Posts Tagged ‘stolen passports’

What To Do When Your Passport Is Stolen

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Passports are important travel documents issued by the United States that should be safeguarded at all times. Should you experience a stolen passport, you have to take immediate action. A number of steps should be taken in following legal procedure to replace the travel document as fast as possible.

Step 1

The first step to take if you have been a victim of theft is to report the travel booklet as stolen. In the United States, one would visit the State Department, Embassy or Consulate for reporting the item as missing. This is especially true for individuals who are traveling abroad and have has their legal document illegally taken from them.

DS-64

The DS-64 form is usually required to be completed and must be done as soon as possible. The specific form is necessary in recording your statement, which will document that it has been lost as a result of theft. The alternative to filling out the necessary documentation is to contact the Passport Services of the United States that will invalidate the document.

Invalid

If the legal document has gone missing and is invalidated, it cannot be re-validated. Those who have become a victim of theft and are in another country should visit the nearest U. S. Consulate or Embassy as soon as possible. Remember that one must first notify the State Department of your loss by completing the DS-64 form and mailing it to the designated address.

Accuracy

Always proof read the forms to ensure that all items have been correctly answered which is important for processing the particular application. Often a police report is required to be submitted with the particular documentation that states the situation in which the specific item was taken from you. Once all details have been documented, the forms may be posted to the Passport Services of the United States Department.

Loss of a Valid Passport

If your legal document was valid at the time that it went missing, the DS-11 and DS-64 forms will have to be completed and submitted together. This is because one will have to apply for a new legal document, which is the reason that the DS-11 form is needed to be completed and delivered to relevant authorities. A number of specific documents are necessary when applying to replace the important travel document.

Identification

One will need to present a certified birth certificate issued in the United States or Certificate of Naturalization. An identification driver license or government issued identification card is necessary as well as 2 photographs that are passport size. A fee is charged when applying for a new legal document and additional charges apply to expedited passports.

Once the item is reported as a stolen passport, it will be invalidated and the document can no longer be used for travel purposes. The application process for obtaining a new legal document requires that you appear in person. The procedure for a stolen passport requires that individuals complete designated forms for reporting the incident and then applying for a new document to replace it. Whether it’s stolen or damaged you can request an expedited damaged passport if you need it quickly.

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How To Replace A Stolen US Passport

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

If you’ve lost your passport or if it was stolen, it’s important that you know how to replace lost passports. Don’t know where to start? You’ve come to the right place because we’ll show just how to do this with the help of this article.

It all begins with your reporting of the loss of your passport. This is an important step that you need to do immediately. To report this, you will need to fill up a DS-64 form. This is a form that will contain your statement regarding the loss of your passport. Alternatively, you could call the Passport Services office of the US Department of State. But if you are in another country when you lost your passport, you’d need to visit the nearest US Consulate or Embassy immediately.

When filling up your Form DS-64, make sure that you fill in every item correctly and exhaustively. This may also require you to remember details that surround the loss of your passport. Fill in any detail that you think will be helpful in replacing your passport. Once you are done with this step, you can then send the form to the Passport Services office of the US State Department.

How about in cases when the passport that you lost was still valid by the time it disappeared? You would be required to have your passport replaced. To do this, you would have to submit your Form DS-64, along with the DS-11 in person. The DS-11 is the form you fill up to apply for a replacement United States passport. You would then send these forms to your nearest passport agency or acceptance facility.

Take note that once your passport has been reported lost, that passport will be invalidated. It means that that passport is no longer an official document, and can therefore no longer be used for travel. Also, once invalidated, you cannot request the passport to be re-validated. You would thus need to apply for a new passport.

What if you recover your passport after you’ve reported it was stolen? You will be required to send this to the US Department of State’s Passport Services office. You can request this passport returned to you, otherwise, it will be destroyed by the office.

When applying for a replacement passport, the acceptance facility will require you to submit your application in person. And since you have to travel to the agency’s office, it is highly advised that you check your documents before you even go there. This would save you the hassle of going back and forth until you are finally complete all the requirements.

Now that you know how to replace a stolen us passport, let’s sum things up a bit to wrap everything up. First, you need to report the loss of your passport immediately. You can either fill in the DS-64 form, call a toll-free number, or the nearest Consulate or Embassy, depending on your case. Once you’ve reported your loss, that’s only the time you can request for a replacement passport.

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Passports In The News – What You Can Learn From These Stories

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

Passports have been mediums for identity theft since they were first invented. With a passport, a potential identity thief can enter and exit the United States, and, using it as a veritable form of identity, can access all sorts of stuff that can be potentially dangerous. There have been many news stories lately about passport fraud, and with increasingly technologies on both sides of the passport fraud “industry,” they are becoming more and more important for the American people to see. From a stolen U.S. passport to identity theft of a dead man, these stories show just how dangerous a misplaced passport can be.

One of these stories comes straight out of Baltimore Washington International Airport. John Skelton, a 41 year old British citizen, tried to enter the United States using the passport of a certain Kurt Branham. Kurt Branham has been dead since 1994. He was a Legislative Aide to a United States Senator, and an obituary article helped to pin the criminal. One of the most surprising elements to this story is the fact that Kurt Branham’s identity had been used two times before and was under monitoring by the US government.

Another story comes from Buffalo, New York. 29 year old Eugene Todie is a New York man that is on probation for criminal contempt. Managing to get out of the country and into Canada, he was arrested upon returning when he tried to re-enter the United States using someone else’s passport. Todie was wearing an ankle monitor, and when he was questioned by Customs and Border Control, he said he was wearing it out of his loyal fandom to Lindsey Lohan, who also happens to be wearing an ankle monitor for her various alcohol-related crimes. A little far-fetched, but people like this are dangerous nonetheless.

You may have heard about Lindsay Lohan’s own issues regarding passports. While she was overseas, she claimed someone stole her passport, making it impossible for her to return to Los Angeles where she could appear in court for missing numerous court ordered alcohol education classes. She allegedly tried to re-enter the country without a passport, but she was denied entrance. Whether you believe her story or not, it just goes to show that no one is immune from the passport laws. She was able to handle her passport renewal emergency, but not without dealing with the consequences.

Dealing with passports is serious business, especially if it has been stolen, copied, or forged. A criminal can do a lot of harm to you and your family with a passport, so be sure to keep yours in a very safe place.

As you can see by these varying news reports, passports are potentially harmful tools. If you are traveling abroad and your passport gets misplaced or stolen, there are things you can do to prevent it being misused. There are solutions to a passport renewal emergency, and dealing with it correctly is important to keep your stolen U.S. passport out of criminals’ hands. The best thing to do, however, is just be diligent. If you are protective of your passport and your identity, you are far less likely to be left dealing with an emergency.

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