Travel in Schengen after French residence permit stolen abroad

Question

I am an Indian national with a French multi-year residence permit. I work in Paris and came to Spain for holidays. My French residence permit “titre de séjour“ was stolen in Barcelona today. I have my flight booked to Porto from Madrid via Easyjet and then from Porto to Paris via Vueling. I have my passport with me and a copy of residence permit. How can I get back to Paris?

Answer 1

I've never flown on Vueling, but EasyJet does not in my experience check visas or residence permits for intra-Schengen flights. There's no need to take a train. Your passport will be enough. If any question does arise of your legal status in the Schengen area, the copy of your residence permit and tbe police report of the theft will be sufficient.

Answer 2

Thanks a lot for your suggestions and comments. Here’s what happened in the last 3 days:- I visited the French Consulate in Madrid on 22nd morning; the lady there asked me to drop a mail to an email displayed at the counter. She said I would receive a response within 2 days along with an appointment and only then can I know further steps. I dropped a mail to the shared email with as much details as possible. I received an automated response with links that guided me to the official French Visa application site (didn’t make any sense) and a link to book an appointment with the Consulate which gave 404 error. I had my flight to Porto via Easyjet at 4 and I didn’t know what to do. I called the French embassy, another lady who could only speak French and Spanish seemed helpful but I don’t speak much French. In my broken French I asked if I can return to Paris and (based on what I understood) she said its okay if I had filed a police report and have (some kind of) “Declaration”. In short I took the flight to Porto. I did explain my situation to Easyjet at their baggage drop counter and they said it is okay to fly in my case. They were very kind and reassured that there should not be any problem in the next flight from Porto to Paris as well.

Today I took the flight from Porto back to Paris via Veuling and this time I did not check with anyone. Visa was not checked anywhere and now I am in Paris, at home.

I will now apply for a duplicate “Carte de Sejour”.

Sorry for the looong story but hopefully it will be of some help to someone. If this happens to someone else too, I still suggest to file a police report asap as it helps a lot. If you decide to take a flight, check with your airline carrier too.

Answer 3

The situation might get complicated if there is an ID check at boarding, so taking flights or not going back directly to France might not be wise.

I would recommend taking a train directly from Barcelona to Paris (least likely chance for an ID check). SNCF has three daily direct trains on that route.

Did you file a police report for the theft? if not, then you should asap. the report will also help you justify the request for a new residence permit.