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I am an American traveling through Europe. I recently lost my passport and am planning to go to Czech Republic from Germany in about a week by car(and back a week later). Will I be asked for my passport when I cross the border by car?

Edit: I have a scanned color copy of my passport I took before I lost it, not sure if it is of any use? I am going to get a police report today and have contacted the Embassy for emergency papers but they have not responded. I am wondering what will happen to me if I am trying to cross the border, will they just turn me down and not let me cross or will it be worse?

Update: The Munich US embassy is great, I emailed them around lunch time and explained my situation and they responded almost immediately and said I should come to the Embassy next day with the forms filled out. When I arrived I was allowed to cut everyone in line because I was American and they even had a passport photo machine at the embassy. I arrived around 9:30Am and had a new replacement passport by lunch time.

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  • While the risk of being asked might have been low before Visa policy of the Schengen Area, meanwhile due to adopts policing treaty with Czech Republic it might be risky.
    – bummi
    Mar 20, 2016 at 11:45
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    Do you have a police report concerning your lost passport?
    – phoog
    Mar 20, 2016 at 12:45
  • I do not have a police report, i will go ahead and file one today. I do have a scanned color copy of my passport if that is of any use?
    – Shabloinker
    Mar 21, 2016 at 12:52
  • I assume that you are not only travelling to the Czech Republic, but that you will intend to travel back to Germany as well, is that correct?
    – gerrit
    Mar 21, 2016 at 12:58
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    The US Consulate/Embassy should be able to sort you out with some temporary travel documents: travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/emergencies/…
    – CMaster
    Mar 21, 2016 at 13:00

2 Answers 2

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Normally, you should not be asked for your passport on the Czech-German border. However, the situation in Europe is currently (spring 2016) not normal.

Due to the European migrant/refugee crisis, the Schengen travel area is under severe stress. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of migrants/refugees are attempting to travel by whatever means possible from Turkey (or other countries) to northwestern Europe (Germany, Sweden, and other countries). In response, many countries have re-introduced border checks even on inner-Schengen countries.

Therefore, it is currently unwise to cross any border without a passport (or European identity card). Even if there may be no checks in one direction, there may be checks in the opposite direction. Even if there are no checks now, there may be checks next week. If that happens, you might get stuck on the Czech side of the border and be caught up in the migrant/refugee trail, which is probably not desirable.

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  • I would bring passport or ID card even if situation is normal and if you would be European. There might be some laws in these countries that you should be able to identify yourself always for any reason.
    – this.myself
    Mar 23, 2016 at 10:53
  • @this.myself Some form of ID, yes. Passport, I wouldn't carry unless needed; they're too valuable. For the first 25 years of my life, I didn't have a passport yet I visited many European countries.
    – gerrit
    Mar 23, 2016 at 11:21
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Since both countries belong to the Schengen Area, there is no regular passport control at the border, but there may be controls at random. Due to the recent refugee discussion those random controls have been increased.

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  • Well. I would say currently everybody is controlled -- at least it feels a little like that.
    – frlan
    Mar 20, 2016 at 21:00
  • @frlan, there may be some racial profiling, and it will also depend on which border you cross (and which direction).
    – o.m.
    Mar 21, 2016 at 6:10
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    Sure. A17 CZ->DE there have been 100% checks in past month. And I guess they are more picky about vans, busses etc. Howevery, crossing border without passport might cause arrest. Even as a foreigner in CZ or DE without passport -> arrest. @AlexD Check at your embassy for some emergency papers. Now.
    – frlan
    Mar 21, 2016 at 8:38

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