Lost passport? What to do first is simple: report it to the U.S. Department of State as fast as you can, then start the replacement. If you are abroad, go to the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. If you are home, report it online and apply for a new one in person. Losing a passport feels like a disaster, but it is a solvable one. This guide walks you through the exact steps, the forms you need (DS-64 and DS-11), and the mistakes that slow people down. Procedures and fees change over time, so treat official State Department pages as the final word and this guide as your calm plan.
Act In The First 60 Minutes
Do a fast, focused search first. Give yourself about 30 minutes. Check the hotel safe, your jacket pockets, the rental car, and the bottom of your daypack. Call the last two or three places you visited, since restaurants, taxis, and ticket counters often hold lost documents for a few days. Then stop searching and report it. Here is the part people miss: once you report a passport lost or stolen, the State Department cancels it for good. A passport you find later can never be used again, even if it turns up in perfect shape. So search quickly, but do not delay the report for hours hoping it appears. If you believe it was stolen rather than misplaced, file a local police report before the trail cools. While events are fresh, write down when you last saw the passport, where you have been since, and whether anything else went missing with it. Embassy staff and police will ask for exactly these details.
How To Report A Lost Passport (Do This First)
Report it through the State Department using Form DS-64, the official statement for a lost or stolen passport. The fastest method is the Online Form Filler on the State Department’s lost-or-stolen passport page. It cancels the passport within one business day and sends you a confirmation email. You can also print Form DS-64, sign it, and mail it with a photocopy of a photo ID. That route takes several weeks. A third option is to report the loss while you apply for a replacement: Form DS-11 includes a section for loss details. Online reporting cancels the document fastest, so use it unless you are already sitting at an appointment. Two rules matter here. Never report an expired passport as lost or stolen; the reporting system is for valid documents only. And if your brand-new passport never arrived in the mail, that is a different process: file Form DS-86 within 120 days of the issue date. Do not use the lost-passport process for a mailing problem.
What To Do If You Lose Your Passport Abroad
Contact the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate and ask for the consular section. They are the only ones who can issue you an emergency travel document or a replacement while you are overseas. Look up the location on your phone, or ask your hotel front desk for help finding it. Call before you go. Some posts require appointments, and consular services may be closed on weekends and local holidays. Embassies keep an after-hours emergency line for true emergencies, but replacement documents are generally issued on business days. If your flight is close, tell the consular officer; urgent departures are often prioritized.
Documents To Bring To The Embassy
Bring everything you can gather from this list. Fill out the forms in advance but do not sign them; you must sign in front of an official.
- Completed Form DS-64 (your loss statement)
- Completed Form DS-11 (the new passport application)
- Proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a birth certificate or a copy of the lost passport’s photo page
- Photo ID, such as a driver’s license or passport card
- One passport photo that meets State Department requirements
- Your travel itinerary, especially if you must leave soon
- The police report, if you filed one
An expired U.S. passport counts as both citizenship and identity proof, so bring it if you have one. For a child under 16, expect both parents or guardians to be involved and bring proof of the parental relationship; the embassy staff will explain the exact consent requirements.
If Your Wallet And Phone Backup Are Gone Too
This is the scenario no one plans for: passport, wallet, and phone all gone in one theft. You can still get help. Go to the embassy in person and explain the situation plainly. Consular staff deal with this more often than you would think. They can verify your identity through their own records if you provide your full name, date of birth, and other identifying details. A travel companion who can vouch for you also helps. This is exactly why a cloud copy of your passport and a trusted contact back home matter so much: give the embassy a phone number or email for someone who can send your documents. If you have no money, say so directly. Ask the consular officer about fee exceptions for travelers who cannot pay.
The Emergency Passport Option
If you must travel soon, ask about a limited-validity emergency passport. It gets you home or to your next stop, and you exchange it for a full-validity passport after you return. Embassies can often issue one quickly when your paperwork is complete and your departure is near. Treat it as a bridge, not a full replacement. Some countries and airlines give emergency documents extra scrutiny, and a few will not issue visas against one. Confirm with your airline before you fly, and check the entry rules of any country where you connect. Destinations with special entry rules, like Cuba, deserve an extra check before you book anything on an emergency document.
What To Do If You Lose Your Passport At Home In The U.S.
