and exit stamps into them. National identity cards are nowadays generally issued in a ‘bank card’ format. The most common travel document is a passport. Passports are travel documents that also serve as proof of nationality from the issuing country. Although generally accepted by the majority of countries in the world, some issuing countries expressly exclude the validity of passports from nations not recognised by their governments.1 Passports usually gives the bearer more privileges, like visa-free access to certain countries. The term ‘travel document’ however is sometimes used only for those documents which do not bear proof of nationality, such as a refugee travel document.2 Conversely, driver’s licenses are usually not considered to be travel documents properly so-called, since they carry no information on the bearer’s nationality. A related practice that has been established across the world involves the issuing of so-called laissez-passer documents. A laissez-passer is often for one-way travel to the issuing country for humanitarian reasons only, such as restoring family links. Some national governments issue laissez-passer documents to their own nationals as emergency passports; others issue them to people who are stateless, or who are unable to obtain a passport from their own government, or whose government is not recognized by the issuing country. Alongside passports (either the standard or emergency type), identity cards constitute the second main category of travel documents that have entered in common usage nowadays. Though primarily intended as a means of identification within a country, in several cases they may also be used (and suffice) for realising cross- border movement. In the European Union, both passports and identity cards are to conform to a standard format, prescribed in Regulation 2252/2004.3 Passports and identity cards remain crucial documents for EU citizens to have in their possession, in order to gain access to territory (including that of their own Member State) and enjoy their free movement rights.4 At 1 John Torpey, The Invention of the Passport. Surveillance, Citizenship and the State (Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp. 159-160. 2 In parts of EU secondary law, passports and travel documents have been juxtaposed as well (e.g. Regulation 2252/2004), but if that distinction were to be followed here, the attention would remain restricted to a marginal residual category, and the task were to become largely devoid of purpose. 3 Council Regulation (EC) No. 2252/2004 of 13 December 2004 on standards for security features and biometrics in passports and travel documents issued by Member States (O.J. 2004 L 385/1), as amended by Regulation (EC) No. 444/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009 (O.J. 2009 L 142/1, and corrigendum in O.J. 2009 L 188/127). 4 The broader background, with particular attention to entrance and naturalisation issues, has been addressed by WP10 of the bEUcitizen consortium; see in particular Report D.10.1, ‘Rights and Obligations of Citizens and Non-Citizens in Selected Countries’. 5 the same time, admittedly the importance of both types of documents has diminished since the creation of the Schengen zone. Strictly speaking, it is currently no longer necessary for an EU, European Economic Area or Swiss citizen to possess a valid travel document in order to gain access to territory and enjoy their free movement/circulation rights. In theory, if an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen is able to prove his/her nationality by any other means (e.g. by presenting to border officials either an expired national identity card or passport, a citizenship certificate, or a valid or expired driver’s license), he/she must be permitted to enter and reside in the EU, EEA or Switzerland without a visa or any other additional documentation requirement being imposed. An EU citizen who is unable to satisfactorily demonstrate his/her nationality, must nonetheless be given every reasonable