<p>So glad she found it - does save some hassles. A friend suggested we scan our passports and email them to ourselves in addition to taking a photocopy. That way you can pick it up anywhere in the world there’s internet if you lose the photocopy too. Also knew someone who lost a passport in Spain - the embassy in Madrid replaced it for him, no muss no fuss - not a temporary, but a permanent, new US passport, right then and there.</p>
<p>Oddly the embassy offered (on the 18th) an appointment for an emergency on the 22nd soonest??</p>
<p>When our three traveled together I made multiple color copies of all their passports. I kept a copy here, and each them had a copy of all three passports tucked in their suitcase. If you knew my boys, you’d know this was not overkill :-)</p>
<p>I bought the best, most comfortable document belts that I could find, and they didn’t wear them the whole trip (even on the overnight trains -sigh). But they got back with no problems whatsoever, aside from a few tales that we know only by codewords and facial expressions, which is probably (no, make that DEFINITELY) for the best.</p>
<p>Anyone who’s ever seen the inside of the American Citizen Services section of US Embassy London will see why the process is long! Not only is the entire place full of people waiting (some of them sleeping on the floor) but the line winds all around Grosvenor Sq. Lots of people working hard in ACS, but people arrive without proper documentation and it slows things down for everyone. Not to mention, elaborate security procedures obviously make a visit to your Embassy or Consulate overseas an ordeal.</p>
<p>Having photocopies of your passport will expedite the process of course, as the person processing your docs can easily find the case number for reissuance. Also, these are the forms you need:
[Lost</a> or Stolen Passports in the U.S.](<a href=“U.S. Passports”>U.S. Passports)
You can email that link to yourself or kids before traveling out of the U.S. If the pp has been stolen, be prepared to be asked if you filed a police report. There is a difference in classification btwn Lost and Stolen.<br>
Don’t forget to bring passport pictures the right size and format! There are photo booths at Embassies and Consulates, but lots of times they are broken (people try to jam in coins of the wrong currency!). There is a pharmacist on N. Audley St. around the corner from the U.S. Embassy who is doing a booming business in US Passport photos, if you don’t have photos already, the Passport officials will send you there – but obviously it’s better if you get them before you enter the Embassy.</p>
<p>BTW, I never had anything stolen during my 20+ years overseas. Being worried about your belongings will only ruin your trip, and these events are rare. Be organized before you leave the hotel/hostel, keep transport tickets and small amounts of “walking around money” in outer pockets (so you’re not flashing your wallet), and stash your wallet, cards and docs in an inside pocket. Don’t leave important documents, laptops or other valuables in hostels or trains, even for short periods of time. Don’t trust anyone you don’t know well to ‘watch your stuff’.</p>
<p>Have a frank talk with your kids about partying and clubbing overseas, you should assume they WILL do it. Make them understand the importance of having one of their party as the “designated non-drinker” who will keep track of everyone and their stuff. There are tragic stories (I worked in ACS overseas).</p>
<p>If you have to go to an overseas Embassy/Consulate to have a passport replaced, it helps to be nice! Passport officials see grouchy/angry/worried/stressed/jetlagged people all day long, it is really refreshing when someone smiles, and presents the case in a succinct and straightforward manner.</p>
<p>(@gusaspara, I doubt that, unless it was during the Franco era. More recently: [U.S</a>. Passports No Longer Issued Abroad](<a href=“U.S. Passports”>U.S. Passports))</p>
<p>Glad there was a happy ending to the story. I thought I was relatively sophisticated about managing passports (have a copy of passport with you stored away from the passport itself, leave a copy at home, and bring extra little photos when you think you will need visas) but I have learned three new ideas from this thread:</p>
<p>1) Pencil in the contact information in your passport, in case it is lost then found.
