- Losing your passport in a foreign land would be far more disastrous than losing your mobile phone or cash.
- Here in this article, you will get to know 5 things you need to do when you lose your passport in a foreign country.
For anyone who travels abroad frequently, it would be a nightmare to lose a passport. Losing your passport in a foreign land would be far more disastrous than losing your mobile phone or cash. Undoubtedly, your fun trip would end up as a stressful journey if something like this happens to you.
So, what to do in such a situation? Don’t worry! Here in this article, you will get to know 5 things you need to do when you lose your passport in a foreign country. Just take a pen and paper and make notes. Who knows you might need it in the future.
File a missing complaint
The foremost thing you need to do is find the nearest police station. You need to file a missing complaint with the local police authorities. Keep in mind that this is a crucial step for your travel insurance policy. Also, the missing complaint is important as you would need to get in touch with the Indian diplomatic services abroad. Surely, this missing complaint would help you with the formalities you need to perform to get an emergency certificate from the embassy or consulate.
Reach the nearest Embassy or Consulate
After you file a complaint with the police station, you must quickly visit the nearest Embassy or Consulate. There you will get complete help to apply for a new passport. Visiting the diplomatic office is important as they need to get informed about it. Also, if you fell prey to passport theft, then the Embassy or Consulate must know it. Your complaint with the police will make the process easier at the diplomatic office.
Here’s the complete list of Indian Diplomatic Missions across the world. You will get the complete information including email and contact details.
Carry all your supporting documents
When you visit the Indian Embassy or Consulate, you must have all of your supporting documents with you. Along with the application for a new or emergency passport, you need to have some documents in hand. It will take around a week for you to get a new passport. Following are the documents you must have.
- Photocopy of the passport missing report
- Photocopy of the missing passport (You must keep photocopies of all the documents you have while traveling abroad)
- Air tickets and Visa photocopies
- Passport size photographs
As mentioned above it may take a week for you to get the new passport. However, if you need to travel back to India immediately, then you can apply for an emergency certificate. Through this emergency certificate, you can travel back to India easily. Note that it would be a one-time use travel document. This will authorize you to return to India without any hassle. However, for this also, you will need several supporting documents.
- Your passport’s photocopies
- Missing report of the passport
- Passport size photographs
- Application by giving an EAP-2 form
Re-issuing of Visa
Not just a new passport, you will have to apply for the re-issuing of a visa as well. Now for that, you will have to visit the embassy of the country that has provided you with a visa. For this process also, you will require some documents. These include photocopies of your old visa, the missing complaint, and the new passport or emergency certificate that you received from the Indian Embassy or Consulate.
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Reschedule flight and claim travel insurance
As you lost your passport, you may have to reschedule your flight as well. Just dial the airlines and inform them about the situation. You should do it as soon as possible. If you inform them early, the chances would be high that you won’t have to waste extra money on rescheduling.
Also, it is important for you to take travel insurance before going abroad. This way, you would be able to claim it when you return to India. Contact the insurance company, and keep all the supporting documents intact. You would be able to reclaim the losses incurred due to the loss of your passport.