A couple of weeks ago I went to my local Foreigners' Registation Office to renew my identity card. To my surprise I was issued with a "Certificado de Registro de Ciudadano de la Union" which certifies that I'm an EU citizen registered as a permanent resident in Spain. Fine.... except that I was told that Spain no longer issue identity cards to EU citizens. They kept my old ID card and said that I now had to use my passport and the certificate instead. I protested that it's inconvenient having to carry my passport around with me for the rest of my life and whilst the staff agreed with me they told me that there was nothing they could do.
Thinking this a little strange, I asked my 'Gestor' to investigate further and he told me to go to the National Police where the Spanish get their ID cards, but they said that they only issue DNI to Spanish citizens, I would have to adopt Spanish citizenship, which I'm not about to do.
I checked again today with the 'Extranjeria' just to make sure that I had misunderstood. No, EU citizens are no longer issued with ID cards, they have the right and duty to use the ID from their own country. This causes a problem for Brits as we do not have a national ID card. I was informed that for us we would need a valid current passport combined with the certificate.
I changed my driving licence over to a Spanish one some years back so day to day, when paying for something by credit card I can use that as UD, but for anything official, we'll have to cart our passports around.
Pain in the proverbials....
The same applies to the French Carte de Sejour for exactly the same reasons as you gave! You CAN ask for your old one to be extended or reissued IF you can persuade the local bureaucrats, which luckily I have been able to do. Apparently here the old one is still valid for proving your identity, but in no case is it acceptable as a travel document on its own for travel to the UK!!! (I once tried this on Dover customs officials ....... never again .... though I did have my passport for backup.)
French driving licences with photo and current address are still valid for proving one's identity, and although you are supposed to carry your passport with you (and I do), the fact that it doesn't officially state your address can annoy a French official who's having a bad day before you came to his/her notice!
French driving licences with photo and current address are still valid for proving one's identity, and although you are supposed to carry your passport with you (and I do), the fact that it doesn't officially state your address can annoy a French official who's having a bad day before you came to his/her notice!
What's even better is that we have been told that under no circumstances are you allowed to fold, or laminate, the new certificate!!!! So are supposed to carry around an A4 sheet of paper all the time 
Totally impractical!!!
My expired residencia wasn't taken away from me last year at renewal, and I still use it as ID, with no problems, plus I have a spanish driving licence as back up. I am certainly not going to carry my passport on a day to day basis!
Totally impractical!!!My expired residencia wasn't taken away from me last year at renewal, and I still use it as ID, with no problems, plus I have a spanish driving licence as back up. I am certainly not going to carry my passport on a day to day basis!
They kept my old card, maybe because I didn't ask to keep it (I only thought about it a couple of hours later - by then they had shredded it). Regarding the certificate, they told me to get a colour photocopy, take it back to them and they will stamp it as being an authentic copy (which we can then fold up and keep with the passport).
Can't you get a laminated "business card" style copy of your passport?? You can get them done here in Benidorm, and all places (banks, shops etc) accept this as proof of your ID (ie when you're using a bank card and need a passport as proof of ID). I never carry my passport around now, just this "card" which fits nicely into your wallet.
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