The first steps
- Search thoroughly: retrace your steps, check your hotel, the last restaurant, the taxi company or ride-hailing app, and lost property offices.
- Report it to the local police and get a written report, especially if it was stolen. Many embassies, insurers and airlines need one.
- Contact your country's nearest embassy or consulate. Find it on your foreign ministry's website. Many have a 24-hour emergency line.
- Report the passport lost or stolen to your government, which cancels it so nobody else can use it. Often the embassy does this with you.
- Apply for an emergency travel document (sometimes called an emergency passport) to get home or continue travelling.
- Tell your travel insurer, airline and hotel, and check whether your flights need changing.
What to bring to the embassy
Requirements vary, but bring as many of these as you can:
- A copy or photo of your lost passport, especially the photo page.
- Another form of ID: national ID card, driving licence, birth certificate copy.
- The police report.
- Passport-sized photos that meet your country's requirements. Many embassies can tell you where to get them nearby.
- Proof of travel plans, such as your return ticket or itinerary.
- The application fee. Some embassies accept cards only, others cash only.
If you have nothing at all to prove your identity, the embassy may need extra time to confirm who you are, for example by contacting your passport office or a family member.
Emergency travel document or full passport?
| Emergency travel document | Full replacement passport | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Get home, or complete a specific trip | Normal travel |
| Validity | Usually short, for a specific journey | Standard length |
| Speed | Often days | Often weeks, sometimes applied for from home |
| Visas | Not accepted by all countries for entry or transit | Accepted normally |
An emergency document is often valid only for travel back to your home country, sometimes with limited stops. If you plan to keep travelling, ask the embassy which document fits and check that the countries you will visit, or transit through, accept it. Our guide to transit visa rules helps with layovers.
Examples of how it works for some nationalities
- United States citizens contact the nearest US embassy or consulate. The loss is reported with form DS-64 and a new passport applied for with form DS-11. Embassies can issue a limited-validity emergency passport.
- UK nationals can apply online for an emergency travel document through GOV.UK and may need to attend an appointment.
- Pakistani nationals should contact the nearest Pakistan embassy or consulate about an emergency passport or travel document. Our guide to Pakistan passport renewal covers how passport services work.
Always use the official government website for your country, as procedures and fees change.
If you are a dual national, or have no embassy nearby
- Dual nationals may be able to travel on their other passport, but must follow the entry rules for each country.
- If your country has no embassy in the country you are in, another country may provide consular help on its behalf. EU citizens, for example, can ask any EU member state's embassy for help if their own country is not represented.
Visas and entry records
If your passport contained a visa or residence permit for the country you are in:
- Contact the local immigration authority with your police report and new travel document. You may need an exit permit or a transferred entry record before you can leave.
- Ask your embassy about the local process, which can add time.
Protect yourself from identity fraud
A stolen passport can be used for fraud. After reporting it:
- Watch your bank and card statements closely.
- Be wary of messages claiming to have found your passport and asking for money.
- Consider other steps your country offers, such as fraud alerts.
Make it easier next time
Before every trip:
- Photograph your passport photo page and visa pages, and save them securely in cloud storage or an encrypted app, and email a copy to yourself.
- Carry a paper copy separately from the passport.
- Note your embassy's address and emergency number at each destination.
- Register your trip with your foreign ministry's traveller service, if it has one.
- Keep the passport secure: a hotel safe or a money belt in crowded areas. Our travel safety tips cover pickpocketing hotspots.
- Get travel insurance that covers lost documents and extra costs.
- Check passport validity before booking: many countries require at least six months left.
Key takeaways
- Report the loss to local police and contact your embassy or consulate.
- Apply for an emergency travel document, bringing ID copies, photos and the police report.
- Sort out any visa or entry record with local immigration before leaving.
- Keep digital and paper copies of your passport for every trip.
This article is general information. Procedures differ by country; follow your government's official guidance.