[14000rpm]

Ever since I moved to Finland in 2012, I have been traveling extensively all over Europe within the Schengen region for work and pleasure. Flying within Schengen doesn't require immigration check which eases commute between member countries. Due to some reason, mostly including overconfidence and a generous dash of stupidity, I used to travel without passport on several trips over several years. My typical work travel has always been 2-3 days every week within Shengen for which I always travelled with Cabin baggage only. Hence, online check-in or Kiosk check-in at Airport sufficed and I had no need to see an agent and show my passport.

However, this bad habit of mine almost got me detained.

Circa 2015.
I made my usual Helsinki- Venice- Zurich- Helsinki travel plan. Took my Helsinki to Venice flight as usual. Finished my meetings in Trieste, close to Venice, and I tried online check-in on the Lufthansa app. It just refused to work. No reasons given. Hasn't happened before. Gave it the benefit of doubt in it being a backend server issue and drove on to Venice airport. I had a convertible for rent and I enjoyed my drive.
What could possibly go wrong.

At the airport, I merrily walked over to the Kiosk to see, surprisingly, all of them being shut down. This was weird. 1st the app, now the Kiosk. The only other place to check-in now was at the desk. I dreaded this since their first ask always is the Passport which, as we have established, I didn't have. Tried my luck showing them scanned copies on laptop knowing pretty well that they don't care about it. Sure enough they didn't. I was now refused boarding.

This had never happened before. Ever.

When I look around, I realized that it was not just with Lufthansa. Every other airline had shut down the Kiosks and forced the traveler's to go to the desk.

Something was happening. Something Major.

On analyzing the situation, I realized it was the time when Syrian refugees were starting to pour into Europe and Italy was a significant entry point. The all-airline clampdown on online check-in was mandated by the Airport authorities to check every person trying to get into Europe via Venice after somehow entering Italy. I wasn't one of them but without a passport, I was just a random person who could've been suspect of being a Syrian Refugee.

I had to find my way out of Venice somehow. Booked a train from Venice to Zurich via Milan. At this time, I wasn't even sure if I could somehow get away with it but I had to try.
Boarded the train without a hassle. Thought I had found my solution to leave Italy and slept on the short train ride but soon, the train stopped in Milan and would not continue.
why? God knows. They said something in Italian of which I understand zero. All I figured out was that the train would continue next morning and that the train company had arranged hotel rooms. Fair enough but then, anxiety ensured I barely slept.

Reached the train station next morning and boarded at the scheduled time with the hope that my 'Getaway' would be smooth although I still suspected trouble at the Italy/Switzerland border. I quickly reached out to my HR in Germany and explained my predicament. It was early in the morning but he offered to go to the office and make an official letter stating my name, passport number etc.

We both were fully aware that this wouldn't fly but this is the best we could think of while we waited for the Embassy to open.

Soon enough we reached the Italy/Switzerland border and as expected, the train stopped at a station. Swiss border police boarded the train and started to check for ID's of all passengers. At that time, barring a Finnish DL, Residence Permit and a scanned copy of passport in laptop, I had nothing else to prove my identity.

The police started checking Row by Row from the rear and would soon reach the middle of the train where I was seated.

My HR was still driving to the office. He was close by but not there yet. To help him save time, I typed out a draft note and sent it to him and asked him to officiate the same on a letter head etc. The company I worked for those days had very good relationship with the Indian Embassy and I was hoping my HR was able to leverage it. However, given that he was still to make the letter and all that fun stuff, I took it on me to make some calls and had somebody reach the Indian Embassy. I then learnt that the Embassy can only help after I would be 'potentially Detained' and not to avoid it happening which I was hoping for. Nevertheless they were on a hotline.

In the meantime, the cops are closing in and are 3 rows behind me. Just then, in what I thought was nick of time, the letter from my HR lands in my inbox and I was practicing my alibi in the hope of convincing the cops that I was not a refugee.

Cops reach the row behind me. Thus far nobody was taken off the train but that changed with a few seconds. The guy behind me was one of them. He didn't have any papers. There was a huge communication failure due to language and they chose to take him off the train to question him with somebody who perhaps knew his language.

Anxiety started to build but I had no choices. Had to stay seated. I saw the cops dig through his bags while another made a few phone calls to locate somebody who spoke the language and so on. In the meantime, God knows what happened or who gave the green light, the train started to move without the cops.

