Travel from Ireland to Lithuania without a passport: urgent

Dannyboy83

Hi,

My girlfriend's mother is extremely ill and we do not expect that she will live very long.
The problem is that my passport expired on the 14th of June 2010.

I'm applying for the passport express tomorrow, but this is supposed to take a few weeks or so I've heard.

Is there anyway that I can fly from Ireland to Lithuania without a passport?
I don't believe my driving license is sufficient but I don't know.
Perhaps I can get something from the guards?
Or is there some way I can get the passport done immediately?

My girlfriend can fly using her ID card, but I understand we don't have these because of the Schengen agreement.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Dan

BuffyBot

You cannot go without a passport.

The Passport Office will expidite in the case of family emergencies, however as it's not your direct relative they may not help you out in this case. Call them and find out first thing tomorrow.

irish_goat

If you're flying Ryanair you could probably risk flying on the expired passport. Change the date when you're checking in just. I really doubt they'll bother to check the dates sync up.

Dannyboy83

BuffyBot wrote: »

You cannot go without a passport.

The Passport Office will expidite in the case of family emergencies, however as it's not your direct relative they may not help you out in this case. Call them and find out first thing tomorrow.

Thank you, I'l try this.

Dannyboy83

irish_goat wrote: »

If you're flying Ryanair you could probably risk flying on the expired passport. Change the date when you're checking in just. I really doubt they'll bother to check the dates sync up.

I was out there 3 weeks ago to visit her mom in the hospital and even tho the Ryanair staff didn't seem to be terribly anal (or so it appeared) - the Lithuanian Immigration officials were.
Perhaps they were keeping up appearances, I expected they would be pushing me in the gate to spend money but I was surprised by how thorough they were - far more than what I'm used to when flying back into Ireland. (everyone was stopped and had their handbags searched by customs in Dublin too, so maybe there was something up at the time)

I wouldn't be surprised if they turned me around and sent me back home to be honest -but I know very little about how these things work in reality.

schemingbohemia

irish_goat wrote: »

If you're flying Ryanair you could probably risk flying on the expired passport. Change the date when you're checking in just. I really doubt they'll bother to check the dates sync up.

This has to be the most moronic piece of advice I've ever seen on here. Did you actually think before posting that?

It has nothing to do with Ryanair whether the OP is allowed into the country or not, it's the Lithuanian police that decide.

Shzm

If you're really desperate then the best way of getting there without your passport being checked would be road or rail, just don't go via Switzerland.

Fr Tod Umptious

Dannyboy83 wrote: »

I was out there 3 weeks ago to visit her mom in the hospital and even tho the Ryanair staff didn't seem to be terribly anal (or so it appeared) - the Lithuanian Immigration officials were.
Perhaps they were keeping up appearances, I expected they would be pushing me in the gate to spend money but I was surprised by how thorough they were - far more than what I'm used to when flying back into Ireland. (everyone was stopped and had their handbags searched by customs in Dublin too, so maybe there was something up at the time)

I wouldn't be surprised if they turned me around and sent me back home to be honest -but I know very little about how these things work in reality.

The way airline staff and immigration officers treat passports is completely different.

Airlines only use passports as a form of Id.

immigration staff use a passport as a form of id and to validate whether you are allowed to enter their country or not

If your passport is out of date the immigration officials will not let you in, regardless of what the airline staff do.

mikemac

Dannyboy83 wrote: »

I was out there 3 weeks ago to visit her mom in the hospital and even tho the Ryanair staff didn't seem to be terribly anal (or so it appeared) - the Lithuanian Immigration officials were.
Perhaps they were keeping up appearances, I expected they would be pushing me in the gate to spend money but I was surprised by how thorough they were - far more than what I'm used to when flying back into Ireland. (everyone was stopped and had their handbags searched by customs in Dublin too, so maybe there was something up at the time)

Flights from that area are targeted by customs for cigarette smuggling.
It's just customs doing their job, good to see

gandalf

I was queuing in the passport office last week to get a passport for my newborn. If you have proof that you are travelling they can get one turned around in around 3 days (its up on their notice boards). I'd suggest getting everything you need together (photos, id etc), going in there, queuing and applying in the office. You will need proof that you are travelling though (like a booking confirmation from an airline).

Try and call them first to see what your chances are.

Do not try to travel abroad without a valid passport. You more than likely will either not be allowed to travel by the airline or definitely get turned around by passport control in Lithuania.

mathepac

schemingbohemia wrote: »

... It has nothing to do with Ryanair whether the OP is allowed into the country or not, it's the Lithuanian police that decide.

+1 to all of that, but if entry is refused RyanAir must pick up the tab for the flight home AND face a fine from the Lituanian immigration authorities. No doubt in these circumstances OP will go into the RyanAir "far from favoured flyers file".

Sorry about the difficult circumstances OP but that advice is just plain irresponsible.

Dannyboy83

gandalf wrote: »

I was queuing in the passport office last week to get a passport for my newborn. If you have proof that you are travelling they can get one turned around in around 3 days (its up on their notice boards). I'd suggest getting everything you need together (photos, id etc), going in there, queuing and applying in the office. You will need proof that you are travelling though (like a booking confirmation from an airline).

Thanks.
The problem is that her mom may die, in fact its highly probably, but she may not die either - for a few weeks, so I cannot book flights at the moment since it's all up in the air.

Try and call them first to see what your chances are.

I tried to contact them a good few times today but the lines were choc-a-bloc, so I've tried emailing them with a short explanation and asked them to call me back.

Do not try to travel abroad without a valid passport. You more than likely will either not be allowed to travel by the airline or definitely get turned around by passport control in Lithuania.

Thanks, I had hoped there was some way around it like some National ID card you could get, but there isn't.
Not in Ireland anyway.

Dannyboy83

I did everything and applied via passport express today.

As I said, since I don't have proof of flights, I could just be delaying it even more.
I've asked them to contact me anyway, I will explain and hopefully they will understand.

Thanks for you advice in this thread folks, very helpful.:)