If you lose your US passport abroad, contact the nearest US embassy or consulate, report the passport lost or stolen on Form DS-64, and apply in person for a new one on Form DS-11. If you need to fly soon, the consulate can usually issue an emergency passport with limited validity, valid for one year or less, so you can get home or continue your trip. Before you report it, look properly: once a passport is reported lost or stolen, the State Department cancels it, and it stays invalid even if it turns up later.
Step 1: Make sure it is really lost
Because reporting is permanent, spend an hour retracing your steps first. Ask your hotel's front desk, since some hotels keep passports at check-in and forget to return them. Call the airline's lost and found if you just flew, and contact the taxi or ride-share company you used. Check every pocket of every bag, including the one in the hotel safe.
Step 2: File a police report if it was stolen
If the passport was stolen, report it to the local police and ask for a copy of the report. The State Department asks for a copy if you filed one, and travel insurers usually require it for a claim. In some countries the police report is also what local immigration wants to see before you can leave with a new document.
Step 3: Contact the US embassy or consulate
Find the nearest embassy or consulate on usembassy.gov and follow its page for lost or stolen passports. Most posts ask you to book an appointment, and you apply in person. Tell them your travel date: an imminent flight is the main reason a consulate issues an emergency passport quickly. Outside office hours, embassies keep a duty officer for real emergencies. The State Department also takes calls around the clock at +1-202-501-4444 from abroad and +1-888-407-4747 from the US and Canada.
Step 4: What to bring to the appointment
- Form DS-11, the passport application, filled in but not signed until the consular officer asks you to.
- Form DS-64, the statement about the lost or stolen passport.
- Proof of US citizenship if you have any: a photocopy or photo of your lost passport, a birth certificate, a naturalization certificate or a passport card.
- Photo ID, such as a driver's license.
- One passport photo, 2 by 2 inches. Many consulates can point you to a local photo shop that knows the US format.
- Your travel itinerary showing when you need to fly.
- The fee. A passport fee applies; check the current amount on travel.state.gov or the embassy's page and how that post takes payment.
Children have extra rules. At US embassies, applicants under 16 usually need both parents present, or the consent of the parent who cannot attend, and 16 and 17 year olds may need to show that a parent knows about the application. If you have no documents at all, tell the consulate: it can search passport records to confirm your citizenship.
Emergency passport or full passport?
A full-validity passport is printed in the United States and takes time to reach the embassy. If you need to travel before that, the consulate can issue an emergency passport on the spot or within a short time. Know these limits:
- It is valid for one year or less and cannot be extended.
- Some countries do not accept limited-validity passports for entry, so check each country left on your trip before you continue.
- When you get home, replace it with a full-validity passport. The State Department says doing this within its stated timeframe avoids paying the fee again.
Step 5: Check the country's exit rules
Your entry stamp or visa was in the old passport. Many countries let you leave with the new document without any extra step, but some require you to visit the local immigration office to record your entry in the new passport, or to get an exit permit. Ask the consulate what applies where you are; they deal with this every week.
Step 6: Sort out your flights
Airlines check travel documents at check-in, and they will not board you on an international flight without a valid passport. If you will miss your flight:
- Call the airline before departure, not after. A no-show can cancel the rest of your ticket, including the return.
- Expect your fare's normal change rules to apply. A lost passport is not something the airline caused, so the protections in our delayed and cancelled flights guide do not apply.
- Check your travel insurance or credit card benefits. Some policies cover extra nights and change fees caused by a lost passport.
- Book the new flight only once you know when the passport will be ready.
For a domestic flight after you land in the US, TSA accepts other ID, such as a REAL ID-compliant driver's license. Our REAL ID guide lists what works.
If you find the old passport later
Do not travel on it. It was cancelled when you reported it, and using it can get you refused boarding or entry. Ask the embassy or check travel.state.gov for what to do with it.
How to make this easier next time
- Keep a photo of your passport's data page on your phone and in your email.
- Carry a US passport card as backup ID. You cannot fly internationally with it, but it proves your citizenship at a consulate.
- Enroll in the State Department's STEP program so the embassy can reach you in an emergency.
- Keep the passport in the hotel safe, not in a back pocket.
- Leave a copy with someone at home who can email it to you.
