Polite Thief Returns Stolen Passport - Expedited Passports

When your passport is stolen, the last thing you’d expect the thief to do is to take the time to mail it back to you. But that’s what happened to one US tourist vacationing in England in May, according to the BBC.

The tourist, a 73-year-old woman, was waiting with her husband for a train to the airport when a young man stole her handbag, which contained a little over $8,000 worth of jewels.

The woman replaced her stolen passport at the US Embassy and continued home, only to receive her stolen passport in the mail, along with her driver’s license, about five days later.

You just have to marvel at how someone could steal a handbag, keep $8,000 worth of jewelry, and yet take the time to send back the victim’s driver’s license and passport!

Of course, when you report a stolen passport, the original passport is invalidated, but at least the woman can still look over the visa stamps in the back. However, the sentimental value of the passport pales in comparison to that of the jewelry that was taken, according to the BBC:

“The valuables had “enormous sentimental value” to the victim and losing them had caused her “a great deal of distress”, British Transport Police said.”

If you lose your passport overseas, you have to apply for a new one at the nearest US Embassy or Consulate. Making a copy of the identification pages of your passport and stashing them somewhere separate from the original will expedite the replacement process. When you apply for an emergency replacement for a stolen passport overseas, the Embassy generally issues it quite quickly so as to minimize further disruptions to your travel plans.

However, be aware that if your passport is stolen in the US, you’ll need to apply in person at the nearest passport acceptance office, and it can at least 6 weeks for your replacement to arrive in the mail. You can expedite your application by paying an additional $60 expedite fee, but this only reduces the processing time to three weeks.

For the fastest possible service, you can make an appointment at the nearest regional passport agency location. However, there are only 24 of these offices serving the entire country, so you may have to travel a good distance to get to one. The more convenient option is to use a private passport expediting company like RushMyPassport. We personally deliver your passport application to the Department of State, for processing in as little as 24 hours.

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In the 1999 film Being John Malkovich, actor John Malkovich plays a fictional version of himself grappling with a surreal variety of identity theft: a “portal” that allowed other people to take control of his brain.

Now, he’s the victim of a much more prosaic type: a stolen passport.

According to Reuters, Malkovich’s passport was stolen from his Prague hotel room last Friday, along with two cell phones.

A spokeswoman for the Mandarin Oriental hotel told Reuters that “We can confirm than an investigation is under way in the case of the disappearance of Mr Malkovich’s personal belongings.”

Fortunately, according to TV Guide, the stolen passport only delayed his trip to Poland by a few hours.

Losing your passport overseas is even more frightening than losing it at home, but there are some steps you can take to protect yourself and to make it easier to replace a stolen passport if it does happen. When it comes to protecting your passport, the most important thing you can do is to keep it somewhere safe, like the lockbox in your hotel room. However, sometimes even these room safes get broken into, or you might lose your passport on the way to board a flight or after you’ve gotten off the plane.

If you do suffer from a stolen passport, you’ll need to get in touch with the nearest US Embassy as soon as possible. There, you can report your passport stolen and apply for a replacement. If possible, before you leave on the trip make a copy of the pages of your passport that contain your personal data. Keep these separate from your passport. While the copy will not be sufficient to travel with, it will make it easier to get your passport replaced.

When replacing a stolen passport in the United States, if you already have a trip planned your main concern is likely to be time. It takes an average of six weeks to replace a stolen passport in the US. For faster service, you can pay an additional $60 for expedited processing, but that still leaves you hanging for about 3 weeks.

If you need your passport in less time than that, you have two options: make an appointment at one of the 25 regional passport agency offices located throughout the country, or use a private expediting company like RushMyPassport. The latter option is generally the most convenient and may even be cheaper, when you factor in the cost of travel to a passport agency and lost wages from time off work.

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If you live in El Paso, keep a close eye on your US passport.  According to local TV station NewsChannel9,  stolen passports are on the rise as thieves target US citizens for their travel documents.

In a story published on March 17th, the station advised that the local passport office had noticed a trend of people being mugged not for cash or jewelry, but for their US passports.  On April 19th, they reported that the trend had continued, and that according to supervisor at the local passport office, about 6 of every 10 passport forms filed were filed to report a stolen passport.

No matter where you live, if you own a passport it is important to know what to do if it is lost or stolen.  Below are the steps for reporting and replacing a stolen passport:

Step 1: Report the Theft

To report a stolen passport, you have two choices.  You can call 1-877-487-2778 and speak to representative between 8am and 10pm Eastern Time, except on weekends and holidays. Or you can fill out form DS-64, Statement Regarding a Lost or Stolen Passport.

Whichever method you choose, your passport will be permanently invalidated once you report it stolen.  If it turns out it wasn’t stolen and you find it the next day, you won’t be able to use it to travel.

