UK Drivers license instead of passport to travel to France?

voytovdwiof

I've applied for a passport but a trip came up within the 6 weeks the delivery of a passport takes, it will be 4 weeks after I applied (so 2 weeks within the limit) when the trip is supposed to happen:

If my passport doesn't arrive, can I use my UK Drivers license (provisional, issued January 2011) to travel to France from England? I'll be going via train if that matters at all.

Not related to money but you guys might know!
:money:

Invalidation

No you cant. Without a passport you would need a French ID card. A driving licence is not a document of identity.
You would also have BIG problems trying to get back into the UK if you are a UK citizen without a passport.

Mark_Hewitt

voytovdwiof wrote: »

I've applied for a passport but a trip came up within the 6 weeks the delivery of a passport takes, it will be 4 weeks after I applied (so 2 weeks within the limit) when the trip is supposed to happen:

If my passport doesn't arrive, can I use my UK Drivers license (provisional, issued January 2011) to travel to France from England? I'll be going via train if that matters at all.

Not related to money but you guys might know!
:money:

Nope. For a UK citizen you need a passport, end of.

LittleMrsThrifty

When did you apply for your passport? They often come back well within 4 weeks if it's just a renewal.

aleabby

Well you can't use driver's licences instead of passport, you have to wait till your passport arrive.

mummyyummy_2

my passport took 1.5 weeks from the date i applied to physically having my passport in my hand! that was including my first passport interview.. that was in september last year so you mt well be in luck

Adam_Brown

Hmm - seems odd that the French can show an ID to get in to the UK but we must show a passport.

I saw this on Friday at the Eurostar - French people were showing their ID cards (not passports) to our border control in the station at Gare du Nord and were being let through.

I understood the new driving license was supposed to be like an Id card

wealdroam

Adam_Brown wrote: »

Hmm - seems odd that the French can show an ID to get in to the UK but we must show a passport.

France has a National Identity Card scheme.

The UK does not have a National Identity Card scheme.

Adam_Brown wrote: »

I understood the new driving license was supposed to be like an Id card

Your understanding is flawed.

A UK Driving Licence may well have a picture on it, but that does not turn it into a National Identity Card.