2) Scan and email a copy of the passport to yourself
3) Bring extra little photos of yourself even if you will only be in one country and have no need for visas; they will make life easier if you need to replace a lost passport.</p>
<p>Thank you for everyone’s helpful contributions to this thread.</p>
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<p>Worst possible advice ever. Nothing says “I’m a clueless American who has never left the states before and I am carrying my life savings in cash. Go on, mug me” better than this. Almost guarenteed to be followed by pickpockets, and at best you will be over-charged when buying anything.</p>
<p>Maybe I meant a document belt rather than a fanny pack? The belt has allowed me to be within carry-on luggage restrictions. I travel several times a year and never had my document belt stolen. I also was on the spot when a colleague of mine, staying at the same hotel, had their wallets stolen. One guy spilled ketchup on his duffle bag, then, with profuse apologies, “helped” my colleague wipe it of. Meanwhile, the accomplice lifted his wallet. My other colleague and I were focused on the ketchup wiping pantomime and did not see a thing. The owner of the wallet only discovered the subterfuge at the meeting.
I had my wallet stolen when I was on a bus in NYC. I opened my purse to pay the driver. Next I knew, my wallet was gone. The thief had gotten off the bus, too.</p>
<p>AnudduhMom - I didn’t think that anyone thought Franco was still alive in the summer of 2008…I know the family of the young man involved quite well and was aware of the issue as it happened. FWIW - travelers always need to take care - incidents like these are more easily handled in some countries than others.</p>
<p>gusaspara – please tell him to make sure he sends the temp passport in that was issued abroad to be replaced by the full 10-year that he paid for. He won’t have to pay the fee again, but the emergency pp he was issued has limited validity. He won’t want to wait until it’s too close to the travel time to do this.</p>
<p>AnudduhMom - well, we happened to be at the young man’s house today and did a bit of passport comparison. His actually looks and feels (rigid front cover) more like his father’s which was issued later in 2008 and less like mine which was issued in 2006. The expiration date is the full 10 years after it was issued (2018). It does say on one of the inner pages that it is a replacement for a lost passport but nowhere is there any indication that it is a temporary passport. He was never told anything about having to have it reissued. What are we missing?</p>
<p>hi gusaspara, I can’t say what happened (not knowing anything about the case), I guess Embassy Madrid had a slow day! I’m only sort of kidding. When I worked in ACS, I don’t think we ever issued a full 10-year on the spot, but then most of our cases involved the AmCit needing a quick replacement. Generally, in emergency cases, if you had all your ducks in a row (paperwork, pp number, kept your story straight) you would walk out with a ‘limited validity’ pp, typically 3 months, but you would pay the full 10-yr. pp fee. The pp holder would send in the ‘limited pp’ and have it replaced by the 10-yr. once back in the U.S for no extra fee. </p>
<p>Here is some more info:[Lost</a> and Stolen U.S. Passports Abroad](<a href=“404 - Page Not Found”>http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/emergencies/emergencies_1197.html)</p>
<p>Basically, I wouldn’t tell people that if they lose their pp they can have it replaced on the spot overseas, it really is one of those things best answered by “it depends”. Best advice is – keep the pp in a safe place. You don’t want to spend any of your valuable overseas time sitting in the consular section of any embassy.</p>
<p>(@gusaspara: sorry, got your PM just now, we were off skiing for a few days)</p>
<p>Actually, I had to chuckle at the mental image of going to someone’s house for a holiday visit and everyone whipping out their passports to compare them! People in the business don’t even do that. 
You needed more nog in the egg nog, wot wot?</p>
<p>Not the strangest thing that’s been done at holiday visits…</p>
<p>Anyway, thanks for the info - just glad the passport will work the next time he travels.</p>
<p>Some of these stories just reminded me that the only time my purse was stolen was from the back of my chair at a restaurant. A very bad idea! I live in NYC and I can’t tell you how many women do that.</p>
<p>I scan the relevant pages of my passport and other documents and email them to myself. They are safe in my email and I can access them fron any internet cafe if necessary. </p>
<p>In other countries, never hang your purse behind you. Some restaurants will have hooks under the table for this purpose.</p>