Schengen Visa…

Eventually, I hope to have my Portuguese residency card. That comes with a Schengen visa. Odd question… on entry to Portugal, or another Schengen country, which passport line (e-gates) can one use?

Thx

The one corresponding to your passport, regardless of your visas/permits.

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https://www.portugalresident.com/e-gates-open-up-to-passengers-from-us-and-canada/

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As others have noted, the residency card does not entitle you to any different access for inbound/outbound immigration. Only upon getting citizenship and receiving a Portuguese passport would you gain access to the EU specific lines.

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If you have a Portuguese residency card as part of the GV can you enter any country on entry to the EU or must you enter through one of Portugal’s international ports?

You can enter the EU via any Schengen country with a valid GV residency card.

With an expired residency card (as per the existing rules which extend the validity of expired cards to to 31 Dec 2022) , you can enter only Portugal’s international airports. Schengen travel is best avoided without a separate Schengen visa.

The discussion above relates to which immigration gates you can use at the time of international entry at a Schengen airport - and that is passport based, not residence card based. Unless you have an EU passport (or one of the countries eligible for e-gates) you will have to use the “all passports” gates regardless of your residence card.

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For what it is worth, I used my residency card to enter at CDG airport. Had my US passport with me, just is case

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Wait… you can enter Schengen without a passport?

This is spelled out in the Schengen Borders Code in some detail. If I recall correctly:

A resident (as opposed to a citizen) of a EU country may enter via another Schengen border without a passport, but only if they have an onward itinerary that takes them to their country of residence. You can’t fly to Germany and then drive to Portugal.

To enter Portugal directly, no you do not need a passport, a valid residence permit is sufficient. Which makes sense. A passport was originally meant as a “right to travel, please let this person pass”, hence all the flowery language on the second page or whatever. Entering the country of your residence isn’t traveling, it’s going home. :slight_smile:

I did happen to look at this latter question quite specifically. I cannot quote chapter and verse ATM but I was really curious about it and I do recall this part.

So if your country revokes your passport, and you can get someone to let you on a plane or a boat and get yourself to Portugal, they’ll let you in. :slight_smile: Things being what they are, you’re likely to get questioned or something like that, but you have legal standing.

(Whether they renew your residency at expiration because you no longer have a passport to present is another matter. I have done no research into this. However, you might also play hell with getting that police report… )

I posted a tangentially-related detailed discussion of all this here (it relates to stamps not the actual passport but it is related):

SBC is an interesting read, if you’re into that sort of thing.