This was my Baal-Baal-Bachgaye moment.

While I was thrilled that my 'Getaway' was successful without any alibi and supporting actors, I was still nervous knowing I was only going till Zurich and not Helsinki. The only victory was escaping Italy.

Soon enough I reached the train station in Zurich and hurriedly made my way to the airport, searching for check-in Kiosks. Fortunately they were all functional !
I immediately checked-in for my Zurich-Helsinki flight that was scheduled for later that evening.
Phew. Now I could finally relax.

Upon reaching home, I felt fully relieved grateful that what could have been a nightmare involving being detained by Swiss cops and a rescue by the Embassy, didn't happen.

what a way to learn a crucial lesson - when you are not in your native land, Passport is your only Identity. Absolutely nothing else matters.

''In Passport we trust: The Ultimate travel mantra''

After that incident, my passport has found a permanent place in my laptop bag. When on a flight, I keep my passport in my pocket all the time.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Mystic]

I am glad that you started this thread so that I can narrate my story which happened about 25 years back. In those days, immigration was not sophisticated with technology.

One day in India, I went to office and my boss told me that I need to go to Jakarta immediately and spend few hours as SME to answer some questions by client in an important deal that we are closing. I flew to Bombay and got the VISA from Indonesian embassy and I am on my way to Jakarta via Singapore on the same day.

I landed in Jakarta and went through the customs and the officer asked me on how much cash I have on me. I casually told him that I have 200 USD and am intending to stay for only 1 day along with other usual corporate AMEX credit card etc. He said that I donot have enough money to stay and put a deported stamp on my passport. I was escorted back in the same plane to Singapore by police with machine guns.

I landed in Singapore and called my company on what mistake I had done so that other consultants donot face the issue. It looks like the HR should have given me atleast USD 2000 in cash as it is a 3 month visa and the officer is not convinced that I can survive in their country with 200 USD cash.

I was booked again and asked to go back to Jakarta with enough cash ( it looks like the same plane goes back and forth many times in a day like a shuttle). I was reluctant because I am not sure what might happen again. This time every thing went smooth with a stamp put on deported seal in passport saying cancelled. I completed my work and came back to India.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by 14000rpm

Cops reach the row behind me. Thus far nobody was taken off the train but that changed with a few seconds. The guy behind me was one of them. He didn't have any papers.

This sounds like a super tense scene from an action movie.

If they had caught you....

[anjan_c2007]

I did the journey from Frankfurt to Paris by train hasslefree. After lots of sightseeing in Paris, I decided to return by a night bus. Soon after boarding and crossing Chessy, France, 32 kilometres east of Paris where the Disneyland of Paris is located, I went into a deep sleep.The runway like road and supercomfort offered by the MAN bus were sleep inducers and were intoxicating. But the bus was made to halt at the France-Germany border. I woke up. It was almost pitch dark outside. Soon German Polizie entered the bus with powerful torches. They just cursorily checked other passengers faces with the torches, but I was instantly spotted with Asian features. The torch light was focussed at my face. They demanded my passport. I had it with the Schengen visa affixed but it was in my airbag. After checking it appeared that they were satisfied and they moved to the other rows checking those who looked like possible targets for the Polizei. Those with Caucasian features were perhaps exempted from critical checks. But none were detained as all had valid papers presumably.

[shankar.balan]

Interesting thread.
Perhaps out there there will always be a bit of ‘hidden’ racial profiling. Ive been asked to step aside for frisking many a time especially in the US but I never have a problem with it. I am brown and tall and large with black hair and hence can be a target for racial profiling.

But then, there is another experience.
My wife was based in the US for a time.
So I used to travel and spend months there. And of course once in, one tends to just live as normal.

One time, flying American Airlines from Atlanta to Orlando to visit Disneyland and attend a Conference too, I had forgotten to carry my passport from home in Duluth which was about 50miles from the Airport. Of course when I realised what had happened, I informed the officer of my oversight and showed him the e-scanned copy of the passport and visa and all of that from my phone and a larger scan from my iPad. He let me through while wagging a finger at me telling me not to forget next time. Encouraged by this, I did exactly the same thing on the way back from Orlando to Atlanta by going to the officer and explaining and then being waved through.
I guess it’s the luck of the draw at times.

But since then, whenever I travel, my Passport is always firmly ensconced on my person.

