Must a traveler carry their passport in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France?

Upvote:4

Requirements to carry a passport or other recognized id card are based on national laws and are not the same throughout EU or the Schengen area. You are in most EU/Schengen countries not required to carry your passport in general, but also in most cases required to carry a passport when crossing the international borders.

Of the countries you are asking about, you are in the Netherlands required to carry your passport at all times, but not in France and Belgium. When crossing the borders between these three states, there are no permament passport checks, but you are still required to carry your passport and have it with you.

Additional information regarding the update of the question: I don't think anything you mention in your update is relevant for the question. The only identification papers accepted by all EEA and Schengen countries are passports and national ID cards issued by a Schengen or EEA country. Each country may choose to in addition, perhaps for limited purposes, also to accept other documents, like e.g. driver's licenses.

Since you specifically asked about a US visitor, this does not apply to your question. Neither a US driver's license, nor a US passport card will/must be accepted as proof of identity in the three countries you are asking about.

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