Losing your passport abroad: what happens next

The US State Department’s page is explicit on both halves: we will cancel your passport after you report it lost or stolen. It will no longer be valid for travel, and reporting does not replace it — you must apply in person again for a replacement. The reporting route it describes is Form DS-64 completed online, then printed, signed and mailed to the address on the form, with a photocopy of the front and back of a photo ID such as a driving licence. A passport that turns up later stays cancelled.

Source: travel.state.gov — Report Your Passport Lost or Stolen, read 13 September 2026.

For British nationals stuck abroad, gov.uk sets out an emergency travel document that lets you travel from abroad if you need to travel urgently and cannot use your UK passport. Per that page it is usually valid for one single or return journey, through a maximum of five countries, and the conditions are that you are a British national, outside the UK, need to travel within six weeks, and have an urgent and unplanned reason to travel due to exceptional circumstances. Where those do not apply, gov.uk states you will usually need to apply for a UK passport instead.

Source: gov.uk — Emergency travel document: who can apply, read 13 September 2026.

Mid-move, the passport number is threaded through everything: residence-permit appointments, bank onboarding, tenancy files. A replacement carries a new number, so anything already filed against the old one may need updating — expect to re-present documents rather than assume systems reconcile themselves. Keep certified copies and a police report where one is issued. If you are an EU national in a country where your own state has no embassy, EU consular protection covers who steps in; and check the validity rules before your next border, since replacement documents can carry short expiry dates.

Source: travel.state.gov — Report Your Passport Lost or Stolen, read 13 September 2026.