Just Had Passport Stolen - Permission to Stay Will Expire Before New One Issued

[hawker9000]

Just a little follow-up; just got back from the Embassy:

Got there at 0730; was out with an emergency/temporary passport in less than 2 hours. This temp. pp is good for 1 year (and if you apply for a new regular pp before this one expires, the fees can be applied to the new pp). Fees are $135. The emergency passport only has 5 visa pages (and new pages canNOT be added to it). In the back is an endorsement indicating that it's a replacement for a stolen passport.

Some notes on my experience:

1) The police reports really are the keys to the kingdom. If you lose or have your pp stolen, get this done ASAP. They'll give you a copy to walk away with - MAKE COPIES (a couple or three). You'll need them at the Embassy. At every step along the way, they'll want to see, and some will collect a copy of this. (All copies collected will be returned when you're finished though.) I did not receive from the police and so did not have, and no one asked me for, a translated version of this.

2) In BKK at least, your cellphone will be binned at the security checkpoint. It'll be secure - they'll give you a numbered bracelet and ask for some kind of id to store with it.

3) Also have your DS-64 AND DS-11 done. You can do these online (see Lopburi's link) and then print them out ahead of time. Even if submitted online, you will be asked for the printed copies (and will end up signing one - DON'T sign ahead of time!). The DS-64 is the Report of Lost/Stolen Passport and can & should be submitted online as well. (If you should somehow happen to "find" your passport after submitting this, you might just as well have lost it because submitting the DS-64 cancels & deactivates the passport - irrevocably (or so the warning reads...). Doing these on a tablet or smartphone might be theoretically possible, but I recommend you find a PC...

4) The next most important thing to the police report to have with you is a photocopy of your original passport. 'Course you have to have done this before the incident occurs, but having copies simplifies and expedites things enormously. Just don't travel without copies of your passport.

5) Find and USE the 24-hour Embassy number to talk to a Duty Officer ASAP after your pp is stolen. They'll collect all your details and prepare a report on you for the ACS section that sort of "paves the way" and gets your name on the list. Keep the Duty Officer informed of your progress in getting the police report and your intentions for showing up at the Embassy, as well as your current contact information. To reach the Duty Officer, give the operator who answers (who will be Thai, but very good with English) your name, the fact that your are a U.S. citizen, and that you've had your passport stolen, and want to speak with the Duty Officer. (If the DO should be busy - and that happens - simply be prepared to call back a bit later.) When the DO comes online, just mention you're a crime victim, have had your passport stolen, and that should kick things off.

After Action:

Along with your emergancy passport, you'll also get a letter addressed to the Immigration Division simply stating that this is a replacement for a stolen passport, that you have a copy of the police report in your possession, and please render any possible assistance. You'll ALSO get a 2nd letter meant to accompany the emergency pp when you go to apply for the new permanent one back home.

Not everyone that processes you into the Consulate Secction may quite "get" the fact out of the gate that you're there on an emergency basis due to having had your passport stolen. Again, Lopguri's information applies. State/remind anyone who starts asking you whether you have an appointment that you are a Crime Victim (refer to the U.S. State Dept webpages on this program). The BKK Embassy is onboard with it, but not everyone in the check-in chain (all of whom are Thai locals) will be knowledgeable of it. They won't react like typical Thai bank employees (for example) might - rather than knock you back out-of-hand, they'll call somebody & ask if they don't know.

Lastly, I'm not actually sure that my looming permission to stay expiration and travel planned around that weren't key factors in getting the same day service. There were other people walking in and picking up passports while I was waiting, which must've been submitted for on some earlier day. 'Can't really say what their situations were.

Edited December 11, 2015 by hawker9000

[JLCrab]

Just to note:

Primary Evidence of U.S. Citizenship (You must submit one of the following. Photocopies and notarized copies are not acceptable):

• Previously issued, undamaged, and fully valid U.S. Passport (5 year for minors or 10 years for adults)
• http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/first-time.html#step3

... And obviously not talking here of the passport that was stolen but one prior to it (I have 2 expired US Passports with me here in Thailand)

Edited December 11, 2015 by JLCrab

[hawker9000]

Just to note:

Primary Evidence of U.S. Citizenship (You must submit one of the following. Photocopies and notarized copies are not acceptable):

• Previously issued, undamaged, and fully valid U.S. Passport (5 year for minors or 10 years for adults)
• http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/first-time.html#step3

... And obviously not talking here of the passport that was stolen but one prior to it (I have 2 expired US Passports with me here in Thailand)

Not getting why this post is relevant to this thread. If submitting for a regular passport in the States, certainly the previous passport is not the only acceptable proof of citizenship, as the link itself points out. I'd be (and will be) using my birth certificate. But none of this is relevant to, and seems confusing to, this topic, which is about getting an emergency replacement for a stolen passport. I was asked for no such additional documentation today. Edited December 11, 2015 by hawker9000

[JLCrab]

An expired US Passport less than 10 years old is primary proof of US citizenship. That's why it is relevant.

[ubonjoe]

An expired US Passport less than 10 years old is primary proof of US citizenship. That's why it is relevant.

The link you posted if for a first time passport.

Lost or stolen is here: http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/lost-stolen.html

[JLCrab]

An expired US Passport less than 10 years old is primary proof of US citizenship. That's why it is relevant.

The link you posted if for a first time passport.

Lost or stolen is here: http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/lost-stolen.html

I realize that but it was a place where it specifically stated on a US State Department website page that an expired US Passport less than 10 years old (for an adult) is primary proof of US citizenship.

Edited December 11, 2015 by JLCrab

[ubonjoe]

An expired US Passport less than 10 years old is primary proof of US citizenship. That's why it is relevant.

The link you posted if for a first time passport.

Lost or stolen is here: http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/lost-stolen.html

I realize that but it was a place where it specifically stated on a US State Department website page that an expired US Passport less than 10 years old (for an adult) is primary proof of US citizenship.

The best source of info is the embassy website. http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/replace_lost_stolen_adult_passport.html

For a lost passport this is what it says.

4. Bring the following to the appointment:

Form DS-11

Form DS-64

Original police report documenting the loss/theft

A photocopy of your current U.S. passport, if available

A valid photo ID, if available

Passport photo (See link for detailed requirements; an onsite photo booth is available for a fee of 120 THB.)

Fee of $135, payable in cash (USD or THB) or by credit card

[JLCrab]

I was just trying to let US Citizens know, as they may be unaware, that an undamaged expired US Passport less than 10 years old is primary proof of citizenship. Nothing else.

[hawker9000]

A quick addendum (for the benefit of those who follow...)

When you go to Thai Immigration to get your entry stamp reinstated, that'll consume one entire visa page (of the five in the Emerg. Passport). And be sure and have copies of the police report and of the new passport with you, as well as the Embassy letter: they'll be collected and not returned.