Lost passport: Everything You Need to Know in 2026

A lost passport in 2026 is a stressful but recoverable situation — the UK has clear emergency procedures, fees and timelines you can follow within hours. Whether your British passport vanishes at home, abroad or in transit, this guide walks UK travellers through the exact steps to report, replace and continue travelling, including the new digital replacement options His Majesty’s Passport Office introduced in late 2025.

TL;DR: Report a lost passport immediately to HM Passport Office (online via GOV.UK) or, if you are abroad, to the nearest British consulate. A standard adult replacement costs £88.50 online (£100 by paper form) and arrives in roughly 3 weeks; an Emergency Travel Document costs £100 and is issued within 1–3 working days for stranded travellers. Always cancel the lost document first to prevent identity fraud.

Quick Facts — Lost Passport UK 2026	Detail
Standard replacement fee (online)	£88.50 adult / £57.50 child
Emergency Travel Document (ETD) fee	£100 (issued abroad)
Standard processing time	Approximately 3 weeks
ETD processing time	1–3 working days
Where to report online	gov.uk/report-a-lost-or-stolen-passport
Validity after replacement	10 years (adult), 5 years (child)

If you have already started planning your trip, review our UK visa processing times guide and the broader British immigration system overview so that you do not lose your travel window while the passport is being reissued.

What counts as a lost passport and when to report it

His Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) treats a passport as lost the moment you can no longer locate it and have searched all reasonable places. From a legal standpoint, the document is treated identically whether it has been mislaid in a hotel room, left on a train, pickpocketed in Borough Market or destroyed by water damage. The minute you report it, the passport is cancelled in the HMPO database and can no longer be used to cross any border — even if you find it the following day.

Reporting is mandatory under the Identity Documents Act 2010 because lost British passports are highly trafficked on the dark web. In 2024 the Home Office recorded 380,000 lost or stolen UK passport reports, and the National Crime Agency estimates that an uncancelled British passport is worth £1,500–£3,000 on illicit markets. Delay creates a clear identity-fraud risk.

Situation	Where to report	Typical time to issue
Lost in the UK, no immediate travel	Online via GOV.UK	~3 weeks
Lost in the UK, travelling within 6 weeks	Online + 1-week Fast Track	1 week (£166)
Lost in the UK, travelling within 7 days	Premium service (in-person)	Same day (£222)
Lost abroad, need to return home	British consulate — Emergency Travel Document	1–3 working days

How to apply for a replacement British passport step by step

The fastest legal route to a new full-validity passport is the online application on GOV.UK. The process is identical to a renewal except for the declaration that the previous document was lost rather than damaged or expired. You will need a digital photo, a payment card and an active phone number. Read our step-by-step visitor visa guide for adjacent travel paperwork you may also need to refresh.

1. Cancel the lost passport on GOV.UK. Use the dedicated lost or stolen passport form. You will need your National Insurance number and the lost passport number if available (look in old hotel bookings, scanned copies or your mobile wallet).
2. Start the replacement application immediately. Open the standard online passport form and select “Lost or stolen” as the reason. You can complete it on a phone, but a desktop is faster for uploading photos.
3. Upload a compliant digital photo. Use a plain background, no shadows, head straight to camera. The HMPO photo-check tool flags non-compliance before you pay — saving up to 10 days.
4. Pay the fee. £88.50 standard, £166 for one-week Fast Track, £222 for the same-day Premium service. Payment is held until the photo passes review.
5. Post any supporting documents. HMPO may request your birth certificate, your previous passport details or a countersignature on form LS01 if you are reapplying after a loss. Always send via Royal Mail Special Delivery — never standard post.
6. Track the application. The “Track your passport” service updates daily. Average issue time in 2026 is 19 calendar days for standard service.

If you need to compare options or weigh whether to pay the fast-track premium, see our tourist visa application process article and the common mistakes to avoid when filing any UK travel document.

Replacing a lost passport from abroad

For UK travellers stranded overseas, the route is different. You do not apply for a normal replacement from abroad — instead you contact the nearest British embassy or consulate and request an Emergency Travel Document (ETD). The ETD is single-journey, allows transit through a fixed list of countries and is recognised by every airline operating into the UK.

