Travel within the EU’s Schengen zone is usually a fairly slick business with reduced or no checks as you cross borders – but that doesn’t mean that you can leave your passport at home.

So integrated is the Schengen Area that if you’re travelling by car or train you may not even notice that you’ve crossed a border and entered another country until you start to see signs in a different language – and that’s the intention of the zone of free movement, created in 1995.

But while EU/EEA citizens can move freely within the zone, it’s a different story for non-EU/EEA citizens.

The rules

Borders between countries in the EU/Schengen area still exist and in order to cross an international border you will need a valid travel document – for EU citizens this can be a national ID card, but for non-EU citizens that means a passport.

Although both Italian citizens and foreign residents of Italy are issued with a carta d’identità, if you look at the small print on your card as a non-EU citizen, you’ll notice that it says ‘non valida per l’espatrio’, meaning ‘not valid for travel outside Italy’.

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If you try to cross a border without a valid passport you can be turned back.

While the carta d’identità is your Italian ID document, it doesn’t act as proof of your right to live in Italy and to re-enter the country in the way that a carta di soggiorno, or residency permit card, does.

Passengers wait to board a Ryanair flight at Treviso’s Antonio Canova airport on March 17, 2024. Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP.

It’s a good idea, then, to always have the latter with you when travelling abroad. If you travel without it, you may have your passport stamped as a visitor when you re-enter Italy.

READ ALSO: Can you travel abroad while waiting for an Italian residency permit renewal?

In theory, UK citizens who were legally resident in Italy before Brexit are not required to apply for the carta di soggiorno elettronica provided they can provide alternative proof of their status; in practice, many Brits report having their passports stamped when trying to re-enter Italy without one.

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If your passport is stamped in error this may cause delays and questions when you next cross a border, but you cannot be penalised or denied entry provided you can show a valid carta di soggiorno.

On the ground 

As is often the case, there’s a difference between what the rule book says and what happens on the ground, and this is particularly apparent for travel within the Schengen area.

In practice, it’s common to cross a border with no checks at all – although things tend to be stricter if you are travelling by plane.

Cars and trains often pass through with no checks, or with checks when guards will happily accept a carta d’identità or even a carta di soggiorno.

However checks do happen – sometimes this is in response to a security alert, for example after a terror attack, but sometimes it’s random or when the border police are training their new recruits. We regret to say that there is often an element of racial profiling, so travellers of colour are more likely to be asked to produce their travel documents.

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Cars can be pulled over at border checkpoints while if you’re travelling by train, police will often board the train close to the border and check passengers.

If you are asked, you will need to show your passport – so don’t forget to take it with you when travelling within the EU and Schengen zone.