ID card not enough to travel to EU countries

Posted by nemo on July 31, 2007, 11:32 am in life

Since Hungary joined the EU, it is enough to show your ID card (in Hungarian: személyazonossági igazolvány) at the country borders to travel to other EU countries. How you can have an ID card? Obviously by being a Hungarian citizen, but also by having a settlement permit, which is more likely to be your case as an expat here. Having one of the permits myself, I thought to get across the Danube to the closest neighbouring EU country, Slovakia, with my ID card. Getting out of HU and getting in SK went perfectly well. As said, the ID card was good enough. Getting back home in HU was different though.

When getting back and showing the ID card, the frontier policeman gazed at it and finally said: "This card is not enough. May I see your passport?" So here is the magic formula: a Hungarian ID card is good enough to get out of the country, but not good enough to get in. It is OK TO LEAVE but NOT OK to get back to Hungary with a Hungarian ID card.

Fortunately I foresaw a possible \'intercourse\' with the shitheads of the Hungarian frontier police, based on previous experience. I had my passport with me. But here is the warning:

If you have a Hungarian ID card, but not a Hungarian citizen, get your passport with you always. You never know in which shift works the shithead guy.

Comments:

BOARDER CROSSING, ONE FOR THE GOOD GUY'S!

I must tell a different tale regarding passing into Slovakia. (to be fair it was not the same crossing where Attila passed through). Two weeks ago this past Sunday My Hungarian Lady and I decided to see the sights in Esztergom. (She is a Hungarian Citizen and I am a duel citizen, both Hungarian and USA).

After a nice lunch and castle visit in the city of Esztergom on the Hungarian side, we decided to cross the beautiful boarder bridge for a beer in Slovakia. After crossing on foot to the Slovakian side, we showed our Hungarian identity cards to the Slovakian boarder guard who smiled and greeted us in Hungarian before letting us pass with just a glance at the cards.

On the Slovakian side of the river we paid an hour’s visit by ordering a nice cold (and I do mean ice cold) beer in a local restaurant. We didn’t eat but the food looked absolutely delicious, and the wait staff who spoke either Hungarian or English, were just delightful and friendly.

Coming back into Hungary the experience was just as seamless as when we left, with smiles from the Hungarian customs guard and just a glance at our identity cards (but a few smiling grins for my beautiful Hajnalka).

So my conclusion is that if your Hungarian identity card doesn’t show you are a Hungarian citizen, you could be in for some harassment especially if you get one of the shithead custom agents. The EU as well as the Hungarian law now says you can pass with a Hungarian identity card and it doesn’t stipulate you must show citizenship. But to be on the safe side, as Nemo advises, by all means carry your passport just in case.