Travel Tips

Different Methods For Expedited Lost or Stolen Passport Replacement

Imagine being abroad and having the time of your life, only to reach into your bag one day and realize that the passport is not there. How about getting ready to leave on a trip and thinking that the passport is in the safe deposit box and when it is checked a few days before the big trip, no passport. It is situations just like this that are the exact reason that there is an expedited lost or stolen American passport replacement service.

Methods for replacing a lost passport depend upon whether or not the applicant is at home or abroad. Obviously, replacing a lost passport within U.S. borders is much simpler than replacing a passport abroad. Replacing a lost or stolen passport domestically is similar to applying for a new passport.

From the moment the passport is discovered to be missing, it is important that the passport holder jumps right into action. A phone call to the State Department should be the first move to make them aware the passport has indeed been lost or stolen. They can then do what they have to on their end to make sure that it is not used for illegal purposes.

In order to get a hold of the State Department, the passport holder must call their toll free number (877-487-2778) and report what happened. After they have done that, they can go to the website and download the DS-64 form. This is the form that must be filled out in order to get a replacement passport.

Once the DS-64 form is completed, the standard new passport application will also have to be filled out again. The same protocol applies to getting a stolen passport replacement at this point that applies to a new passport, so the whole process should be fairly familiar to anyone that has to do this. In essence, it is just the need to fill out the additional form.

Filing your application through a passport expediting service may require an additional fee, as well as two-way overnight postage and normal fees. Simply add the DS-64 form to the normal passport expedition process and the new passport should arrive in a few weeks. Currently, the State Department projects waits of about two to three weeks for an expedited lost or stolen passport.

If the citizen is abroad, that changes things considerably. The traveler will have to find out where the closest U.S. Consulate or Embassy is and report to them. Once there, they will go through the process of what has to be done and expedite it to make sure that the person can get home and that their trip is not ruined. The whole process goes much quicker if the citizen has copies of their documents, which is why it is recommended that photo copies are always made and kept in an area (like a compartment in the suit case) where they can be accessed in just such a case.

Acquiring an expedited lost or stolen us passport replacement is not always easy and can depend heavily on where the passport needs to be replaced. Replacing a passport domestically is quite simple, and a US passport expediting service can help. The protocol for replacing a passport abroad can be a bit different and seems to vary from country to country. The surest way to avoid a hassle is to always have copies of important documents.

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