Step 2: Apply for a New Passport in Person

To apply for a new passport, you must go to a passport office in person with the following documents:

• Proof of identity (the original and a photocopy)
• Proof of citizenship
• 2 passport photos
• The appropriate fees
• Passport Application Form DS-11
• Passport form DS-64, Statement Regarding a Lost or Stolen Passport

After you submit your application, you will need to wait for your new passport to arrive in the mail.  This can take anywhere from 6 weeks if you submitted it with regular processing to 3 weeks if you requested the government’s expedited processing.

If you need it sooner, you can make an appointment at a Regional Passport Agency office during their business hours to get it replaced immediately. However, a private passport expediting service like RushMyPassport.com is usually much more convenient-no need to take off work or drive to a passport office (in many cities and towns the nearest office is hours away by car), and your application can be processed in as little as 24 hours.

Stolen passports stink, but replacing them doesn’t have to. Apply with us today!

A Massachusetts woman whose purse was stolen lost more than her wallet-she also lost her passport, complicating her plans to adopt  a little girl from Ethiopia.

According to WBZTV.com , Colleen MacRae was shopping inside a Home Depot store when a man distracted her and then made off with her purse. Inside was her passport.

The lost passport is potentially more than an inconvenience-it also puts her and her husband’s plans to adopt a child in Ethiopia next month in jeopardy.

As Mrs. MacRae explained to WBZTV:

“Anybody who has ever been through the adoption process knows having to change one number on your home study, your application, your dossier, means possibly getting lost. It could mean that some bureaucrat is going to put that wall down on you and prohibit you from adopting all together.”

Since there is so little time for Mrs. MacRae to replace her lost passport, Senator John Kerry’s office has stepped in to try to speed the process up.

Whether you have a lost passport or a stolen passport, the replacement process is the same: First, you must report the lost passport to the Department of State at 1-877-487-2778 between 8 am and 10pm, Monday through Friday.  This invalidates the passport so that no one else can use it.

Then, apply in person for a new passport. You must submit the following documents:

• Form DS-64: Statement Regarding a Lost or Stolen Passport
• New Passport Application Form DS-11
• Proof of identity
• Proof of citizenship
• 2 passport photos
• Appropriate fees: Currently, it costs $100 to replace a lost or stolen adult passport and $85 for a child passport (minors under age 16). However, these fees are likely to increase in the near future, so be sure to check the Department of State’s web site.

It usually takes 6 weeks to get your new passport back in the mail for regular passport processing and 3 weeks if you use the government’s expedited processing.

However, if you need your passport sooner, you can either make an appointment at a Regional Passport Agency office, or use a private passport expediting service. The latter option is quicker and easier-considering the cost of taking off work and getting to a passport office if there isn’t one nearby, the extra expense is usually worth it and you may even save money in the long run.

Replace your lost passport today!

Lost a passport (or any other luggage) at the Phoenix airport lately? You might want to ask this couple if they’ve seen it. Police allege that Keith King and Stacy Legg-King had approximately 1,000 stolen bags from the Phoenix airport in their house when they were finally apprehended.

Can you imagine living in a house with that many suitcases? Even the officers that followed Keith King home after watching him steal a bag from the baggage carousel at the airport were boggled when they entered the home.   According to AOL news, one officer wrote in a court document that “The amount of luggage being stored inside of the residence was almost surreal.”

To keep your passport from ending up in the hands of people like the Kings, keep it on your person while you are in the airport. Lost passports should be reported as soon as possible to the US Department of State, by calling 1-877-487-2778.

Also, you’ll need to apply for a new passport and submit form DS-64, Statement Regarding a Lost/Stolen Passport along with your passport application. You’ll also need the following:

• Identification
• Proof of Citizenship
• Two passport photos
• The required government fees: there is a $75 application fee and a $25 execution fee to replace your lost passport, plus expedited passport service costs an additional $60.

Even with the $60 expedited service, it could be at least 3 weeks before you receive your passport. If you need it sooner than that, you have two options: make an appointment at a Regional Passport Agency office, assuming that there is one near you and that you can make it by the office while they are open, or use a private passport expediting service like RushMyPassport.com.

With RushMyPassport, you get help with the paperwork required to replace your lost passport, plus we deliver your application in pers0n to the Department of State, resulting in processing times as quick as 24 hours.

Replace your lost passport today!

These days, identity theft is a serious concern. Robbers are just as likely to steal your personal information and documents as they are to go for actual money and valuables. Of course, if your passport gets stolen, you should report it immediately-but what if the thief only gets your passport number, or a copy of your passport? In that case, they would have your passport number, but you would still have the physical passport in your possession.

According to the representative I spoke to at the National Passport Help Desk, you should be fine as long you still have your passport in your possession. There isn’t anything that can really be done with just a passport number-you need to have the actual document to do any damage.

If your passport is lost or stolen, here’s how to go about getting a new one:

• Report your passport lost or stolen by calling 1-877-487-2778.
• Apply in person for a new passport. You’ll need to fill out both a passport application and Form DS-64.
• Provide 2 new passport photos.
• Bring proof of ID and proof of citizenship
• Pay the $75 application fee along with the $25 execution fee (if you’re over 16, along with an additional $60 fee if you need your application expedited.  (more…)