<p>Any one dealt with their child studying abroad and losing a passport. IN this case it may not be lost, it may be not put away, but with the time difference, we won’t know that until tomorrow.</p>
<p>DD is in the UK, cannot at this moment locate her US passport; she is to leave early next week for another UK locations (tickets purchased, which is when the passport was last seen) and then on to a UK location at Christmas.</p>
<p>The US embassy seems to have a procedure for replacing a lost passport when one is traveling, but I cannot tell if that is considered an emergency or not and their appointments show as booked for the rest of the month AND they ask you to bring a stamped mailing envelope so they can mail it to you, but the timing is so close on this that mailing won’t work.</p>
<p>So, with fingers crossed that it is either in the school office or the lost and found, does any one have any encouraging stories or hints for how to best work the system to get it done in time. She can go to the nearby consulate on Fri or Mon and then has Tues/Wed/Thurs/Fri in another UK location before supposedly heading off to EU.</p>
<p>My daughter had her passport stolen the day before she was to leave Argentina. She contacted the embassy and they gave her an emergency one. It cost her $100 and she had to get a new photo taken. The $100 could be applied towards a real permanent passport if it was applied for within a year. The embassy is use to dealing with this stuff. Have her go talk to them and get it sorted out. Does she have a copy of her old passport? That may make things easier.</p>
<p>Or did you make a copy of her passport before she left? We had our kids take two copies which they stashed in different places when they were traveling. We also had a copy here…which were were prepared to fax to them if they couldn’t find theirs. </p>
<p>I agree…contact the American Embassy. They deal with this issue all the time.</p>
<p>I’ve dealt with this problem twice. Our experience was that you need the passport photos to take to the embassy. First time H#1 lost his in transit when we got off a plane in Narita en route to China. He was able to talk his way back on to the plane and when we landed in Hong Kong he was given a 48 hour visa. I had made photocopies of his passport and Chinese visa and it took him an extra day in Hong Kong to get the replacement.</p>
<p>I had learned from my S’s experience. He spent his jr. year of H.S. in France. We visited and, despite my calling him at his home, he forgot to bring his passport when we took him on a trip through Europe. This was before the EU. We filed a “lost passport” with the train police in Paris on the advice of the US Embassy. This enabled us to go to Belgium and he obtained a new passport during normal business hours when we arrived in Amsterdam but we had to have photos taken.</p>
<p>I now bring photocopies of the passports and any visas as well as extra passport size photos taken at Costco or AAA.</p>
<p>A few years ago, my passport was stolen in Paris two days before I was headed to Spain. I went to the U.S. embassy and – for a fee – and while having my family members (who fortunately were with me) vouch for my ID, was able to get a temporary passport. They mailed a permanent passport to, I think, a U.S. consulate in Spain, so I could pick it up there.</p>
<p>It’s not hard to do this. Happens to a lot of Americans who are abroad.</p>
<p>My daughter had a man distract her and her friends and then he quickly grabbed her backpack that was on the floor at her feet and was out the door. She was in a cafe and she thought the guy looked out of place but then it all happened so quickly. Luckily, she had a charge card that was not with her at the time so she could get a new passport. I hope she is a little more wary now. She also had a friend who was typing on a lap top at a cafe who had the laptop stolen out from under her fingers. A guy leaped off his motorbike and grabbed it and hopped back on! It can happen that fast.</p>
<p>I was eating breakfast with my husband at a Holiday Inn in Paris, and I had my purse hanging over the back of my chair. I walked over to the other end of the room to get a newspaper, and left my purse. Unfortunately, my husband went back to the buffet at virtually the same time, and my purse was stolen.</p>
<p>I know someone whose backpack with passport was stolen while she was crossing the street in Quito. The man who did it was dressed in a business suit. He grabbed her backpack and ran away.</p>
<p>In the Bahamas one evening, was walking down the street with my purse – with a long strap – hanging from my shoulder. I was walking by the road. Some guys drove by in a car and grabbed my purse.</p>
