paulpirnus
Traveller
8 comments
Posted 9 months ago
Hi All.
I have searched for this high and low and even asked Interrail but nobody was able to answer this satisfactorily.
I am a Romanian citizen who lived in UK for the past 5 years (I have settled status) and I purchased an Interrail pass to travel this summer but I am still confused as to wether or not I can travel as a UK resident or which documents to bring with me to prove i reside in UK. I am starting to get worried now, Interrail is completely useless in aswering this question so I am hoping that someone here has tried this and can tell me.
What can I bring as proof of UK residence as a EU citizen? I obviously don't have any sort of Visa or Biometric ... and I don't know if anyone else has tried this. I have my settled status, UK bills, NINO, Council tax bill, Work contract, and more types of bills all in my name and at my current address. Would that be enough? What else can I bring?
Please let me know.
Paul
argon
Traveller
350 comments
Your problem is very similar to these : https://raildude.com/forum/view?id=65586
paulpirnus
Traveller
8 comments
Not really. Since I am an EU Citizen, I have to buy an Interrail pass, not an Eurail one. Also there is the issue of having a Romanian passport which states that I am resident in UK (but apparently not even this is enough to prove i reside in UK). According to interrail website... what a mess.
nltrainer
Traveller
1336 comments
The OFFIcial rule will tell that now UK is your homecountry. This effectively means you can only travel on 2 days there- the so called OUTbound and Inbound-though you can use these at will.
Now-use brains, think: IF you get problems by inspectors who are very strict (I hardly met one such on my 2 month last pass use this spring, and travelled also in these 2 countries beside some 17 others, UK and RO), then it will be in Romania by CFR. Pass is NOT valid on other operators over there. You will also have to visit counters and make REServaciones for all trips in Accelerat etc-I think you know that best. So for there- and I guess as Romania yourself you will best know what will convince these people-you must have some proof that you do not live in the country your ID says you are from-anyone knows a few million others also do, same-same for Polski, Latvia etc. Abd that is only if you want to use those CFR-treni more as on 2 days/zile.
Now psst! not tell!! in practice you will have choice-fares on CFR are quite low, so for you it may work out better to have GB as ´home´country. Simply show ID if asked for-so they cannot see passpt with stamps
paulpirnus
Traveller
8 comments
The problem is, if the inspectors on Eurostar or Nightjet are checking the ticket and see UK resident, and are compelled to check that I am resident in UK, how can I prove that? You have not given me a proper answer to that question. I honestly don't know if I would encounter any issues, no idea what a foreign inspector's view on this will be. Maybe they won't even check the residence country, who knows, they will just scan the mobile pass and view my passport to check the name, and that's it but I cannot be sure, that is why I am asking here. I want to know if there are people from any european country who are residents in another european country what their experiences are. Because interrail is completely useless on this one. They even said that If I cannot provide sufficient proof that UK is my country of residence (which appearently none of my documents are) then I should put Romania as my country of residence - but I will probably run into trouble there since on my passport it shows that I reside in UK which (with my luck) i bet that a Romanian inspector is much more likely to agree on than a UK inspector.
Arend7
Traveller
589 comments
Article 2.3 of terms-of-conditions says”: You must be able to prove such residency by means of official residence documents issued by the government. Such a residency document must clearly prove that you, as Pass holder, are registered in the country where you effectively live at the moment of the start of your trip. Residency can also be proven through official documents or official governmental online sources*. Such documents vary per country. In case you do not hold any of the means of proof above indicated, you must select the country indicated in your passport or legal equivalent.”
Haven’t you got a letter of the government you have to pay taxes or something like that with your name and adress on it. If not see the last sentence.
paulpirnus
Traveller
8 comments
Yeah, I looked into all of them, none of my papers count, not even council tax or home contract. I'm afraid I am going to have to select my country from the passport and change my residency on my interrail pass. Now I asked Interrail if there would be a problem that my passport ironically mentions that I am UK resident. I can see it being enough to cause problems with inspectors, even though If the situation was reversed and I had in my interrail pass UK residency it would not have counted as proof! Bonkers, right?
