Sometimes things happen and passport renewal is necessary. There are plenty of reasons that this can happen, but regardless of why it happened, the passport still has to be replaced. The tricky part in this process is that varying reasons will have different regulations as to how the new passport can be obtained.
A lost or stolen passport can be a disaster, especially if it is lost or stolen outside of the country. For domestic passport replacement of a lost or stolen passport, the applicant first needs to contact the State Department to inform them about the missing passport. This can be accomplished by calling the relevant number listed on the State Department website.
Once the passport has been officially reported missing, the applicant must fill out an official missing passport form, in person, at an application center. A new passport application must be filled in addition to this form. Once these two documents have been sent out for processing the applicant can expect their replacement passport in four to six weeks.
If someone is on a trip out of the country and they lose their passport, a whole new set of rules apply. They must immediately go to an embassy or consulate office and let them know what happened. These offices are very experienced in this and will expedite a passport replacement so the traveler can continue with their plans.
Expired passports are pretty easy to handle as long as there is not a rush and everything can be handled over the Internet and via the mail. All forms are available online and can be downloaded and filled out. Put the old passport, any additional documentation that is required and the forms in an overnight envelope and ship them off.
Damaged passports are very similar to expired passports and everything can be handled via mail. The one word of warning that we do offer is to make sure the old passport is included with everything else. It is surprising how many people actually forget this and the whole process gets delayed until the old one is received.
Should a traveler be abroad when the passport is damaged, everything will be fine as long as the numbers on the passport can be read. However, it might be a good idea to stop by the embassy to make sure everything is indeed okay. This is actually a great example of why it may be best to get both a passport and passport card. While the passport card is not official for overseas travel (they are only meant for border trips to places such as Canada and Mexico), it will still provide some type of backup for a damaged passport book.
It is always smart to check the actual State Department website for the current laws. Things can change without notice and what people are seeing on the Internet from an unofficial site may be outdated when they are reading it. Using the State Department site for United States Passport Replacement information ensures that you are up to date on the latest information and will not run into any problems in trying to get your new passport.