[Samurai]

I suppose I lived in a different era in USA. Between 1993-2004, I never carried my passport on me unless I was flying out of the country. All those driving/flying trips around USA, my Indian passport with visa stayed firmly at home.

This was before ICE or homeland security existed. The good old INS days. The cops never asked for passport, the US driving license was good enough for everything.

[Iyencar]

Turning out to be a fun thread! Have a small anecdote of my own. Been a while so details are really fuzzy. Around 2017 or so I was staying and visiting my wife on a Shenzen visa which had a nice long validity for around 3 months or more if I remember correct. Stayed for a few months and then booked a flight to Mumbai via Dusseldorf. Reached with some time to spare, said our emotional goodbyes and went on to immigration. The officer took one look at my visa and pulled me over. Someone escorted me to a room somewhere inside where there were two more officers. I had no clue what was happening. My visa, passport and tickets were all valid, or were they? Turns out, the duration of the visa was valid but there was a fine print I missed which stated I could only be in the country for an x number of days at a stretch which we were completely unaware of. I explained this to the officers. They checked my passport and realised I had made frequent trips and wasn’t trying to illegally immigrate. Made me write some letter and let me off. In all this I already called my wife and told her to wait. You know in case I was going to German prison or something (what an idiot I was). Anyways all this took a while, my flight started boarding and I made the run of my life to make it on time. Thankfully I was still allowed to continue to visit DE.

Originally Posted by 14000rpm

I quickly reached out to my HR in Germany and explained my predicament. It was early in the morning but he offered to go to the office and make an official letter stating my name, passport number etc…Just then, in what I thought was nick of time, the letter from my HR lands in my inbox and I was practicing my alibi in the hope of convincing the cops that I was not a refugee.

To be honest, this was the part that made my eyes pop. You got a German guy on the phone BEFORE working hours and convinced him to do your work! Legend.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

But then, there is another experience. I had forgotten to carry my passport from home in Duluth which was about 50miles from the Airport.

Never thought I would see Duluth here. Patel Bros zindabad!

Originally Posted by Samurai

I suppose I lived in a different era in USA. Between 1993-2004, I never carried my passport on me unless I was flying out of the country. All those driving/flying trips around USA, my Indian passport with visa stayed firmly at home.

This was before ICE or homeland security existed. The good old INS days. The cops never asked for passport, the US driving license was good enough for everything.

This hasn’t changed. Even around 2011-15 all our internal trips were done with only a US DL. The PITA for us was getting in and leaving the damn country.

[hrman]

Originally Posted by 14000rpm

Attachment 2573306

Ever since I moved to Finland in 2012,
''In Passport we trust: The Ultimate travel mantra''

After that incident, my passport has found a permanent place in my laptop bag. When on a flight, I keep my passport in my pocket all the time.

You sir, should seriously consider writing thriller novels. The outcome was keeping the passport at all times, which was known. But the way you narrated this was nothing short of a Netflix Thriller. Thanks for sharing, made my day with the desired ending!

[Mystic]

Originally Posted by Mystic

I am glad that you started this thread so that I can narrate my story which happened about 25 years back.

Let me rewind another 25 years to make it 50 years and tell you of another incident in 1970s:

In those days my passport was issued by Indian embassy in Nigeria after I became a major and it was completely hand written and the size of the passport used to be almost double what we have now. They used to write that I can travel to all countries in the world except a couple of countries listed ( I donot remember the geo politics in those days for the reason ). Prior to my own passport issued, I used to fly on my mother’s passport with my photograph pasted on her passport.

In those days my father went on deputation by Indian Government to another common wealth but a rich OPEC country Nigeria ( 1 Naira was equivalent to 2 USD).

We are a family of 6 members used to fly to India once in a year officially from Lagos to Bombay via some European city as there were no direct flights. In one of our routine annual visits, our plane was forced to land in an airport due to some war. We later came to know after we landed it was Beirut. Later, the airport was sealed for any take offs and landings. We were stuck in the airport for a week. I was a kid of around 10 years with 3 of my sisters. As we were strict vegetarians, my father had a hard time in sourcing food for us with whatever was available in the airport. Finally one day, our plane was allowed to take off to London and we eventually came safe to Bombay.

[SidTheChamp]

Originally Posted by 14000rpm

When I look around, I realized that it was not just with Lufthansa. Every other airline had shut down the Kiosks and forced the traveler's to go to the desk.

Something was happening. Something Major.