Arend7
Traveller
589 comments
If your passport says you are UK resident I see no problem at all. You want proof that you are UK resident. That is the proof.
Arend7
Traveller
589 comments
Or change in it a paper pass. Then they have to send it to your home adress.
MisterSteve
Traveller
912 comments
The problem is that few rail operators will train their staff properly so what we say here won't be any help if it goes wrong. But there are only 2 countries where this is relevant - Romania and UK - it makes no difference to anywhere else, especially Eurostar because nobody has residence with them and everybody pays the same surcharge. If a British conductor reads your passport wrongly then logically you ought to be offered unlimited travel - but they rarely ask for passports. It's unfortunate that you presumably only have an e-visa to prove your settled status and not a BRP/BRC. And presumably you have never exchanged your driving licence? Have you applied for a UK EHIC/GHIC from the NHS - because as a UK resident paying National Insurance you should - and that is a government issued document. https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/apply-for-a-free-uk-global-health-insurance-card-ghic/
paulpirnus
Traveller
8 comments
Yes, Steve, I already have the EHIC card from NHS prepared, do you think that will be enough? Honestly the most I am worried about the Eurostar and Nightjet I booked from London to Amsterdam and Amsterdam to Vienna. Once I get there I have easy access to hungary and from there the night train is cheap (even if I book the train there and pay full price). I am mostly worried about getting that Nightjet and getting out of the UK. My question is therefore, does anyone knows if there are specific rules for Eurostar which compels instructors not to accept certain documents? Like even if what I show makes sense and proves to any sane person that I live here, the conductor is compelled not to accept it because its not on some list of approved documents? That's what I am worried about. I asked the same q to interrail and two times i received crappy generated responses to have an approved document from UK govt, although no one has asnwered if any of the documents I mentioned to them is acceptable. LOL what a damn mess.
paulpirnus
Traveller
8 comments
One thing I tought about is that I should not, logically (I know interrail defies logic though) I should not get in trouble no matter what with the way I set up my interrail. Ok so I basically have a Romanian passport and I said on my Interrail that I reside in UK.
So I am taking on my 1st day one train from Manchester to London and the Eurostar to Amsterdam. 1st option - they don't believe I reside in UK, they consider me a Romanian resident. I still have reservations for the trains and the surcharge for the Eurostar, plus I paid for my Interrail ticket. It should be valid anyways. 2nd option - they believe which would mean this is my outbound journey so it is also valid no matter what.
Next train is the one from Amsterdam to Vienna - doesn't matter if I live in UK or Romania, the ticket should still be valid no matter what. Same for my train from Vienna to Budapest.
On my last day (i only purchased a 4 day pass) - I will travel from Budapest to Bucharest (I paid the surcharge already). 1st option they don't believe I reside in UK, they consider me a Romanian resident. I still have reservations for the trains and the surcharge for the Night train which would mean this is my one inbound journey. 2nd option - they believe I am resident in UK so it's valid nonetheless.
That's it those are all my journeys on interrail. Can't believe for such short journey there are so many headaches. I swear I am never using them again. Jesus.. What do you guys think?
paulpirnus
Traveller
8 comments
@Arend7
The passport section of residency is already in the interrail rules as not acceptable as proof of residence. It states in their rules that it has to be something issued by UK government. And they don't accept bills, Nino, council tax or settled status as proof either. They are the worst...
MisterSteve
Traveller
912 comments
the EHIC is a government issued document only available to residents and matches a system that the other countries also have, like driving licences, so many conductors know what it is because they have one of their own - and the initials NHS are widely recognised as British because of news coverage. I think you've got the rules covered with this and needn't worry. Eurostar won't care where you live because it doesn't affect them. Nightjet would only be interested if the train went into Romania.
paulpirnus
Traveller
8 comments
Thank you very much Steve. I am a little less worried now. :D I will make sure to ask Interrail as well about this, and post back just in case other people have similar questions.
paulpirnus
Traveller
8 comments
I understand that the EHIC does not prove entitlement to NHS services, and does not prove entitlement to planned treatment outside the UK. I also understand that this card is not a proof of identity or residence - from the EHIC terms ... LOL