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 will change depending upon where the passport holder is located, but there are ways to get the passport replaced rather quickly. While it is a lot easier to get it replaced on U.S. soil, there are measures in place to be able to get a new passport when the original is lost abroad. It may be a bit more involved, but there is no need to panic.
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.
Realizing that a passport can be lost or stolen at an inopportune time, there are pass port expediting services that can be used to make everything happen quicker. Just like the expedited services for a new passport, lost or stolen service cost $60 to have it back in about three weeks. If that does not make things better, there are quicker services that are available for a higher fee.
If the person is already abroad, the process changes just a bit. The citizen will have to go the local US Embassy or Consulate and let them know what happened. If they have copies of all of their documents, they should bring them with them. At this point, the representative will let them know what has to happen and guide them through the process.
Acquiring an expedited lost or stolen USA 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 United States 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.