Unlike a widespread idea, you don’t necessarily need a passport to travel abroad. To enter some countries, a simple French identity card is enough!
Managing administrative procedures is not a part of pleasure, especially when it comes to asking or renewing identity documents, including a passport. Result: many do it at the last minute … and find themselves blocked just before departure on a trip. Since the reopening of the borders after the world pandemic in 2022, deadlines have extended considerably.
Taken by storm, the municipal services face a continuous wave of requests: it is that the French want to catch up with lost time. And that will not go by arranging as the summer vacation approaches. Except that today, it takes about fifty days to get an appointment, then about thirty days to obtain a new passport. In other words, it is better to do it at least two and a half months in advance … when everything is going well.
Fortunately, for the French in search of a change of scenery, it is possible to go to several countries without passport, only with a national identity card (CNI). This is particularly the case of the 27 member countries of the European Union – from Spain to Greece via Germany and Sweden -, but also from the countries of the Schengen space which are not part of the EU, such as Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
But, outside the European Union and the Schengen space, several countries also authorize the entry of the French with an identity card. This is the case of Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Monaco, Montenegro and Serbia. Please note, Great Britain is not part of it. And in addition to needing a passport, you will have to pay an electronic travel authorization (ETA) to be able to get there from April 2. For the Anglo-Norman Islands (Jersey and Guernsey), the identity card remains valid until September 2025.
If the majority of destinations accessible with a simple identity card are found in Europe, there are however some exceptions outside the continent: Turkey and Egypt (under conditions). For the latter, the national identity card must have a minimum validity of six months after the return date in France. You must also take with you two identity photos to obtain the visa on arrival.
For those who wish to go far for more change of scenery, French overseas territories are an excellent destination (Guyana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Mayotte, Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthélemy…). Be careful however, some compulsory stops require having a passport. This is for example the case with French Polynesia and New Caledonia, which impose a stopover in the United States and Japan.
In any case, before leaving, remember to check the conditions of entry to embassies or France diplomacy. Some countries may change their access rules and require additional documents such as visas or residence evidence. Remember to take your identity card in physical version, because there is little chance that the CNI on smartphone works abroad. Finally, for those who need to redo their identity documents, it is better to go about it now. The CNI-Passeport site is very useful for that since it allows you to book an appointment at the town hall to take the process.