Report it online with Form DS-64, then apply for a replacement in person with Form DS-11. You cannot replace a lost passport by mail. Every lost-passport replacement is handled like a first-time application, even if your old passport was nowhere near expiring. Bring a certified birth certificate (the original, not a photocopy), a government-issued photo ID, a passport photo, and payment. Do not sign the DS-11 before your appointment; the acceptance agent must witness your signature. The most common delays come from unsigned forms, photos that miss the size or background rules, and photocopied birth certificates, which are not accepted. If you have international travel coming up, ask about an appointment at a regional passport agency, which handles urgent cases with proof of travel. Otherwise, use a local acceptance facility such as a post office or clerk’s office. While you wait for the new document, you can still plan trips you can take without a passport to keep your travel plans alive.
How Much A Replacement Passport Costs
Expect to pay the same fees as a brand-new passport application, since you are filing Form DS-11. The State Department’s fee calculator on travel.state.gov has the current numbers. Check there rather than trusting any blog’s figures, including this one. The State Department notes you may qualify for a free replacement if your passport was lost in a natural disaster. Ask the consular officer about exceptions if you were the victim of a serious crime or cannot pay.
How Long A Replacement Takes
Abroad, embassies work to get travelers moving fast, sometimes by the next business day for urgent departures. Weekends and holidays can add days, so ask the consular officer directly what timeline to expect for your case. At home, timing depends on demand and whether you choose faster service. Check the State Department’s posted processing times before you apply, and bring proof of imminent travel if you need an urgent appointment. Do not rebook flights until you know your document timeline. Airlines will not board you without valid identification, and changing a flight twice costs more than waiting a day for clarity.
If You Find Your Passport After Reporting It
You cannot use it. A reported passport is permanently canceled and can never be reactivated, even if it turns up in perfect condition. Border systems will flag it as invalid, so do not try to travel on it. Mail the found passport to the State Department’s Consular Lost and Stolen Passport Unit in Sterling, Virginia, so it can be properly canceled and destroyed. Keep your reporting confirmation in case anyone later asks for proof you did the right thing.
Protect Yourself From Identity Theft
A lost passport can be used for fraud, so act on this the same day you report it. File a fraud alert with one of the three credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion. One alert reaches all three. File a report at IdentityTheft.gov, the Federal Trade Commission’s recovery site, which builds a personal recovery plan for your situation. Your police report also creates a paper trail that helps if the document is misused later. Tell your bank and credit card companies what happened, and watch your accounts closely for the next few months.
If A Visa Was Lost Inside The Passport
Contact the immigration authority of the country you are in, not just the U.S. embassy. They control your visa status, and your own embassy cannot restore it for you. Some countries will reissue a visa into your new passport once you show the embassy’s loss report and the replacement document. Others make you restart part of the application, which can affect your legal status if you miss a deadline. Ask directly rather than assuming the visa carries over on its own.
What Travel Insurance May Cover
If you bought travel insurance before the trip, call the insurer right away. Many policies cover document replacement fees, flight changes, and extra hotel nights caused by the delay. Check your policy’s document-loss section before you assume anything is excluded. Keep every receipt: the police report, embassy fees, passport photos, and rebooked travel. Insurers need the full paper trail to pay a claim. Once your new flights are set, you can track your rebooked flight to stay ahead of any further changes.
How To Keep This From Happening Again
Preparation is a five-minute job that saves days of stress. Save a photo of your passport’s data page in a password-protected cloud folder, and email a copy to a trusted person at home. Carry a paper copy in a separate bag from the real thing. Pack two extra passport photos before every international trip. Save your destination’s U.S. embassy contact details somewhere you can reach them without internet. Consider registering your trip with the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program so the embassy already has your details if something goes wrong. On the road, leave the passport in the hotel safe when you do not need it for the day. Carry it in a money belt or a zippered interior pocket, never a back pocket. These habits are second nature once you build them; our first-time international travel tips cover more of the basics.
The Bottom Line On A Lost Passport
A lost passport is a paperwork problem, not a trip-ender. Report it fast through the State Department, get to the embassy if you are abroad or apply in person if you are home, and guard against identity theft the same day. The travelers who recover fastest all share one habit: they prepared before they left. Make your copies tonight, before your next trip, and keep the first-hour steps above with your travel documents. If a lost passport ever happens to you, you will know exactly what to do.
