Official-source guide

What to do if your passport is lost at the airport

Last checked: 19 October 2026 · Guides

Short answer

Tell airport staff or airport police immediately and retrace only safe, controlled areas. If the passport is not recovered, use the issuing country's official lost-passport route and contact its embassy or consulate when abroad. Do not assume a photo or photocopy permits international boarding. A mission may assess an emergency passport or travel document, but it must first verify identity, nationality, and the itinerary ^1,2.

First minutes: Tell airport staff or airport police and check controlled lost-property routes
Official report: Use the passport country's loss-report route ^1,2
Abroad: Contact the nearest embassy or consulate
Photocopy: Useful for identification, not a travel document
Emergency issue: Subject to identity, nationality, and itinerary checks

Before you report it cancelled

Check your bags, clothing, check-in desk, security tray, lounge, gate, and the airport's controlled lost-property point. Tell airline or airport staff without leaving secure areas against instructions.

A formal loss report often cancels the passport. If staff have located it and the issuing authority has not received a loss report, retrieve it through the airport's controlled process.

If the flight is soon

Tell the airline that the passport is missing. A photocopy, phone image, national identity card, or police report does not by itself replace the passport for international travel.

Call the passport authority or nearest embassy's emergency consular route. Explain the departure time, destination, transit points, and proof of identity available. The mission decides whether same-day help is possible ^1,2.

Reporting the loss

Follow the issuing country's official instructions. Some countries require a police report. Others accept an online or consular report. Keep the case number and obtain written proof where available.

Once the passport is cancelled, do not use it if airport staff find it later. Give it to the issuing authority or embassy ^1,2.

Rebooking safely

Do not rebook until the embassy or passport authority tells you what document can be issued and when. Ask the airline and every transit authority whether they accept that document.

Protect visas and residence status separately. A replacement passport does not automatically recreate a visa or residence endorsement held in the missing booklet.

Common questions

Can I board with a passport photo?

Do not assume so. A photo is identity evidence, not a travel document.

Should I report immediately?

Search the controlled airport locations promptly, then use the official route if it is not found.

Can an embassy issue something today?

It depends on identity checks, itinerary, office access, and the country's rules ^1,2.

What if it is found after cancellation?

Do not use it. Surrender it to the issuing authority or embassy ^1,2.

Rules and fees change. Check the official site linked above before you apply or pay. Spotted an error? Email [email protected] with the official link.

Sources

Lost your passport abroad: first steps
What to do first when your passport is lost or stolen abroad, from official advice by the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Germany.
Emergency travel documents and emergency passports
What an emergency travel document is, how it differs from an emergency passport, and the rules in the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and the EU.
What happens to a passport once you report it lost or stolen
Why a reported passport is cancelled for good, how Interpol's Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database works, and what happens if you find it later.
How INTERPOL's lost passport database works
What the INTERPOL SLTD database records, who submits passport data, how border checks use it, and why a recovered passport stays unusable.