What to do If You lose Your American Passport

Hi, my name is Claudia Canizares and this is what do I do if I lose my U.S. passport. I hope this doesn't happen to you and you should know that the process is a little bit easier if you lose it here in the United States. If you lose it outside of the country, it's a little bit more complicated but I'll explain the process to you so you don't have an issue and you can get it solved as soon as possible. Well, if you lose your U.S. passport here at home and you don't need it right away, your first option will be to download the application online, fill it out and send it to the address indicated on the application with the payment that is going to be around $80 to $110 depending on the service that you request. The standard service I believe is $80. The application is very easy to complete. It is not hard at all. It is only two pages so it asks for your mailing address, date of birth and you're always going to need to send evidence of your immigration status or your naturalization or your birth certificate. If you don't have a copy of your old passport, you are going to need this information. So, if you don't have a birth certificate available, you can also get those online. A lot of websites offer to send birth certificates directly to your home as long as you know where were you born, the hospital, obviously your original name and the name of your mom and your dad and you make a roach payment, they'll send your birth certificate to your home and then you can use this birth certificate to do your U.S. passport. You have to send it. You also have the option of going to a U.S. passport office where you can do the process in person. Now, that process you use it, just so you know, when you are applying, you're always going to need to, you download the application online but you would need to go to a passport office. There is some postal office that do the process. There is some police officers offices that will do this process but you're going to need to go to a designated passport location and submit the application there. You cannot send it just by mail. You go to the designated office and you give it to them and then they'll send it, they'll get a process and your passport is then sent home. But if you have an emergency and you need for your passport to be done right away, your best option is to go to a local passport office. You are going to need to request the appointment online and you need to tell them when you're traveling and you need to provide evidence that you are traveling. Basically, you have to go with your ticket and you have to go with that information. So you go with the evidence that you are a U.S. citizen. You go with the correct fee that you are available to calculate this fee online and you go with the and a passport picture. You submit that at the beginning of your appointment and they'll let you know when you can pick up your passport. Depending on when you're going to travel, sometimes they'll give it to you on the same day. Sometimes it takes around two to three days. Sometimes it can take a week. It really depends. If you're going to travel within three months and you lost it, they'll probably won't give it to you right away. But if you're going to travel within the next day, they'll probably give it to you the same day. Now, the faster that you want the passport, the higher the fee. So I hope you don't lose the passport. But if you do lose it here, it will be a little bit easier. Now, if you lose the passport outside of the United States, try not to lose it, guys. But if you do, it can be a little bit more complicated. A couple of tips that I will give before you know what to do. Number one, get a passport card. And instead of carrying your passport around the city where you, you know, sightseeing and all that stuff, have your passport card on you. The passport card, it's only $20. It's very cheap. It looks like a driver's license, sort of. It also, it is recognized as a passport. And it is evidence that you are a U.S. citizen. So if you want to have your, any document to prove that you are a U.S. citizen, you can have it with you using your U.S. passport card. And you can leave the passport book in your hotel or in your family home, wherever you are. Now, if you don't have a passport card, then I would suggest to take a copy, take a picture of your passport, put it in a safe place on your phone, one of those apps that are, you know, that are secure. And then you don't have to be carrying your passport with you. You can just leave it there and then don't use it. Don't carry your passport book, leave the passport book in the hotel. But if you're carrying your passport book or you, your bags got stolen in the airport or something happened to you on the way to the hotel, then what you need to do is that you need to go to the U.S. embassy. Every U.S. embassy will have an office dedicated for U.S. citizens. Even U.S. embassies with limited service will provide services to U.S. citizens. And it's in that office where you can get a copy of your passport. You would need to make a payment, but please rest assured that the U.S. embassy will work with you. If you need money, if you have an emergency and all that stuff, they'll help you. Even if they have to loan you some, in some cases they have to loan you money, they'll help you. So don't drive yourself crazy. You will be receiving help if you're outside of the United States, but you will need to go to a city with a U.S. embassy. And not every city has embassies. You will need to go to the closest one, but the main cities around the world, all the capitals will have a U.S. embassy to help you. So you can make an appointment beforehand, or you can go directly to the U.S. embassy, indicate that you're a U.S. citizen, what happened to you, and then they will walk you in to the U.S. citizen services offices. Also, and this is a very good tip, if you are a U.S. citizen and you're traveling abroad, I suggest that you register on travelstate.gov. This is a very good tool that a lot of people don't know, but you can register there. You can give all of your information. And if something happens to you and you need your U.S. passport, a lot of valuable information will already be there saved. That way, the embassy doesn't have to run a lot of backgrounds to verify that you are a U.S. citizen. And also, it can be used in case you get lost or something happens to you, God forbid, you can provide your emergency contact information. And this person can start the process of opening an investigation to find you and things like that. But this video is not really about that. This video is more about what happens if you lose your U.S. passport. And now you know. I hope this video was helpful. Please follow me on YouTube for immigration tips. Follow me also on Facebook and Instagram for other tips and updates on immigration news. Thank you and have a good day.