A step-by-step order for a lost passport while travelling: the police report, the consulate, the airline, and what to prepare in advance.
Losing your passport abroad is one of the more stressful situations a traveller can face, but there is a clear order of steps you can follow in any country. Here is that order, from the very first move to the last.
First step: report it to the local police
Before anything else, report the loss to the local police in the country where you are, rather than waiting until you are back home. That report is what any replacement document, and often any travel insurance claim, is built on. Without an official report, many of the steps that follow simply cannot begin.
Your own country’s consulate or embassy
A travel document is issued by your own country’s mission, not by the airline and not by the agency, and neither of them can stand in for that role. The exact procedure, and what you end up receiving — a temporary document or a full replacement — depend on the country you are in and on that specific mission, so your first conversation should be with them, without delay.
The airline and the agency
Your booking itself does not disappear along with your passport — it stays on record in the system. The agency can look at that record and tell you what the airline requires to continue your journey with your new or temporary document. But boarding still requires a valid travel document — that step cannot be skipped simply because the booking is known.
Copies in advance
A scanned copy and a photo of your passport’s details page, kept somewhere other than the original — in an email, in the cloud, or with a trusted contact — turn an emergency into a procedure with clear steps, instead of a scramble on the spot in a foreign country without documents.
Your travel insurance
Before assuming your policy covers document replacement or assistance in a loss like this, read the policy itself in advance, not at the moment of travel. It is a clause to check carefully, not a guarantee that automatically applies to every case or every policy.
Throughout the process, stay in contact with the agency through which the booking was made, even though the document itself is not their responsibility — they know exactly what to ask for and who to ask, and that saves precious time in unfamiliar surroundings. Related reading: the documents and visas page and our travel insurance guide. If you need help with your booking in the meantime, contact us as soon as possible.