What happens when your passport is stolen abroad
It’s the stuff of holiday nightmares: you’re having a brilliant break, when you realise that your passport has been lost or stolen and you have no way of getting home. The situation is not as uncommon as you might imagine. A recent Freedom of Information request from comparison website Confused.com revealed that more than 83,000 UK passports were stolen or misplaced abroad during the past five years.
Why do passports get stolen?
Passports or other identity documents might simply be stolen along with bags or luggage. Even if they aren’t deliberately targeted, pickpockets and other thieves often have links with organised crime, or access to the dark web, and can sell the documents on, according to Cyril Gout, Interpol’s director of operational analysis and support. Terrorists, fugitives or human traffickers and their victims might travel on stolen passports. Or they might be commandeered for identity fraud, perhaps to help open a bank account or credit card.
That’s why it’s important to report a lost or stolen passport online at gov.uk as soon as possible. “Think about a travel document like a credit card,” says Gout. “If I realise that I’ve lost my credit card, I stop everything I’m doing and cancel it immediately.”
Once it’s logged, the passport is added to an HM Passport Office database and subsequently shared with Border Force and Interpol, which has its own SLTD database across 196 countries, which includes 130 million records. “That information is then available to all the law enforcement in the world, mainly on the borders, at the airport, sea borders and at the railway stations, where [stolen or fraudulent passports] can be detected without delay,” explains Gout. “It means you could lose it in the morning, report it at noon, and then a few hours later, it will be on the Interpol databases and able to be identified. It prevents direct usage and the misuse of your identity for criminal purposes.”
Border officers are alerted once the flagged document passes through the e-Gates or manned channels and the document holder then enters a separate queue for further checks. For that reason, it’s important not to travel on a passport that you have cancelled, even if you subsequently find it again: you could be denied boarding. As for criminals travelling on stolen or forged passports, “the misuse of a document is already an offence in most countries,” says Gout.
Where is passport theft most likely to happen?
Confused.com’s research found that Barcelona saw the highest number of Emergency Travel Document (ETD) applications between 2019 and 2023, which suggests that the city may be a prime target for passport theft. But, though it is notorious for pickpockets, there may be another reason behind the figures – specifically, the popularity of the country with UK holidaymakers and the ease of getting an ETD there.
“Barcelona is home to one of the many embassies in Spain that people can visit to get an ETD,” says Alvaro Iturmendi, Confused.com’s travel insurance expert. “It’s likely that the city received so many applications due to the number of visitors Spain receives each year, with its embassy being the closest option for many holidaymakers.”
Spanish law does, however, require that people carry photo ID at all times – and this could be a contributing factor. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) advises paying particular attention when checking in or picking up luggage, or arranging car hire at a Spanish airport, as well as keeping a copy of the photo page of a passport in a safe place. “Keeping your passport in an internal pocket inside a bag will make it harder for people to steal if you’re out and about,” adds Iturmendi.
How do I get home?
In most cases, ordering an ETD will enable you to return to the UK. If you have more time and a residential address abroad, you can order a new passport instead.
British nationals outside the UK who need to travel within six weeks can use ETDs to make a single or return journey passing through up to five countries. You will be told where and when to pick up yours and should be asked to surrender it to Border Control on arrival. Once home, it’s necessary to apply for a new passport.
An ETD costs £100 and usually takes up to two days to be prepared. It’s generally a simple process requiring a passport photo, contact number and email address, but can be more complicated if ID checks are needed. In addition, “you may need to travel to your nearest British embassy to collect it,” according to Sarah Smith, the director of retail underwriting at Allianz, which owns LV General Insurance. This can be a headache for those travelling off the beaten track in a country with limited offices (as an example, holidaymakers in Thailand would need to go to Bangkok).
When Allison Galston noticed that her passport was missing while holidaying on Hawaii’s Big Island in 2011, she found that the nearest British consulate was a five-hour flight away in Los Angeles. Luckily, its staff worked with an unlikely source to make the process of picking up her ETD as simple as possible.
“They contacted the Australian Consulate in Honolulu and arranged an appointment with them for me to take my paperwork over for the travel document,” she says. “I got a flight the next day to the Australian Consulate and was issued the ETD within an hour, after the documents had been sent over to the British consulate. I returned the same day to the Big Island.”
Be aware, however, that a handful of (lesser-visited) countries don’t allow travel on an ETD, while others only allow exit and may require a separate visa. You can exit Egypt on one, for example, but can’t enter or travel through it. You’ll also need to attend a face-to-face appointment with the Passport and Immigration Office.
In the United States, you can’t travel on an ETD using the ESTA visa-waiver scheme. The FCDO website states that “to enter or travel through the USA using an emergency travel document, you must apply for a visa from the nearest US embassy or consulate before you travel (this may take a number of weeks) or hold a valid lawful permanent resident card (often referred to as a ‘green card’), which you must have with you on arrival.” There’s comprehensive country-by-country information here.
Will my travel insurance help?
It might do, as long as you have reported the loss or theft to the police. “You can usually claim on your travel insurance for a lost or stolen passport – if your policy covers it,” says Iturmendi. “This may not always be the case, so it’s always best to check the details before buying, or speak to your insurer directly to see if it’s something that can be included.”
Smith adds: “LV’s travel policies cover ‘lost, stolen or destroyed’ passports under our baggage cover. If the passport is lost, stolen or destroyed while customers are on their trip, then we’ll pay up to £500 for the cost of extra transport, accommodation and administration costs needed to get a temporary passport or emergency travel document.”
