Travelling soon and lost UK passport. What can I do?
- By
- Aparna Patel
- |
- 18 Jul, 2023
- |
Find your passport!
Looking for a passport is quite a stressful time, which implies doing mistakes, forgetting where you put it, when the answer can be easy.
Think out of the box! For the anecdote, I once “lost” my passport before going on a cycle trip. Therefore we could not use the ferry to reach our destination in Greece. When I got home after the trip, I unpacked and found my passport in… a small pocket in my bag! Check your old bags and pockets!
When did you have it for the last time? Where? What is your favorite safe place? Maybe you’ve hidden too well, but in a place you know well. Be smart and methodical in your research, it’s probably not in the kitchen.
Good luck!
Edit: just saw you found it! Glad
- Does my wife, who is accompanying me to a conference in Australia, need a separate visa application?
You might consider having a go with Directive 2004/38/EC Article 5(4):
Article 5
Right of entry
- Without prejudice to the provisions on travel documents applicable to national border controls, Member States shall grant Union citizens leave to enter their territory with a valid identity card or passport and shall grant family members who are not nationals of a Member State leave to enter their territory with a valid passport.
…
- Where a Union citizen, or a family member who is not a national of a Member State, does not have the necessary travel documents or, if required, the necessary visas, the Member State concerned shall, before turning them back, give such persons every reasonable opportunity to obtain the necessary documents or have them brought to them within a reasonable period of time or to corroborate or prove by other means that they are covered by the right of free movement and residence.
(emphasis added)
I wouldn’t think it likely to succeed, but you might just get away with it if you have enough proof "by other means." If you’re willing to risk being turned back at the ferry and you’re unable to find your passport, it might be worth a shot. Please come back and let us know what happens if you try it.
(Based on Hobbes‘s comment on his answer, it seems that it is more likely for this to work on a ferry to France with juxtaposed immigration controls, so you might consider changing your itinerary.)
- Am I entitled to a refund on a non-refundable booking that has been cancelled by the hotel
- Is it safe for a commercial flight to have Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan on its flight route?
There are only two permanent border checkpoints on your route: the departure and destination ports of the ferry. From my experience traveling to the UK, all traffic is checked on the France->UK routes. Outbound traffic from the UK is scrutinized less thoroughly, but the chance of having to show your passport is still too high to risk traveling without one.
- Does an EU citizen need to get health insurance before flying to London?
- How seriously should I take size and weight limits of hand luggage?
The passport office has an option to receive a callback. I left my name and number and an adviser called me back a couple of hours later.
The adviser explained that the quickest it is possible to replace a lost or stolen passport is 7 days.
The 1 day service is only available for replacements of expired or nearly expired passports that are still in your possession.
I guess I’ll need to look harder…
According to EU rules you need either a passport or a national ID card to travel between EU countries.
However, the UK does not issue national ID cards- there was a whole political issue about possibly introducing them during the Blair government which led to them eventually being rejected.
As a British citizen you absolutely 100% need a passport to leave the UK (except for Ireland…though to get on a plane you still need a passport).
There certainly is a 1-day service for passports. I once used this to renew a passport that was soon to run out (only to have said passport stolen a few months later…) and it worked as advertised:
https://www.gov.uk/get-a-passport-urgently
1 week Fast Track
Your new passport is delivered to your home within 1 week of your appointment. Someone might need to be in to sign for it.
You can use this service to:
- replace a lost, stolen or damaged passport
(none of the other options apply for replacing a lost passport)
The only possible way you would probably be OK without a passport (albeit putting yourself at great risk if you are subject to a random search) is if you’re already in continental Europe and travel by land.
From the UK your chances are nil unless you’ve access to a private boat or some other underhand means.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