Official-source guide
What happens to a visa in a lost passport
- Passport report
- Made to the passport's issuing authority
- Visa report
- Made to the visa-issuing country
- Replacement passport
- Does not recreate the missing visa
- US visa
- Report to the issuing US embassy or consulate 1
- Travel decision
- Confirm with the visa issuer before booking
Treat them as two separate documents
The passport belongs to one issuing country. The visa is permission recorded by another country. Report and replace each through its own authority.
Keep copies of the visa page, passport biodata page, police report, and loss-report references. They can help the visa issuer find the old record but do not preserve permission to travel.
Replace the passport first
Use the passport authority or embassy's lost-passport route. Tell it that the booklet contained a current visa and give urgent travel dates 2.
The new passport will have a new number. Do not assume the old visa record will transfer automatically to that number.
Contact the visa issuer
Use the foreign ministry or embassy site of the country that issued the visa. Give the lost passport number, visa details or copy, police report if requested, and new passport details once issued.
For a US visa, the Department of State says to report the loss to the issuing US embassy or consulate. A new visa application may be required 1.
Before travelling again
Ask the visa issuer whether a replacement visa, electronic update, separate permission, or new application is required. Check any residence permit or entry record that was linked to the old passport.
Do not rely on an old visa photo at check-in or the border. Carry the records the issuer tells you to carry with the new passport.
Common questions
Does a replacement passport include my old visa?
No. The visa issuer controls the visa record.
Who do I notify about the visa?
The embassy, consulate, or foreign ministry route of the country that issued it.
Can a photocopy be used for travel?
No. It can support the report but does not replace the visa.
What does the United States require?
Report a lost US visa to the issuing US embassy or consulate. A new visa application may be needed 1.
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
Related
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Lost or stolen US passport
How to report a lost or stolen US passport, the DS-11 replacement fees, and how to get an emergency passport at a US embassy abroad.