Your passport is most certainly one of the most important documents when traveling. The passport gives you the ability to gain entry and exit when traveling to overseas countries. It is a requirement to have with you at all times when traveling abroad as it also serves the function of a legal identity card.
Losing your passport while in a foreign land is undeniably disastrous. Just imagine the time, money, and effort that you are sure to waste when you encounter this travel issue.
The harsh truth is that losing a passport overseas may happen to you as well. You may be a creature of habit and have been an expert on traveling without hassles, but who knows, you may suffer from this dreadful plight in one of your future out-of-the-country adventures. The most you can do however is to be fully prepared. By equipping yourself of information on how to manage a stolen or lost passport problem, you will still gain the ability to go back to your home country, or even travel some more for days or weeks to come.
- Always be prepared with copied documents before traveling abroad. Make sure to bring with you two copies of your passport and birth certificate. These sets of paperwork will serve as your proof of citizenship. Make sure to leave another copy with a family member or a trusted loved one at home. In case you lost your passport, you will still be able to have these copied documents sent to you if need be.
- Always be sure to write down your country’s embassy contact number and address in the country where you are heading to. In the unfortunate situation that your passport was stolen or misplaced, you will need to visit the embassy to retrieve your temporary passport.
- Aside from the pocket money that you intend to spend on shopping, dining, transportation, and accommodations, you will need to allot some cash as an emergency travel fund. This will be the source of cash if and when you need to pay fee for a temporary passport.
- If your country’s embassy offers a travel insurance program, you may want to enroll in one before you travel. The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program for instance enables travelers to process a replacement passport overseas without hassle. This is excellent for frequent flyers such as businessmen and professionals who constantly travel for work.
- Make sure to take three to four passport photos. You will need these excess pictures when applying for a replacement passport overseas. Not only will you be saving money by bringing along these extra passport photos, but will speed up processing of your temporary passport too.
- The first thing that you will need to do in the event that your passport was lost or stolen is immediately file a police report. Make sure to get a copy to submit to your country’s embassy for processing. Give as much information on how you lost your passport or how it was stolen from your possession. This will make it easier for local police authorities to create a case and start an investigation so you can have higher chances of getting your original passport as well.
I love travelling and have been to all fifty states. My ultimate dream is to visit every country in the world in my lifetime. I believe that travelling expands the mind and provides new perspectives. Along the way, I have found ways to save money, among them using specialized travel agencies, like Sundance Vacations, a company that has been in business for over twenty years.
