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Dual Citizen (EU and non-EU) residing outside of the EU - What pass? What passport to use? What proof of residency?

  • 4 March 2023
  • 4 replies
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Hi,

My husband is a dual citizen (SWE and PH), and we’ve both been living in the Philippines.

We’ve read the rules about getting Eurail vs Interrail passes but we’re still a bit confused and want to be sure.

I’m certain that I need the Eurail pass as I’m not an EU-citizen nor resident. But which pass should my husband purchase? If he buys a Eurail pass, can he still use his Swedish passport to travel between countries? Reason I’m asking is a Philippine passport requires visas while his Swedish passport does not.

And if he does purchase the Eurail pass, what type of “proof of residency outside of EU” is acceptable?

Thanks!

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Best answer by Yorkie 4 March 2023, 11:38

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Your husband can use his Philippine passport for the Eurail pass and his Swedish passport to enter Europe and for any passport checks within Europe. 

Userlevel 7
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For others in this situation -

Keep the 2 issues separate and it makes sense.

Interrail/Eurail simply requires you to buy a pass based on your country of residence, and, if checked by a representative of the train operator (normally the on-board inspection), all they are checking is you have some form of “official” ID with your home address to show you are not abusing the Interrail Country of Residence rule (Max 2 days travel in your COR). (There is also a secondary issue that the ID name matches the pass name to avoid fraudulent use,)

Travelling across borders requires you to have an acceptable passport and visa, but they are not interested in your Eurail COR, but your country of citizenship. Anybody with dual nationality will be fully familiar with choosing which passport they will use when travelling.

There is of course a choice of pass COR for those living in country A but with evidence of citizenship in country B since if either is outside Europe they can select a Eurail pass without the COR restriction and show the appropriate ID. If both are inside Europe (NOT the EU) they can select their COR depending on what is best for them as long as they show the relevant ID. As a generality it will take at least 6 months residence before you can generate acceptable proof of residence, so temporary residence is not what Interrail is concerned with - so just use your cross border ID for your Country of Residence.

For others in this situation -

Keep the 2 issues separate and it makes sense.

Interrail/Eurail simply requires you to buy a pass based on your country of residence, and, if checked by a representative of the train operator (normally the on-board inspection), all they are checking is you have some form of “official” ID with your home address to show you are not abusing the Interrail Country of Residence rule (Max 2 days travel in your COR). (There is also a secondary issue that the ID name matches the pass name to avoid fraudulent use,)

Travelling across borders requires you to have an acceptable passport and visa, but they are not interested in your Eurail COR, but your country of citizenship. Anybody with dual nationality will be fully familiar with choosing which passport they will use when travelling.

There is of course a choice of pass COR for those living in country A but with evidence of citizenship in country B since if either is outside Europe they can select a Eurail pass without the COR restriction and show the appropriate ID. If both are inside Europe (NOT the EU) they can select their COR depending on what is best for them as long as they show the relevant ID. As a generality it will take at least 6 months residence before you can generate acceptable proof of residence, so temporary residence is not what Interrail is concerned with - so just use your cross border ID for your Country of Residence.

This clarified a lot for us, thank you! Before reading this we realized Eurail was what my husband should get but we were just stumped on what proof of residency he needed to show (like if there was an official document we needed to request from our COR). Now I’m guessing his valid driver’s license would do.

 

Thanks again!

Your husband can use his Philippine passport for the Eurail pass and his Swedish passport to enter Europe and for any passport checks within Europe. 

Thank you so much!

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