RP card lost! Need to travel urgently!!

maxkissero · Post by **maxkissero** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 12:25 am

Hi there!!

I'm Argentine married to a Finnish. I lost my RP card, and went to the Police, they gave me a paper in which it says that I lost it. The biggest problem is that I need to travel on Friday to Italy!! I have the paper that says that I'm married, I have a working contract, I even have a copy of my original RP card!!
I'm going on Monday to apply for a new card, (they don't have to approve my permit, actually in the police they told me that they have it in the computers and I have permit until 2016) so they just have to send me the new card, but it can still take one or two months!! I know that if they stop me coming back at the airport, they would see in their computers that I'm legal, actually I could show them all my papers, but I couldn't show them any residence card, and I don't want to be in a situation like that!!
So what are my options? Is there any kind of emergency visa or something like that?? Any kind of help will be appreciated!!!!!Thanks!!!!

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Rip · Post by **Rip** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 12:21 pm

Well, you could ask from Italian embassy: http://www.ambhelsinki.esteri.it/Ambasciata_Helsinki
The other option I guess is to go and hope nobody even wants to see your passport during the trip (works most likely best if you print out your boarding passes in advance)

rinso · Post by **rinso** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 12:55 pm

The biggest risk is during check-in. If they are strict they want to see the RP. (don't know if Argentine is a visa free country)
Discussions with the check-in clerk are often useless. So follow Cory's advice and make sure you have something official. (and take plenty of time for the check-in)

betelgeuse · Post by **betelgeuse** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 2:42 pm

I have been traveling with a Canadian around Europe (including Italy) and never has she been asked for the residence permit card inside Schengen. According to the following page Argentinians are also in the same visa free category as the Canadians:

http://www.immihelp.com/visas/schengenv ... tions.html

Not having the card with you can cause problems in Italy if something happens and you need to show to the authorities that you are staying inside the zone legally. However this should at most be a delay to find out your status from Finland. It's up to you to weight in the pros and cons.

cors187 · Post by **cors187** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 5:23 pm

maxkissero wrote:Hi there!!

I'm Argentine married to a Finnish. I lost my RP card, and went to the Police, they gave me a paper in which it says that I lost it. The biggest problem is that I need to travel on Friday to Italy!!
So what are my options?

I think because your travel plans stay in schengen area, no one cares, it costs the airplane company extra money.
I mean that its just another thing the person at the boarding counter has to check.(considering you have pre-checked)
Some of the cheap carriers are so cheap that you need to have your own checked in printout. Remember that one , because if you dont they make you pay extra costs equal to the original ticket

maxkissero · Post by **maxkissero** » Thu Mar 06, 2014 10:57 am

Thanks for the replies guys!
I've been calling everyone and the answers that I got were mostly that there's no control inside the Schengen zone but they may want to ask me the RP at the airlines desktop.
I was thinking that my biggest risk might be when checking the luggage, because they always like to see all the papers that you've got.

This was the answer to a mail that I sent to the Migration Office:

Dear, Maximiliano Fernandez

The local police in Finland makes the decision for your application.

There is nothing what Finnish Immigration service could do to speed up the process.

As a citizen of Argentina you should be able to travel as tourist in Schengen countries.

Best regards,

Kaisa Turunen
Adviser
Immigration Unit
Finnish Immigration Service
P.O. Box 18, FI-00581 Helsinki
Fax 0295 411 720
Current information guaranteed – Migri.fi

That sounds very well, also the Police told me that I would travel under my own risk, but my only risk is if something happened in Italy and they asked me the papers (which sound very unlikely for me) and in the Border Control Office they told me that they advise me to better not travel because they could ask me for the papers at the airlines desk or if something happened in Italy (the same), but they also told me that for sure there is no passport control either in Finland or in Italy.

As I see it, it shouldn't be such a big deal, Argentina is a visa free country and we are supposed to be allowed up to 90 days of permission for tourism in Italy, and I'm going just for 7 days, I've got a hotel reservation, and enough money to stay... I mean, I live in Finland, why would I go to Italy as an illegal immigrant? It doesn't make sense for me.

cors187 · Post by **cors187** » Thu Mar 06, 2014 10:27 pm

In these instances you woud keep your flight stubs that prove you flew in from helsinki.

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Fri Mar 07, 2014 9:51 am

maxkissero wrote:As I see it, it shouldn't be such a big deal, Argentina is a visa free country and we are supposed to be allowed up to 90 days of permission for tourism in Italy, and I'm going just for 7 days, I've got a hotel reservation, and enough money to stay... I mean, I live in Finland, why would I go to Italy as an illegal immigrant? It doesn't make sense for me.

Visa free for Schengen area, which Finland and Italy are part of. You say you live in Finland, but how are the officials and airline people to know that? Your passport says you have been in Schengen area more than 90 days. Officials are not likely to take interest in you, as they concentrate their effort on outer edges of Schengen area. Airlines I don't know. They get hefty fines and are obliged to fly you away from here if you get denied at passport control.

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