Gone are the old relaxing days of less scrutiny in flights. Refugees continue to pour in and there are other threats of smuggling, trafficking etc. The world is turbulent, and relaxed flights in foreign land are probably a thing of the past.

Cops reach the row behind me. Thus far nobody was taken off the train but that changed with a few seconds. The guy behind me was one of them. He didn't have any papers. There was a huge communication failure due to language and they chose to take him off the train to question him with somebody who perhaps knew his language.

You had a close shave. Had they reached you, they might have just released you. But in all probability you would have been detained and only after intervention from Embassy would be released. Because a refugee can also produce a letter(forged) in his device, authorities won’t buy it without background checks.

After that incident, my passport has found a permanent place in my laptop bag. When on a flight, I keep my passport in my pocket all the time.

Obviously after this experience, better be safe than sorry

[sid18]

My experience in Europe was straight out of Nat Geo series: Airport Security

It was late 2019 and we (me and my wife) wanted to do a backpacking trip to Europe. Plan was Blr -> Rome -> Venice -> Athens -> Istanbul - Blr. We were aware of the baggage delays and decided to carry only minimal clothing to last for 10 days that could fit in the cabin luggage.

We were a couple in our early 30's with minimal baggage with us and were on a 10 days trip across Europe; little did we know this fits the perfect profile for narcotic traffickers

We were stopped twice in Athens and Istanbul and they took our Backpack to run it through a Narcotic swab test. They would use a swab drenched in some chemical, run it all over our backpack and insert it in a machine that would detect any Narcotic residue found on it! Though we knew that nothing would come out, it was really nerve wracking to go through this in a foreign country with non-English speaking population, 1000s of kilometers away from your home.

[AudiFan]

Hi, this is a very interesting thread, and I hereby request to clarify a simple doubt of mine.
I hold Indian passport and had obtained a Schengen Visa from Spain Embassy to tour Spain and Portugal for 15 days with my wife during March 2023. My visa is valid up to March 2025 with 90 days of stay permitted.
I have now booked another 20 nights travel package with Trafalgar Tours to visit East Europe, my port of entry shall be Vienna, Austria through Frankfurt and exit is from Salzburg transiting through Frankfurt again.
Please tell me whether the same schengen visa issued by Spain is good enough for my proposed travel? I will not be entering Spain during this visit to Austria.
Thanks in advance.

[M@y@vi]

This thread reminds me that I am not alone. Though once and not a serious one, I still have some memories. I was travelling from Vienna to Nurnberg on a Flixbus. The Austrian border police stopped the bus and were doing a thorough check.

My passport was in my bag which was safely dumped in the luggage compartment below the bus. One of the passengers got into a scuffle with the police which raised the overall panic situation. The police were in no mood to leave him or anyone else without providing everything they asked for.

The police came and asked for my passport, I showed them the soft copy on my phone, and they wanted the original. Neither they would accept it, nor they allow me to step out of the vehicle. Language was a barrier. Later, a lady came to my rescue and convinced one of the cops to take me outside to check the passport. The cop puts one of his hands on my shoulder ensuring I won’t run away. I calmly got my bag with help from the driver. The cop was now all smiles and wished me a safe journey. Cop hand on my shoulder was for sure an insulting moment.

[Mance Rayder]

Great thread!
I've an anecdote to share from last year. I was scheduled to participate in a pitching competition at Carnegie Mellon University. This was my second domestic trip by air in the US. I showed up at Newark airport and during the security line, I realised I didn't pack the only valid US ID that I possessed, my passport!

I was too timid to create a scene and break off the queue, so I quietly but nervously kept progressing towards the checking officer. At my turn, he asked for my ID and I sheepishly presented my India DL (proud HR19 ). For a moment, even the officer became gullible, the poor fellow repeatedly scanned it in his scanner only to look at it carefully after it failed repeatedly 4-5 times. Then with a bitter taste, he asked "What sort of ID is this sir?" (For those of you who don't know, when someone calls you sir in the US, it tacitly means you made some serious blunder). Then I explained my predicament to him. I offered to show him a soft copy of my passport, of course, that didn't fly with him. But he was kind (and so is the protocol at US airports I believe). So he pulled me out of line, and referred me to his supervisor, she thoroughly frisked me, checked all of my luggage carefully and then allowed me to board, to my utter surprise. I flew within the US without any valid ID last year!
A similar sequence unravelled in my journey back from Pittsburg to New York.

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