<p>Never had mine stolen or lost but I have been in Barcelona and Paris. Experienced people trying to distract someone in our group and make a grab for their bag. I always make a couple of copies of my passport, keep one in my suitcase back at hotel and one stays in my office where someone can fax it if need be. Having the copy is supposed to speed up the process of replacing it because they can look up the numbers…</p>
<p>Woot-woot, DD called me at 3:45AM my time to let me know she found it at the one other spot it could have been. Not real excited about the timing and feeling some what hungover from sleep deprivation, but I am so glad she found it!</p>
<p>Excellent! However, from a travel agent of 28 years, for anyone’s future reference:</p>
<p>Yes, photocopy the inside page with all your pertinent data and tuck that copy into a compartment of your suitcase…AWAY from your passport. While of course they can look up your info, this makes SURE to show that you are who you say you are (no mix ups if you share the name with someone on the “do not fly” list). Also…make sure you’ve signed your passport (officials will usually catch that for you). And that you’ve PENCILED in a contact in the US (flip through your pages, you’ll see that but most barely notice it) so you can be contacted if someone finds it. Then just GO to the nearest U.S. Embassy. You’ll wait forever, it will be a hassle. But they can/will reissue it.</p>
<p>You might also want to have loved ones you trust have a copy of this inside page of your passport in a safe place so you can have them fax or get it to wherever you need it if you make them an urgent phone call. When my S travelled with his school, everyone had to give a copy of the inside page of their passport to the school for safekeeping & we kept a copy as well.</p>
<p>They recommend NOT having your passport in a purse but keeping it in some pouch against your body to minimize pickpockets & othesr who want to grab & run. This is the strategy we used when we went to Europe. Hubby was initially stubborn & kept being harrassed by pickpockets until I insisted he keep all his pockets empty (they stopped bothering him thereafter). </p>
<p>They sell the inexpensive pouches at travel stores as well as drug stores. There are some you wear under your sock, others at your waist or around your neck under your clothing. There is one you wear attached to your bra as well. It does provide significant peace of mind, at least did for me, knowing that you have done all you can to secure your important travel docs.</p>
<p>D2 had her passport and wallet stolen in Moscow a few weeks ago. She got a temporary passport from the US embassy. The passport was the least of her troubles. The school had recommended that she make a photo copy of her passport before leaving the US and she had, which made the process easier.</p>
<p>Getting money was harder. She had to make calls to cancel her credit card and ATM. Then she called me to wire money. Secretary at the school office suggested Western Union. That was easy on this end–I used my ATM card at Western Union to wire money. Getting it from an office in Moscow took D2 several days. The bank mailed her new ATM to our home address and I sent it to Moscow via FEDEX. Paid for overnight delivery–it took 9 days! Since it took so long for her to activate the ATM–the bank froze it. Another frantic call from Moscow–I called the bank–card reinstated. Time differences caused a 2 day delay. Seems that all is well now. D2’s scheduled to fly home on Sunday!!</p>
<p>Her small handbag was stolen from a Starbucks where she had gone to use the internet during a break between classes. The bag was on the floor inside a bigger bag that she used to carry her computer. She didn’t leave the table once she sat down, but obviously she wasn’t paying attention as people walked by or sat down at nearby tables.</p>
<p>Use a fanny pack when traveling. It’s less easy for people to grab your purse or wallet (as in post 16) and you have it with you at all time.
If you bring a laptop, copy documents onto a flash drive and keep it with you all the time, too.
Keep your money and your documents in separate places. If you are mugged, hand in the money wallet only. That should do the trick.
When I travel, I distribute information to numerous people: first page of passport, copy of visa page, itinerary, health insurance info, contact info.</p>
<p>People do not mugged only abroad. I suggested to my S the idea of splitting money and credit cards after two muggings had been reported (the last one a few days) ago, in my neighborhood. Of course, it helps if you don’t walk by yourself in the middle of the night, even on a well-lit main street.</p>
<p>somemom-
My son was in the UK last spring.
I just asked him- He did not need his passport when traveling within the UK, just when he was traveling out of the UK.
Hope this gives your daughter time to find the passport or get a new one for coming home.</p>