Lost your passport abroad? The steps, in order

Losing a passport abroad feels like losing the key to getting home. It is a common problem, though, and every country has a routine for it. The process is similar almost everywhere: report the loss, cancel the passport, and apply to your embassy or consulate for a document that lets you travel.

The details depend on your nationality, not on where you are. Below are the general steps, then what four governments ask for.

1. Search properly, then act quickly

Retrace your steps: your hotel's front desk or safe, the taxi company, the last shop or restaurant. If it doesn't turn up within a few hours, move on to the next steps. A lost passport can be used by someone else, so speed matters.

2. Report it to the local police

Get a written police report, with a reference number, stating that your passport was lost or stolen. Many embassies require it. The Embassy of India in Berne, for example, asks for a police report that shows the full details of the lost passport.

3. Cancel the passport

Most countries ask you to report the passport lost or stolen to the issuing authority, which cancels it. GOV.UK explains why: cancelling "will reduce the risk of anyone else using your passport or your identity". Once cancelled, the passport cannot be used, even if you find it later.

4. Contact your embassy or consulate

Find the nearest embassy or consulate of your country and ask for an appointment. Tell them your travel date. They will explain which document they can issue and what to bring. Usually:

• the police report;
• a copy or photo of the lost passport, if you have one;
• other proof of identity and nationality, such as a national ID card or a birth certificate;
• recent passport photos in the required format;
• your flight booking;
• the fee.

What four countries ask for

United Kingdom

• Cancel it online through GOV.UK. You'll need a phone number, and a photo or copy of the passport helps.
• Emergency travel document (ETD). It lets you travel if you need to leave urgently and cannot use your UK passport. It is usually valid for a single or return journey, through up to 5 countries, and you must need to travel within 6 weeks.
• Fee: £125 since 9 April 2025, including courier delivery of the document.
• If you are applying for an ETD, the passport is cancelled as part of that application.

United States

• Report it to the State Department with Form DS-64, which permanently deactivates the passport.
• Abroad, contact the nearest US embassy or consulate. If you have imminent travel, it can issue an emergency passport with limited validity.

India

• Report it to the local police and get a report showing the lost passport's details.
• Apply online at embassy.passportindia.gov.in, then visit the mission. The Embassy of India in Berne lists an affidavit signed in front of a consular officer, 4 passport photos and, if possible, a copy of the lost passport's first and last pages.
• Choose the document: an Emergency Certificate, a one-way document to return to India, or a new passport in place of the lost one.

Spain

• Report the loss to the consular office and to the police.
• Provisional passport. If you urgently need to travel to a country other than Spain, the consulate can issue a provisional passport valid for up to 12 months. It is exceptional, it is not biometric, and some countries, such as the United States, don't accept it.
• Safe-conduct document (salvoconducto). It lets a Spanish citizen without a passport make a single trip to Spain, and nothing else.
• Both are regulated by Real Decreto 116/2013. Applications are made in person, and you must be registered at the consulate or register first.

5. Sort out your visa and onward travel

A new or emergency document doesn't carry the visa or entry record from the lost passport. If you entered on a visa, ask the local immigration authority whether you need a new visa or an exit document before leaving. Tell your airline and your travel insurer, and keep every receipt: many policies cover part of the cost of replacing documents.

6. When you get home

Emergency documents are temporary. Apply for a full passport as soon as you are back, following your own country's process for lost passports.