Apply for a passport replacement if you lose your passport abroad
Description
If you have lost your passport abroad or it has been stolen, you must obtain replacement travel documents for your return or onward journey from the German diplomatic mission in your destination country.
Depending on whether you want to return directly to Germany or travel to other countries, either a travel document that is only valid for entry into Germany or a new passport or temporary passport must be issued.
Please note that some countries require the entry stamp in the passport as proof of legal entry when leaving the country. In these cases, you may have to apply for an exit visa.
- Submission of all required documents
- Certificate of loss or theft reported to the police
- two current biometric passport photos in passport format 45 x 35 mm
- Proof of identity and nationality, for example by:
- identity card
- Copy of the lost or stolen passport
- So that new travel documents can be issued to you more quickly, you should carry copies of all your identity documents with you on your trip.
- Other possible costs:
for a passport using the express order procedure: an additional EUR 32.00 each
Travel documents issued by the representative authorities of other EU countries are subject to different fees.
Please note that the fees charged by foreign representations are only collected in the respective national currency.
Deadline type:
Remark (for further information on the time limit):
- Travel document as a passport replacement: Duration of the trip, maximum 1 month
Time limit type:
Remark (for more information on the time limit):
temporary passport: up to 1 year
Note for further information on the processing time:
Issuance
- Travel document as a passport replacement: usually within a few hours
- Temporary passport: several days
In order to have a passport or temporary passport issued to you by a German diplomatic mission abroad (embassy or consulate in the country where your passport was lost or stolen), the passport authority of your place of residence must issue the authorization. This may take a different amount of time depending on the individual case and the availability of the authority. If you also require an exit visa, your onward journey may also be delayed.
- Complaint or appeal against the decisions of the passport authority to the superior authority or the State Ministry of the Interior
- Legal action before the administrative court
The German diplomatic representation (embassy, consulate general or consulate) in the destination country
- Replacement travel documents can be issued on request by the German diplomatic mission in the country of travel. Go to the German embassy, consulate general or consulate with the required documents (honorary consuls are not authorized to accept the issue).
- If there is no German diplomatic mission in your destination country, the diplomatic missions of other EU member states can also issue replacement travel documents. You can only return to the EU with such a replacement travel document issued by the diplomatic mission or consular post of another EU member state and valid for a few days.
If there is no German diplomatic mission abroad, please contact the representative authority of another member state of the European Union (EU) in the country you are traveling to.
Federal Ministry of the Interior and for Home Affairs (BMI)
21.02.2024
The text was automatically translated based on the German content.
