Visiting new countries lets you experience several types of cultures, languages, and people. Imagine what will happen if your vacation full of fun and frolic turns into a nightmare due to passport loss. A passport is one of the most important documents you have while travelling abroad. Passport is a government authorized document that ensures foreign authorities that you are an Indian Citizen. Just imagine what trouble you will bring in if you lose your passport abroad. Ruined vacation, sleepless nights and extra expenses are some of the terrible things you will face. In this situation, a travel insurance policy acts as a saviour. Apart from filing a claim to your travel insurance company, here are a few steps that you should take when you misplace your passport abroad so that you can safely return to India.
1. File a Police Complaint
Once you realize you lost your passport or it got stolen, you should go to the nearest police station and file a complaint. Don't forget to collect the copy of the police report for the same as it serves as a proof of loss of your passport. Also, a police report helps you with embassy-related formalities like applying for a new passport or an emergency certificate.
2. Contact the Indian Embassy
The second most crucial step would be contacting the embassy. Connect with your country's embassy and let them know about your lost passport. Embassies abroad are established to extend help to distressed citizens abroad.
3. Apply For a New Passport or an Emergency Certificate
Once you reach the embassy, you have two options – you can either apply for a new passport or get an emergency certificate. If you decide to apply for a new passport, you will have to wait for minimum a week to get the new passport. Here's a list of documents you need to apply for a new passport -
Copy of lost passport (both sides)
Copy of police report
Passport size photos (4-6)
Copy of visa and air tickets
Personal application stating the motive for an immediate issue of the new passport
If you could not wait for a week, then you should go for an Emergency Certificate. This travel document can be used once to authorize the travel of an Indian citizen who has lost their passport, to return to India. The documents you need to apply for an Emergency Certificate are-
Copy of lost passport (both sides)
Copy of police report
Passport size photos (4-6)
Application for submitting an EAP-2 form
No matter which option you choose, you'll have to get your visa stamped again.
4. Apply For Re-issue of Visa
With the loss of your passport, you lose every visa you might have. However, you can get them back by visiting the respective embassy of the country that issued the visa. Even for this process, a copy of your old visa and police report is needed.
5. Reschedule Your Flight
It would be impossible for you to travel without a passport, and the re-issuance can take several days. Hence, you should consider rescheduling your flight if need be. Intimate your airline about the situation to avoid any hassle in the future.
6. Claim Travel Insurance
Contact your travel insurance provider at the earliest and tell them about the case. Keep the Police Report and receipts related to expenses incurred due to passport loss handy.
We are a human being, and we tend to make mistakes. No matter how precisely we plan our trip, things tend to go haywire. By following the steps as mentioned above, you can effortlessly gloss over the theft of your passport with minimal loss of time and money.
