If your U.S. passport is lost or stolen abroad, contact the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate as soon as possible and apply in person for a replacement. First make a brief, focused search of the places where you may have left it. Then report the loss, gather your travel evidence and tell consular staff exactly when and where you need to travel. A police report, photocopy or canceled passport is not a substitute for a valid passport book when you need to continue international travel.
What to do during the first hour
- Check the most likely locations. Call your hotel, airport or station lost-property office, airline, taxi or rideshare service, restaurant, tour operator and any venue where you recently showed the passport. Search your luggage, room safe, pockets and document wallet carefully.
- Act promptly if theft is likely. If a bag was stolen or you are confident the passport was taken, do not spend hours repeating the search. Move on to reporting the incident and protecting your money, devices and accounts.
- Secure other missing property. Freeze payment cards, notify your bank, change important passwords if a phone or computer was taken, and contact your mobile carrier if needed.
- Find the correct U.S. consular post. Use the official website of the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. Check its American Citizen Services instructions for appointments, location, security restrictions, local photo options and payment methods.
- Save evidence of urgent travel. Keep your airline, rail or ferry confirmation available as a printout or screenshot. Include all onward international segments, not only your next departure.
- Report the passport and prepare to apply. The State Department’s instructions for a lost or stolen passport abroad explain the documents to bring and the replacement process. Online reporting is the fastest way to cancel a lost or stolen passport; the Department says it will cancel the document within one business day and send a confirmation email. You may also report it while applying in person on Form DS-11.
Do not try to travel on a passport after reporting it lost or stolen. Once the Department cancels it, it is permanently invalid for international travel, even if you find it later. A replacement application is still required before you can travel.
How to contact the embassy and request urgent help
You must apply in person at a U.S. embassy or consulate for a replacement passport abroad. Begin with the country-specific website because appointment systems, permitted electronic devices, payment methods and entry procedures differ by post.
If an appointment is available before your departure, book it. If the calendar has no suitable opening, use the post’s listed contact method for urgent passport cases. State the key facts near the beginning of your message:
- Your full name, date of birth and current location
- Whether the passport was lost or stolen
- The date, time and route of your next international trip
- Whether you are returning to the United States or continuing to another country
- Whether your wallet, identification, money or phone was also stolen
- A telephone number and email address where staff can reach you
Attach or offer your itinerary. A booking confirmation showing the flight number and departure time is more useful than simply saying that you have a flight soon. If you cannot reach the post and the matter is urgent, the State Department’s overseas emergency number is +1 202-501-4444.
Nights, weekends and public holidays
Most U.S. embassies and consulates cannot issue passports on weekends or public holidays. Every post has after-hours duty officers, who can assist U.S. citizens facing an emergency, urgent travel need or serious crime. Calling after hours does not guarantee that a passport can be printed while the consular section is closed.
In most cases, a replacement passport is issued on the next business day, but verification needs, staffing, equipment problems and local conditions can cause delays. If no consular post is nearby, call before making a long domestic journey. Ask whether that post can handle your application, whether another post serves your area and when you should arrive. Do not buy nonrefundable transport until you have confirmed the plan.
Documents and evidence to prepare
Bring every document you have, but do not delay contacting the embassy because an item is missing. Consular staff may be able to help verify your identity and citizenship, although missing evidence can affect timing or the type of passport issued.
- Form DS-11. Complete the application, but follow the post’s instructions about when to sign it. Give detailed information about where, when and how the passport disappeared. Include the previous passport number if known, and use a separate sheet if more space is needed.
- One compliant passport photo. Bring a recent color photo measuring exactly 2 by 2 inches, or 51 by 51 millimeters, with a plain white or off-white background. Face the camera directly, remove glasses unless an exception applies and do not use filters, artificial intelligence edits or digital background replacement.
- Proof of U.S. citizenship. A birth certificate, naturalization certificate, Consular Report of Birth Abroad, expired U.S. passport or copy of the missing passport can help.
- Photo identification. Bring a driver’s license, state identification card, expired passport or other government-issued identification. Securely stored copies can also help explain your identity if the physical documents were stolen.
- Travel evidence. Bring confirmed airline, train or ferry reservations for all upcoming international travel. Evidence of a fixed event may also help establish urgency.
- Police report. Bring it if you filed one. It is not normally required, but it can help document the circumstances of a theft or loss.
- Payment. Check the individual post’s accepted currencies and payment methods. Replacement passports generally cost the same as other passport applications.
If Form DS-11 does not fully explain the loss or theft, processing may pause while the post asks for Form DS-64, the statement for a lost or stolen passport. Include relevant dates, places and circumstances from the start.
For a child under 16, contact the post early. The child must normally appear in person, and both parents or guardians generally must consent or provide documents showing why consent from one is not required. Relationship evidence and additional identification may also be necessary.
