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Lost Or Stolen Passport

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Lost Or Stolen Passport - Don't Panic, Recovering Yours Is Easy

You need to act swiftly if you lose your passport or if it is stolen from you. The reason for this is that your Lost U.S. Passport contains sensitive personal information, such as your full name, birth date and address. Acting swiftly will prevent identity thieves from being able to perpetrate criminal activities in your name. In this article, we'll be showing you exactly what you need to do when your passport has been Lost or stolen.

Filing A Report

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.

When filing a report on the loss or theft of your US passport, you will be required to fill in Form DS-64. Try to fill in as much detail as you can remember regarding the loss of your passport. The details that you provide will help explain what happened, or what might have caused your passport's loss.

You will then have to submit your completed DS-64 once you fill it in completely. You can either send it through the mail or submit it to the passport office in person. You will have to present it in person if you are also submitting your form to apply for a new passport.

Applying For A New Passport

The DS-11 is the form you'll use to apply for a new passport. This form requires you to submit it in person. Today, you no longer need to go to the nearest passport office to get this form. Instead, simply download it from the US Department of State's website. From there, you can fill in the form on your computer or you can print it out first before filling it in by hand.

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 New Passport is invalidated, you cannot request its revalidation. You will need to apply for a new passport.

In Foreign Countries

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 in your lost or stolen passport may result in the theft of your identity. So the sooner you report your Lost or stolen New Passport, the sooner it will be invalidated and rendered useless.