Renewing Your Missing Passport Is Easy
The key to dealing with lost or stolen passports lies in two things:
quick action, and knowing what to do next. That is because your
passport contains your personal information and therefore you need to
have the information secured right away. You must act quickly the
moment you realize that you lost your passport or it was stolen from
you.
To report a lost or stolen passport, you can either call the US
Department of State or send them the appropriate form for reporting
lost passports. Calling their office provides you with the convenience
and speed of reporting your loss. However, there are times when placing
a phone call isn't possible, especially during federal holidays. In
times like these, you'll need to send a report by mail.
Sending your report by mail requires you to fill in Form DS-64. This
form will contain your statement regarding your lost passport. Because
of this, you need to be thorough and accurate when filling in the items
in this form. Make sure you don't leave any important item unanswered
before submitting this paperwork.
Once you have filled in Form DS-64, you can either mail it to the US
Department of State's Lost or Stolen Passport Section, or submit it in
person along with a passport application form. If you want to make
speedy report on your lost passport but are unable to do so by phone,
submit it personally instead. Along with that, also submit your
application for a new passport. That way, you accomplish two important
things in a single trip.
If you're going to submit an application for a passport, you'll need to
fill in the Form DS-11. It is worth noting that you can already
download both forms at the US Department of State's website. You can
fill in the form first on your computer then print it out, or print it
out first then fill it in by hand later.
Keep in mind that once your passport was reported lost or stolen, it is
automatically invalidated. This is a measure done to prevent identity
theft, since as mentioned earlier, your passport contains some of your
sensitive personal information. Once your passport is invalidated, you
cannot request its revalidation. You will need to apply for a new
passport.
Now what if you lost your passport while on vacation in a foreign
country? You'll also need to be quick in reporting the loss of your
passport, especially in that you're in unfamiliar territory. But
instead of going to the US Department of State's passport office,
you'll need to head to your nearest US Consulate or Embassy. They will
then help you invalidate your passport as well as apply for a new one.
Once again, you need to be quick when you've lost your Passport. You
must report it to the authorities as soon as you can, since the
information contained there may result in the theft of your identity.
So the sooner you report Lost or Stolen Passports, the sooner it will
be invalidated and rendered useless.
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