Stolen Pasport – Recovering It May Be Easier Than You Would Think

An individual that wakes up one morning in the middle of a trip to find their passport gone can find their entire vacation or business trip in tatters. This will prohibit any travel to any other countries on their itinerary and maybe even hamper their return home by delaying it for quite some time. This can cost an individual quite a bit more money than was budgeted for a trip in extending their stay and in the replacement of the stolen passport.

The federal government maintains a hotline for reporting stolen passports. In addition to making this call, the victim will need to complete a form reporting the situation. There is no government-provided quick replacement service for stolen passports. The person will have to go through the same passport application process as those who are applying for their first passport. The standard processing time is eight weeks, and the expedited service takes four weeks. Many times, this will be far too long for someone to wait, especially if travel is planned in the near future. There are private companies that offer processing within 24 to 48 hours if necessary.

The majority of these have forms that will need to be filled out and these will be available via a link on the provider’s website. The governmental forms are standard DS-11 and DS-64 passport applications, so one will need access to a printer that most hotels will provide. There will also be an order form that the provider requires be printed out and sent in along with all of the other paperwork.

In addition to the required forms, applicants will need to provide documentation proving citizenship. Acceptable documents are a certified birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or certificate of citizenship. A document proving identity, such as a valid driver’s license or current government or military ID, will also be required. For those who do not have one of these, a list of acceptable secondary identification is provided on the Web sites.

The person will also need to provide two new passport photos. These photos must adhere to certain guidelines in order to be used in a passport, so if traveling it may be best to have a passport photographer take the photos. These photographers know exactly what to do and locating one can be done via Internet or phone book search.

The documents, photos, and forms must be sent to the processing company in one package. The package should be mailed via a carrier that offers a tracking service. The shipment contains highly confidential information, so tracking the package to make sure it arrived safely at the proper destination is recommended.

These private companies charge additional fees for processing passport applications but it is a small price to pay in order to get back home. The fees range from approximately $150 for three-day processing to $300 for next-day processing. These charges are in addition to the government fees for passport processing. Several forms of payment are accepted, so the traveler should not have a problem making payment as long as the funds are available.

Replacing a Stolen U.S. Passport can be relatively painless by using one of these providers. They help to expedite the return and can make an otherwise interrupted trip go smoother the rest of the way. The Internet holds the key to all of the passport application providers and their websites, making them quite easy to find.