Smartphones and face recognition are being combined to create new digital travel documents. The paper passport’s days are numbered—despite new privacy risks.
You probably can, not just in non-EU Schengen countries (i.e. EFTA) but also a couple of other select places. E.g. Egypt will let you in with a German ID card if you have two extra images with you so they can issue you a small cardboard visa. Wouldn’t recommend it in Egypt though, banks, hotels etc. might not recognise ID cards.
But that’s really the main issue: The country will have to issue a visa and that has to be recorded in some way. It could, in principle, be completely electronic and online, but that requires that their IT systems can actually use the electronic features of your ID card and that everyone who might have to check your visa has to have a card reader and a connection to the state’s servers.
You probably can, not just in non-EU Schengen countries (i.e. EFTA) but also a couple of other select places. E.g. Egypt will let you in with a German ID card if you have two extra images with you so they can issue you a small cardboard visa. Wouldn’t recommend it in Egypt though, banks, hotels etc. might not recognise ID cards.
But that’s really the main issue: The country will have to issue a visa and that has to be recorded in some way. It could, in principle, be completely electronic and online, but that requires that their IT systems can actually use the electronic features of your ID card and that everyone who might have to check your visa has to have a card reader and a connection to the state’s servers.