Know Your Rights: Lost or stolen passport

Question

What happens if my Irish passport is lost or stolen while I am travelling abroad? 

Answer

lf you lose your Irish passport abroad, you should immediately report the loss to the local police and to the nearest Irish Embassy or Consulate. You will be asked to confirm the loss in writing or, if you are applying for a replacement, to include the details of the loss in your passport application.

You must also ask the local police for a written statement that you have reported the loss of your passport. A member of the police authority in the country in which the passport went missing must witness this statement.

You will need this police report to get a replacement passport or Emergency Travel Document from an Irish embassy or consulate.

If there is no Irish embassy or consulate in the country where you are, contact the embassy of any EU member state and they will get in touch with the nearest Irish embassy on your behalf. An embassy of another EU member state cannot issue you with a new Irish passport, but can, in some cases, issue an EU Emergency Travel Document for a single journey back to your country of permanent residence in the EU.

It may be useful to carry a photocopy of the personal data page of your passport with you when travelling, or to scan an image of that page and email it to yourself.

Any passport reported as lost or stolen is no longer a valid travel document. You should not try to travel on a passport that has been reported as lost or stolen.

Further information is available from the Citizens Information Service below.

Know Your Rights has been compiled by Boyle Citizens Information Centre which provides a free and confidential service to the public. Tel: 0761 07 6330 

Address: Elphin Street, Boyle, Co. Roscommon

Information is also available online at citizensinformation.ie and from the Citizens Information Phone Service - 0761 07 4000