Lost Pasport: It Can Happen At Anytime
If you are one of the unfortunate people who lose their passports every year, you shouldn’t worry. The US Department of State offers you various means of replacing it. By reading the following paragraphs below, you’ll learn how to replace a stolen U S passport.
First things first. Before anything else, you have to report the loss of your passport. You do this by filling up a DS-64 form, which would contain your statement regarding the loss or theft of your US passport. This is an important step to getting a replacement passport, and one that you should do immediately. Or you could also call the US Department of State to report this. In cases where you lose your passport while traveling in another country, you would need to contact the nearest US Embassy or consulate as soon as you can.
Make sure that you answer everything as clearly as you can when filling up your DS-64. Also, provide as much detail as possible regarding the loss of your passport. Once you have filled in all the necessary information, you will have to send this form to the Passport Services office of the US Department of State.
How about in cases when the passport that you lost was still valid by the time it disappeared? You would be required to have your passport replaced. To do this, you would have to submit your Form DS-64, along with the DS-11 in person. The DS-11 is the form you fill up to apply for a replacement for your lost american passport. You would then send these forms to your nearest passport agency or acceptance facility.
Take note that once your passport has been reported lost, that passport will be invalidated. It means that that passport is no longer an official document, and can therefore no longer be used for travel. Also, once invalidated, you cannot request the passport to be re-validated. You would thus need to apply for a new passport.
What if you recover your passport after you’ve reported it was stolen? You will be required to send this to the US Department of State’s Passport Services office. You can request this passport returned to you, otherwise, it will be destroyed by the office.
When applying for a replacement passport, the acceptance facility will require you to submit your application in person. And since you have to travel to the agency’s office, it is highly advised that you check your documents before you even go there. This would save you the hassle of going back and forth until you are finally complete all the requirements.
Now that we’ve covered everything you need to know about how to replace a stolen pasport, let’s sum them up here. First, you would need to report the loss of your pasport. From there, you can take care of getting a replacement. Just always make sure that you fulfill every requirement asked of you, as this saves you a lot of time in the process.