Closed petition Passport Cards for British Citizens

Closed on 9 August 2012

Most EU countries require everyone, including British citizens, to carry a travel document at all times. In practice this means an EEA national identity card, or for British, Irish and Danish citizens, a bulky passport. Many British citizens, while staying in other European countries, risk being fined for failing to carry a national identity card or passport, because the British passport is insufficiently small or durable to carry at all times, not fitting in a wallet or purse. Therefore the UK should issue optional self-funding "passport cards" to British citizens who live in or travel to other European countries. Like full passports, the cards should be linked only to the passport database, and should not be called "ID cards" in order to emphasise that their purpose is primarily for travel and a passport substitute. The USA already issues passport cards to its citizens, and the Gibraltar government already issues similar cards to local British citizens who regularly travel to Spain.