Choose the right replacement for your travel plans
| Situation | Likely objective | What to ask the consular post |
|---|---|---|
| Returning to the United States within a day or two | Obtain the fastest usable replacement, which may be an emergency passport | Provide the confirmed itinerary and ask whether issuance is realistically possible before check-in |
| Remaining in the same country for several days | Seek a full-validity replacement if local processing and verification allow it | Confirm the expected issuance time before changing reservations |
| Continuing to another foreign country | Obtain a document accepted by every destination and transit point | Ask about emergency-passport limitations, visas and passport-validity requirements |
A full-validity replacement passport is normally valid for ten years for an adult and five years for a child under 16. When there is not enough time for a regular passport, a consular officer may issue a limited-validity emergency passport valid for up to one year.
An emergency passport issued overseas has a purple cover and says “Emergency Passport” on the outside. The officer decides whether it is appropriate based on the evidence available, your urgency and the circumstances of the loss.
Hypothetical example one: the flight home leaves tomorrow
A traveler in Madrid discovers on Monday morning that her passport is missing and has a Tuesday flight directly to the United States. She should contact American Citizen Services immediately, provide the flight confirmation, prepare Form DS-11, obtain the required photo and gather any identification or passport copy available. Her immediate priority is obtaining a usable travel document, not preserving the rest of the holiday schedule.
She should also contact the airline before its change deadline and ask about moving the flight if the embassy cannot issue a replacement in time. She may need to extend her accommodation. A passport application receipt or police report will not replace a valid passport for airline document checks.
Continuing to another country requires extra checks
Do not assume that a limited-validity emergency passport works like a regular passport for a multi-country itinerary. A destination or transit country may not accept it, and a visa or electronic travel authorization may be connected to the canceled passport number.
Before keeping an onward booking, verify each of these points with the destination’s immigration authority or embassy:
- The next country accepts a U.S. limited-validity emergency passport for your purpose of travel
- The replacement passport has enough remaining validity for entry
- Every transit country accepts the document, including for an airport connection
- An existing visa remains usable or can be transferred or reissued
- Any electronic travel authorization can be updated with the new passport number
- The airline will accept the document for the complete route
The airline checks documents before boarding, but the destination’s border authority makes the final admission decision. Travelers continuing into Europe should also review the Schengen passport validity rules for United States travelers. Meeting a passport-expiration rule alone does not establish that an emergency passport will be accepted.
Hypothetical example two: three countries remain on the itinerary
A traveler loses his passport in the first country of a three-country trip. The embassy can issue an emergency passport quickly, but he has a flight through a transit country and onward travel to a destination requiring advance authorization. Before going to the airport, he should confirm document acceptance at both borders and update or replace the authorization if required. If either country will not accept the emergency passport, rerouting directly to the United States or remaining in place long enough to seek a full-validity replacement may be the safer option.
What to do when documents, money or plans are missing
No passport copy or citizenship evidence: Contact the embassy anyway. If you cannot present proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or photocopy of your missing passport, you may ask for a free passport file search. Be ready to provide your full legal name, previous names, date and place of birth, and details of earlier passports.
Your wallet and identification were also stolen: Bring any remaining identification and securely stored document copies. Ask family or friends at home to locate records if necessary, but do not send sensitive identity documents through an insecure public channel.
You cannot pay: Tell consular staff immediately. Family or friends may be able to send money, and limited emergency financial assistance may be available in qualifying cases. Victims of a serious crime or disaster who cannot pay may qualify for a no-fee limited-validity emergency passport. Repatriation or emergency assistance loans can restrict your passport until repaid.
No appointments appear online: Follow the post’s urgent-passport instructions rather than checking only the public calendar. Send proof of departure and explain if missing the trip would leave you without lawful status, accommodation or essential medication.
You filed a police report: Keep it for the embassy, insurer and local authorities, but continue with the passport application. The report records the incident; it is not a travel document.
You find the original passport: Do not attempt to use it after reporting it. Tell the embassy and follow its instructions for handling the document.
Check the replacement before you travel
Before leaving the embassy or consulate, check your name, date of birth, place of birth, sex marker, expiration date and passport number. Read any letter supplied with a limited-validity passport. Ask whether the document is intended only for your return to the United States or whether the post knows of restrictions that could affect your planned route.
Update the new passport number wherever needed, including airline bookings, visas, electronic travel authorizations and local immigration records. Some airlines allow an online update, while others require an agent. Keep the new itinerary and embassy paperwork accessible during travel.
If the delay changes your plans, update time-sensitive reservations first: international flights, accommodation, airport transfers and transport needed to reach the embassy. Save receipts, police reports, consular emails and the original itinerary for a possible travel-insurance claim. Coverage and documentation requirements depend on the policy.
After returning home, replace an emergency passport with a full-validity passport promptly. The appropriate form and fee depend on why the limited passport was issued, when it was issued and the instructions in the accompanying letter. The State Department’s limited-validity passport replacement instructions explain when Form DS-5504, DS-11 or DS-82 may apply. Do not book another international trip on the assumption that an emergency passport will be accepted.
