While almost all other documents can be accessed online, losing a passport is one of the last analog emergencies that can derail international travel.
Here’s a guide to replacing a lost passport depending on how quickly you need it, how much money you have left over, and where you live. (By the way, the process for last-minute renewal of expired passports is quite similar.)
If you have at least three weeks
You’ll be fine. On the Department of State’s website at travel.state.gov/passports, first report the loss of your passport and then follow the process to obtain a replacement. On the website, you’ll find a list of 7,500 passport acceptance facilities, including post offices, public libraries and court clerks’ offices, where you can make an appointment or, in most cases, come during scheduled business hours . They will verify your documents and send them to the State Department, and you will receive your passport in the mail.
Before the day of your appointment, please check what you need to bring, a list that will include at least proof of US citizenship, payment (acceptable forms vary by facility), the correct forms (for lost passports, they are the DS-11 and the DS -46) and in most installations, a correctly taken photograph.
“Routine” processing time to replace a passport takes six to eight weeks and costs $165; Choose the “expedited” service, for an additional $60, to receive your passport in two to three weeks.
You might even be able to get yours “faster than advertised,” said Matt Pierce, managing director of passport services at the State Department, noting that the pandemic-era backlog was cleared in December.
Avoid delays by carefully following instructions and consider spending an additional $19.53 for faster shipping.
When time is scarce
If your trip is less than three weeks away, you’ll need to take the extra step of going through one of the 26 passport processing offices in the United States. If you do so without a third-party expediter, you must schedule an appointment online or by phone, up to 14 days before your trip.
There are no longer walk-ins, an option before the pandemic, but the State Department has increased its capacity to eliminate the need for them, Pierce said, and the offices give special priority to documented “life-and-death emergencies.” of immediate family members. You’ll need to bring all your documents and proof that you’ll be traveling soon, such as a plane or cruise reservation.
Things can get complicated if you need an appointment within a day or two. In such cases, you can call to schedule an appointment or contact your local member of Congress.
Laurie Lee, CEO of Swift Passport and Visa Services, a Chicago-based expediting company, has seen cases where customers about to miss a wedding or other once-in-a-lifetime event spend hours refreshing the site to find a last option. . Minute appointments, and even end up booking flights across the country if they find an opening. This, of course, costs time and money.
At the passport office, the process will be similar, except that you will probably be able to pick up your passport later that day. In most cases, Mr. Pierce said, you won’t have to come back the next day, but it can happen. (You can also request to have your passport mailed to you, if you have time.)
Using a shipper
If you have at least three business days and are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on help, consider Swift or one of the more than 200 other agencies registered with the State Department as couriers or shippers.
Expediters are especially useful for people who live far from the nearest passport office and cannot or do not want to drive or fly there. But they can also benefit anyone who has trouble getting an appointment on time, because they have reserved slots that allow them to take a client’s application directly to certain passport offices. Swift, for example, can bring 10 requests a day to the Boston office and five to the Chicago office. Depending on the urgency, Swift support costs between $155 and $599.
To work with an expediter, you’ll still need to go to local passport acceptance facilities, such as a post office, where workers verify and seal your documents in an envelope, which you then mail (or hand-deliver) to the expediter. They will take care of the rest and return your new passport to you.
What can go wrong
If you are traveling to a passport agency, allow enough time to get there. Messing up something on the form can also cause delays that will cost you your trip.
“Common mistakes include signing in the wrong place, not putting the date on your application, having a passport photo that is the wrong size or not being framed correctly in the photo,” said Steve Diehl, director of corporate development at CIBTvisas, a major shipper.
Once you get it
When your passport arrives, make digital and paper copies. Change your number on trusted traveler programs like Global Entry, and remember that if your old passport had a visa for the country you’re going to, you’ll need to rush to replace that, too.
If you later find your old passport, keep it as a souvenir: it is no longer valid.
If you lose it while abroad
First of all, try not to do it. Unless you are traveling to a country that strictly requires you to carry your passport with you at all times, keep it in a hotel safe and carry a photocopy with you, as well as your driver’s license.
But if your passport is lost or stolen, report it online to protect yourself from identity theft, and then contact the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate to schedule an emergency appointment. You’ll need that paper or a digital copy of your passport, plus documents similar to what you’d need for a replacement in the United States. You may receive a real replacement passport or an emergency version, usually valid for one year.
In a real emergency, you can try one last maneuver: ask the airline to contact U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to request permission to enter the country without a passport.
Precautionary measures
Several shippers have reported that many of their clients have lost their passports during recent moves, so when packing your home, be sure to remember where your passport is packed.
Oh, and before you give up that lost passport, check your home photocopier or scanner. “I can’t tell you how often people find it in their copier,” Ms. Lee said.