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I am French and I have a national ID card that expired recently. France extended the validity of this card and it is now valid for 15 years (instead of 10).

Many European countries (the EU I think) accept national IDs of European citizens as valid ID.

I am worried however that my expired national ID will not be accepted during my trip. I would like to know which countries accept expired national French ID cards (expired less than 5 years ago) and in particular if Germany, Switzerland and Italy do accept these cards.

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    Can't you get it stamped saying it was extended? That's what they did with Italian ID cards when they were extended from 5 to 10 year validity.
    – JoErNanO ♦
    Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 13:29
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    @JoErNanO apparently not: "La date de validité inscrite sur le titre ne sera pas modifiée" (from diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/services-aux-citoyens/actualites/article/…).
    – phoog
    Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 14:19
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    @phoog Excellent. Gotta love bureaucracy. Total disregard for people who actually travel out of France. After all, Paris caput mundi right?
    – JoErNanO ♦
    Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 16:53
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    @JoErNanO sure, but the translation of Paris into English is clearly New York.
    – phoog
    Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 17:01

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https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Actualites/L-actu-du-Ministere/Duree-de-validite-de-la-CNI (mirror) contains a list of countries that are supposed to accept or reject expired French ID cards. It also contains some text explaining the five-year extension translated in the language of each country, which you want to keep a copy of when traveling. Lastly, it advises:

De façon à éviter tout désagrément pendant votre voyage, il vous est fortement recommandé de privilégier l’utilisation d’un passeport valide à une CNI portant une date de fin de validité dépassée, même si elle est considérée par les autorités françaises comme étant toujours en cours de validité.

Google Translate:

In order to avoid any inconvenience during your trip, you are strongly recommended to privilege the use of a valid passport to a CNI carrying an expired date of validity, even if it is considered by the French authorities as being always in validity.

FYI: Renewing French ID if living in another country

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Expired French IDs are officially accepted in all EU/EFTA states (Switzerland is an EFTA state), plus French overseas territories, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Dominica, Macedonia, Montserrat, Turkey and on organised tours to Tunisia.

UPDATE: Just asked the Zurich airport police in person, it's 100% OK for Switzerland.

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    Are they? Where does Timatic get its information? The French government says differently (many states have not officially said that they would accept cards after the printed expiration date).
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 11:43
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    Early on some people did get turned round at the border (non-Schengen, IIRC either Turkey or UK) despite Timatic claiming it was ok. Maybe these problems have been solved, but if so you should cite a source that isn't the one that was wrong before. Whether an extended French ID card is valid is (or was) a matter of contention — some states were saying that they would use the face reading, and not some separate claim of the French government, to decide on the expiration date. Maybe the lawyers proved them wrong, but what matters is what the border guards and airline employees think.
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 13:14
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    @Gilles I don't see how an embassy would get closer to the truth than Timatic. Like I said, airline employees go by Timatic, whereas border guards, of course, have the final say if you are checked by any to begin with (such as in the UK and Turkey). In this case the best thing would be to contact the immigration authority directly. I am at Zurich airport as we speak and just spoke to the airport police (who perform the border checks) and they said "of course" when I asked whether extended French IDs were valid. So at least for Switzerland we've got it from the horse's mouth so to speak
    – Crazydre
    Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 13:19
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    According to the German Federal Ministry of the Interior's list of officially recognized foreign id and travel documents, French passports are also recognized if they are expired less than 5 years ago, while there is no remark that expired id cards are recognized. I would assume that this answer is wrong.
    – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
    Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 15:07
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    @Tor-EinarJarnbjo But a French ID card (issued in the relevant period) isn't legally expired for five years after the printed expiration date. So there's no need for a statement that "expired" ID cards are allowed because such a card is not expired.
    – phoog
    Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 20:06
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I am French and I have a national ID card that expired recently. France extended the validity of this card and it is now valid for 15 years (instead of 10).

Why don't you redo it? It takes a week tops and it is free. Just go to your city hall and explain your situation; it will be free and quick.

Many European countries (the EU I think) accept national IDs of European citizens as a valid ID.

All of them, except outside Schengen they might be reluctant.

I would like to know which countries accept expired national French ID cards (expired less than 5 years ago) and in particular if Germany, Switzerland and Italy do accept these cards.

Once again, the better way to know is to contact the embassy of the countries you wish to enter. We don't need visas in Europe but maybe a valid ID is required (even though honestly unless you are traveling by plane they are not going to check).

Check online on the Embassy's website of Italy, Germany and Switzerland for similar problems or just call them.

Also here it says that he should rather get an "attestation de renouvellement sur papier à en tête (RF) avec votre photo d'identité agrafée dessus avec le Sceau officiel avec Marianne ".

Franchement ne t'embête pas si tu voyages pas en avion...

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    Embassies are usually less reliable than Timatic, because the latter regularly gets notified by the immigration authorities of updates
    – Crazydre
    Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 13:03
  • For a problem like this one which must be pretty common it should be pretty easy to find the solution through an ambassy.
    – MopMop
    Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 13:05
  • But even easier through Timatic. And like I wrote, where there is no border control (as is the case between France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland) the airline has the final say. And airlines do not care about what an embassy says - they go by Timatic, full stop
    – Crazydre
    Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 13:06
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    And I assure you, non-Schengen EU countries will accept an expired French ID. It says so in Timatic and it's really not up to the countries (within the EU) to decide. Within the EU/EFTA,a valid EU ID (even if it "looks" expired) is valid, full stop
    – Crazydre
    Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 13:10
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    >I am worried however that my expired national ID will not be accepted during my trip. To me that doesn't indicate specifically that the trip will be done by plane. For problems like this I have always contacted ambassies, it cost me a phone call and was not that hard. If Vince prefers Timatic it is to his appreciation.
    – MopMop
    Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 13:15

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