Do This Immediately If You Lose Your Passport While On Vacation

You're standing in line for airport security, patting down your pockets to get your boarding pass and passport ready, when your stomach sinks. Something is missing, and your trip just got a lot more complicated. There are plenty of things it would be frustrating to lose on your vacation, from your luggage to your phone, but the absolute worst might be your passport. If this happens to you, don't panic. Before you do anything else, you need to report it lost or stolen.

When you realize you don't have your passport mid-vacation, your first concern is probably how you're going to get home. But there is another potential risk here, too. Travel documents are deemed a security risk, and if your passport isn't reported missing right away, whoever finds it — or whoever stole it, if your passport is gone because you were pickpocketed on vacation — can use your identification to steal your identity. Just remember, however, that as soon as your passport is reported, it's deactivated. So you might want to take a second to check all the pockets of your backpack before you hit submit on that report.

Fortunately, it's very easy to report your passport as missing. There is an online form that you can find on the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs' website that you can use to submit your report immediately, which is a good idea. But considering you're going to need another right away, you might just want to call the consular section of your nearest embassy or consulate so you can come in and do both things at once. There are limited-validity emergency passports which can usually be issued much more quickly than regular ones.

Then again, if, say, you accidentally dropped your passport in a Venice canal, you can safely skip reporting it to any local authorities. But if you lost your passport because you were robbed while traveling, it may speed up your application for a new one if you get a police report that makes the theft official. You'll need to fill in two forms: DS-64 and DS-11. If you don't have any other forms of ID on vacation (or you lost them in the same incident) don't worry. Consular officers are equipped to help you find a solution.