The receptionist asks for your passport, you reach into the inside pocket of your bag, and it is empty. Perhaps it slipped out in a taxi; perhaps it was taken in a crowded street. Either way, it is gone, and you need a plan for getting home.
This guide covers what to do if your passport is lost or stolen abroad: the first steps, emergency travel documents, the EU rule if your country has no embassy or consulate there, and how to prepare before you travel.
Key facts for a lost or stolen passport abroad
- Police report: usually requested by embassies and insurers
- Your embassy or consulate: handles replacement or emergency travel documents for its nationals
- No embassy of your own: outside the EU, EU citizens can ask any other EU country's embassy or consulate
- EU emergency travel document: issued to them for a single journey, normally valid for no more than 15 calendar days
- Be prepared: a photo or copy of your passport's photo page, stored separately
Lost or stolen passport abroad: what to do first
If you have been threatened or hurt, call for help before anything else: 112 reaches emergency services in every EU country, and outside the EU you need the local number. Then work through these steps:
- Check your accommodation and the last places you visited, in case the passport was simply left behind.
- Report the loss or theft to the local police and ask for a copy of the report.
- Contact your embassy or consulate and ask what to do next.
- Tell your travel insurer, if you have one.
- If your bank cards or phone went with the passport, contact your bank and your mobile operator as well.
Getting an emergency travel document
If your own country has an embassy or consulate in the country where you are, contact it first: it handles replacement or emergency travel documents for its nationals. Each country sets its own procedure, so ask what it can issue in your case and what to bring.
Take the police report, the photo or copy of your passport's photo page and a second form of ID if you have one. Before you book the journey home, ask when the document is likely to be ready.
No embassy of your own: the EU emergency travel document
Not every EU country has an embassy or consulate in every country. If you are an EU citizen in a country outside the EU where your own country has no embassy or consulate, the embassy or consulate of any other EU country there must help you on the same terms as its own nationals (Article 23 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU). The EU's diplomatic service calls citizens in this position 'unrepresented'.
If your passport is lost, stolen or destroyed, you are entitled to an EU emergency travel document from that embassy or consulate. It is valid for a single journey back to your own EU country or, exceptionally, to another destination, and normally for no more than 15 calendar days. It is issued after your own country confirms your nationality and identity, which can take some days, and you must return it after you arrive at your final destination.
How Telcomia helps
On Telcomia's safety page, choose your nationality and destination to see your embassy or consulate, an official 24/7 consular emergency line verified against official sources, directions to the embassy, emergency numbers and travel recommendations from your government. Its consular layer is built around the EU's consular protection rules (Directive 2015/637).
The app adds emergency phrases with audio, in the local language where available, ready to show whoever is helping you.
Before you travel
- Keep a photo or copy of your passport's photo page, stored separately from the passport.
- Pack a second form of ID if you have one, and keep it apart from the passport.
- Look up your embassy or consulate for each country on your route, and save its address and 24/7 consular emergency line.
- Save the local emergency number for each country you visit.
- If you have travel insurance, note the insurer's emergency contact details and your policy number.
Questions travellers ask about a lost or stolen passport
What should I do first if my passport is stolen abroad?
If you are in danger or hurt, call the emergency number first: 112 in every EU country, the local number elsewhere. Then report the theft to the local police, ask for a copy of the report and contact your embassy or consulate about an emergency travel document.
Can another EU country's embassy help me?
Yes, if you are an EU citizen in a country outside the EU where your own country has no embassy or consulate. The embassy or consulate of any other EU country there must help you under the same conditions as its own nationals, including with an EU emergency travel document if your passport is lost or stolen.
How long is an EU emergency travel document valid?
Normally for no more than 15 calendar days, and only for a single journey back to your own EU country or, exceptionally, to another destination. You must return it after you arrive at your final destination.
Do I need a police report?
Embassies and insurers usually request one. Report the loss or theft to the local police as soon as you can, ask for a copy of the report and take it with you to your embassy or consulate.
The short version
Report the loss or theft to the police, keep a copy of the report and contact your embassy or consulate about an emergency travel document. If you are an EU citizen in a country outside the EU where your country has no embassy or consulate, any other EU country's embassy or consulate there must help you. Before you travel, keep a copy of your passport's photo page separately.
Find your embassy and emergency numbers →
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