Avoid This Common Trip-Ruining Mistake If You Find Your Lost Passport

No matter if your dream vacation is looking for the Big Five in Africa or sipping your way through France's wine regions, you don't want anything to keep you from departing for your once-in-a-lifetime vacation destination. But what happens if you can't find your passport? The U.S. Department of State advises travelers to report their lost passport as soon as they realize it's missing. You don't want it to end up in the wrong hands — that's one way to make yourself vulnerable to identity theft, and that's not something you want to deal with. You can report a lost passport online, by mail, or in person, but know that as soon as you do, it is canceled immediately. If you find it after reporting it lost, it won't be valid anymore. You won't be able to use it to travel internationally, and you can be denied entry if you attempt to use it.

TSA accepts expired passports as forms of identification for up to two years, but a canceled passport still isn't going to get you into another country. It's a good idea to search for your passport months before your trip. Keep it in a safe place so that you know exactly where it is when it's time to pack. If you realize early enough that you've lost it, you have time to appropriately deal with the situation so that it hopefully won't affect your travels.

After you've rummaged through drawers, searched through your old luggage, and torn apart your house looking for your passport, there comes a point when you must accept that it's missing. While reporting it lost is the right thing to do, know that you won't automatically get a new one. You still have to apply in person in order to get a replacement passport, and you'll need to submit forms DS-64 and DS-11 whether you find it or not. If you do stumble across it after you've reported it lost, you should submit it to the Consular Lost and Stolen Passport Unit (CLASP). Don't try to use it, because once you've reported it, it won't be valid for international travel. 

Once you apply for your new passport, it could take a couple of weeks for the U.S. Department of State to process your request. At that point, you can easily check the status of your passport application. At the time of writing, current processing times are four to six weeks, but if you pay $60 extra for expedited service, you could have it in two to three weeks.

That's why it's really important to make sure you know where your passport is well before your trip — just in case you need to apply for a replacement. Even if you have insured your trip, there are some things travel insurance doesn't cover. As far as travel insurance companies are concerned, it's your job to make sure you have a valid passport. If your new passport doesn't arrive in time and you can't board your plane, they likely won't reimburse you for the money you spent on your dream vacation.