What to do if you lost your passport

Unfortunately, no person is immune from the loss of documents, in particular a foreign passport. If the loss of your international passport is confirmed, you need to prepare for the procedure for document restoration. In this situation, the reasons for its loss are unimportant, be it theft or simple negligence in storing the passport. It is still necessary to prepare a package of documents to restore a lost passport.

It is worth considering that in accordance with the Administrative Regulations of the FMS, if a foreign passport is lost, a new certificate is issued, and the old one is not restored. The scheme for obtaining a new foreign passport is standard. To do this, you need to contact the local branch of the center or the migration authority if you are staying abroad. You need to provide documents for passport renewal and. It is important to know that a fine is not issued for the loss of a passport.

What to do if you have lost your passport in Russia? Let us give some recommendations in this case:

1. The first piece of advice is don't panic. If you lose your passport in your home country, it will be easier to restore it.
2. The second advice is that you must visit the police station and leave a statement about the loss of the document. Do not forget to request a certificate of loss of your foreign passport. Without it, restoring your identity is impossible.
3. The third piece of advice is don’t delay collecting the required documents.

When you already have a certificate from the police, feel free to go to the district branch of the FMS. The restoration of a passport in case of loss will begin with writing an application - a petition for the issuance of a new document.

In addition to this, you need to collect this:

• passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation (original and copy);
• a certificate from the police about the loss of a passport;
• receipt of payment of state duty;
• if you have a work book, you need to attach a copy of it;
• (standard format for documents - 3 by 4);
• providing a military ID if you are liable for military service or a paper from the military registration and enlistment office (F - 32);
• in some situations, the FMS inspector may ask for additional documents.

Keep in mind that a foreign passport is issued both in the old sample and in the new format with a chip (biometric). To do this, the above documents will be sufficient. If you want to have a biometric passport, you must take fingerprints (), while taking a photo is a mandatory requirement.

application for an old-style passport
application for a new foreign passport

You need to know how much it costs to “purchase” a new document in order to immediately pay the state fee without delays. After all, the sooner you pay, the sooner you will receive a new ID. A “standard” old-style foreign passport costs 2 thousand rubles, and a document in biometric format costs 3,500 Russian rubles.

If a child has lost their international passport, then recreating the document is similar to its “adult” counterpart. In this case, both parents’ passports with Russian citizenship and the minor’s birth certificate are provided to the FMS. In a situation where the child is under guardianship, you must provide a certificate that you are the guardian.

A new foreign passport is 1 month (if you have a permanent residence address) or 4 months (if you have temporary registration or its absence). It is important to know that deadlines may change due to various technical factors.

At the end of the passport renewal period, you must contact the FMS to obtain a new certificate.

Losing your identity document abroad

Often, a person who is abroad does not know what to do if his passport is lost and panics. It is clear that without a lost document, a Russian citizen will not be able to return to his homeland. To do this, he needs to have a certificate to enter the Russian Federation. If this “misfortune” does happen to you (you can’t find your passport), then strictly adhere to these recommendations:

1. You need to write a statement about the loss of your foreign passport to the police. It is important to know that it is written in the language of the country in which you are currently located. Advice: when planning a trip abroad, prepare a sample of such a statement in advance. You must ask for a certificate confirming the loss of the document.
2. Visit a Russian consulate or representative office abroad to obtain a certificate to return to your homeland. To do this, you need to present to the consulate employees a certificate issued by the police and a package of additional documents, if any. It includes a copy of a foreign passport, certified by a notary, an original passport of a Russian citizen or a driver’s license, which also proves identity and 2 photographs in a 4 by 6 format. Next, you must write an application at the representative office to receive an exit certificate.

temporary identity card of a citizen of the Russian Federation
certificate of entry into the Russian Federation

Based on the documents presented, consular officers make a request to Russian law enforcement agencies. After checking the information, you will be given a special certificate-permission to leave a foreign country and enter the Russian Federation.

This document is produced within 2 days on a special form. After receiving it in hand, the Russian citizen is given 15 days to return to his homeland, this is exactly the validity period of the certificate. It is important to know that if you have refugee status or do not have Russian citizenship, then at the consular department you have the right to obtain an entry visa.

After arriving in Russia, you need to visit the migration service office within 3 days and give there the entry certificate received abroad. Moreover, this should be the body where the previous document was issued. Further, the FMS will tell you about how to restore a passport in case of loss. The only thing is that in this case you will need to attach to the standard package of documents a certificate confirming that your passport has been lost.

Losing a passport by a child

If a child under the age of 18 (18 years old) has lost his/her passport abroad, then the parents or guardian are responsible for obtaining an entry certificate. To do this, you need documents proving the identity of these persons and the child’s birth certificate.

In a situation where a minor’s passport is lost without a legal representative nearby, the group leader must obtain the certificate.

If a child’s international passport is lost as part of an organizational group with which he traveled abroad, then all responsibility for it lies with the organizer of the trip. The loss of the international passport of at least one child member of the group is fraught with the fact that no one will be able to return home until an entry permit is issued in place of the lost passport.

In any case, don’t panic if your passport is lost and you don’t know what to do. A simple recommendation: before traveling abroad, scan all the necessary documents that can help if your passport is lost. Save the scans to your email. If you have the “trouble” of losing your main ID, these scans can always be printed and presented to the consulate staff. It is not recommended to take the internal passport of a Russian citizen with you on a trip; it is best to make a notarized copy.