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I am an Indian national with a French multi-year residence permit. I work in Paris and came to Spain for holidays. My French residence permit “titre de séjour“ was stolen in Barcelona today. I have my flight booked to Porto from Madrid via Easyjet and then from Porto to Paris via Vueling. I have my passport with me and a copy of residence permit. How can I get back to Paris?

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I've never flown on Vueling, but EasyJet does not in my experience check visas or residence permits for intra-Schengen flights. There's no need to take a train. Your passport will be enough. If any question does arise of your legal status in the Schengen area, the copy of your residence permit and tbe police report of the theft will be sufficient.

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    Thank you so much for the reply. I filed a police report just after the theft. French embassy was closed on weekends so couldn’t report there
    – user3706280
    Commented Jul 21 at 10:09
  • @user3706280 I would add that in my experience (though sadly I don't remember what happened the last time I flew on EasyJet in Spain) the ID check happens at boarding, when they scan the boarding pass. This pretty much guarantees that they aren't checking visas, because there isn't time for that at that point. They're just trying to make sure you are the right person (though the last time I flew with them, a woman with a Russian passport tried to show a card, I assume a residence permit, and they asked to see the passport, but for people with passports there was no additional checking).
    – phoog
    Commented Jul 22 at 5:18
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    Last time I flew Vueling (admittably >5 years ago) within Schengen, the boarding agent actually checked my passport and visa. It was unusual because no other boarding agent till then, or since, has checked the visa page.
    – RedBaron
    Commented Jul 22 at 11:38
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Thanks a lot for your suggestions and comments. Here’s what happened in the last 3 days:- I visited the French Consulate in Madrid on 22nd morning; the lady there asked me to drop a mail to an email displayed at the counter. She said I would receive a response within 2 days along with an appointment and only then can I know further steps. I dropped a mail to the shared email with as much details as possible. I received an automated response with links that guided me to the official French Visa application site (didn’t make any sense) and a link to book an appointment with the Consulate which gave 404 error. I had my flight to Porto via Easyjet at 4 and I didn’t know what to do. I called the French embassy, another lady who could only speak French and Spanish seemed helpful but I don’t speak much French. In my broken French I asked if I can return to Paris and (based on what I understood) she said its okay if I had filed a police report and have (some kind of) “Declaration”. In short I took the flight to Porto. I did explain my situation to Easyjet at their baggage drop counter and they said it is okay to fly in my case. They were very kind and reassured that there should not be any problem in the next flight from Porto to Paris as well.

Today I took the flight from Porto back to Paris via Veuling and this time I did not check with anyone. Visa was not checked anywhere and now I am in Paris, at home.

I will now apply for a duplicate “Carte de Sejour”.

Sorry for the looong story but hopefully it will be of some help to someone. If this happens to someone else too, I still suggest to file a police report asap as it helps a lot. If you decide to take a flight, check with your airline carrier too.

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The situation might get complicated if there is an ID check at boarding, so taking flights or not going back directly to France might not be wise.

I would recommend taking a train directly from Barcelona to Paris (least likely chance for an ID check). SNCF has three daily direct trains on that route.

Did you file a police report for the theft? if not, then you should asap. the report will also help you justify the request for a new residence permit.

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    Unless “temporary” checks have been reintroduced, ID checks at check-in/boarding for intra-Schengen flights must be restricted to security purposes, I.e. ascertaining the identity of the traveller, and should not include checks for visas etc. As far as I know, only Ryanair think otherwise. However, temporary checks at the borders have been reintroduced by France though I would expect those to happen upon arrival in France rather than departure (if they happen).
    – jcaron
    Commented Jul 21 at 9:47
  • Thanks for your response. Even I am thinking of taking a direct train from Barcelona to Paris, it seems less risky. Tomorrow I will visit French embassy to report the theft. I will see what happens, thanks again
    – user3706280
    Commented Jul 21 at 10:45
  • I strongly advise the OP to not actively travel in a way that knowingly tries to dodge being IDed. What good can come of that? Either OP can enter just fine even if they get IDed, making this advice pointless; or OP is not permitted re-entry, at which point suggesting ways into the country that circumvent that permission are both immoral and illegal.
    – Flater
    Commented Jul 22 at 6:45
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    @Flater He is allowed re-entry, but the advice is far from pointless as re-entry is not the issue, it's being IDed in Spain where they might not have easy access to the residence permit data that is an issue. an ID check when you lost your residence permit is a huge inconvenience (including but not limited to being detained/delayed while the authorities validate your residence permit). it is totally worth avoiding that hassle.
    – meego
    Commented Jul 22 at 10:42
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    @user3706280, meego: I've never been asked for ID by government officers in an airport before departing on an intra-Schengen flight. Years ago it happened to me in Oslo several times on arrival from the Schengen area. But if the French check on arrival, all should be well since it's a French residence permit and they would be close to the office should they decide to confirm. By contrast, ID checks on trains are fairly common. Taking the train seems likely to increase the chance of being ID'd and likely to make the consequences worse, as it could mean being taken off the train.
    – phoog
    Commented Jul 22 at 13:13

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