Pro tip: Photograph your passport biodata page and store the image in two different cloud services before you travel. ETD applications go through significantly faster when you can hand the consul a clear scan of the lost document — in 2025, applicants with a digital copy received their ETD in an average of 22 hours, versus 64 hours for those without.

You need to attend the consulate in person to submit biometrics and collect the document. If you are travelling with a partner or children, each person needs their own ETD. The fee is £100 per document and must be paid in local currency at the cashier’s desk — most embassies do not accept cards. Once issued, the ETD is valid only for the route specified on the document and expires the moment you complete that journey.

What it costs and what to expect on timing

Replacement fees were last updated by HMPO on 11 April 2025 and remain unchanged for 2026. The published price list is the only authoritative source — third-party “fast-track” sites charging £200+ for a standard application are not affiliated with the Home Office and provide no priority.

Service	Adult fee	Child fee	Time
Online standard	£88.50	£57.50	~3 weeks
Paper form standard	£100.00	£69.00	~3 weeks
1-week Fast Track	£166.50	£140.50	~7 days
Premium 1-day service	£222.00	n/a	Same day
Emergency Travel Document (abroad)	£100.00	£100.00	1–3 days

Compare these to the cost of an ETA travel authorisation (£20) — replacing a passport is the most expensive UK travel document, but it is also the foundation document on which every visa and the new ETA depend.

Practical tips to minimise the disruption

• Cancel cards too. If your passport was in your wallet, the chances are your bank cards are in the same bag. Cancel them on the same call so identity-fraud risk drops to zero. See our guide on document refusal reasons for what tripping a fraud flag can mean for future applications.
• Keep your reference numbers handy. Use a password manager to store your last passport number and the date of issue. HMPO can recover most other details, but the number speeds the application by hours.
• Travel insurance pays out. Most policies include £250–£500 of cover for emergency document replacement. File the claim within 30 days with the police report number from the lost-property log.
• Update your ETA / visa records. If you held a UK ETA against the lost passport you must apply for a new ETA linked to the new passport number — the old one is automatically cancelled.
• Carry a backup ID. A photocard driving licence or a printed copy of the passport biodata page accelerates ETD processing if you ever lose the document while abroad.

For an end-to-end travel checklist that includes the new ETA, see our arriving at UK border control guide 2026 and the UK international travel entry rules explainer.

Common mistakes to avoid

The most expensive errors are not the missing passport itself — they are the avoidable missteps after the loss. HMPO data shows that 18% of replacement applications are delayed because of three repeating issues: non-compliant photos, missing countersignature on first lost-passport applications, and applicants who try to travel before the cancellation confirmation has cleared the airline systems.

Mistake	Consequence	Fix
Travelling on the “found” lost passport	Refused boarding at the gate	Document is permanently flagged once reported — never travel on it
Sending the wrong birth certificate	Application paused 7–14 days	Send the full long-form certificate, not the short extract
Using a non-British passport photo	Auto-rejected by HMPO scanner	Use the GOV.UK photo checker before paying
Forgetting to renew ETA / visa records	Refused boarding even with new passport	Update every linked authorisation before travel

Frequently asked questions

What do I do if my passport is lost just before a flight?

Contact HMPO’s online Premium service immediately for a same-day in-person appointment in London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Belfast, Newport, Durham or Peterborough. The fee is £222 and you must attend with photos, an old document and a payment card. If you are already at the airport, the airline cannot rebook you — you must reschedule once the new passport is in hand.

Can I travel within the UK with a lost passport?

Yes — domestic flights, ferries to the Isle of Wight or Northern Ireland, and rail travel only require a photographic ID such as a UK driving licence. The passport is solely an international travel document, but always carry an alternate photo ID until the replacement arrives.

How much is a lost passport replacement for a child?

£57.50 online or £69.00 by post for a five-year child passport. The child must attend in person at any Premium service appointment, and at least one parent must hold parental responsibility under the Children Act 1989.

What happens to a UK ETA if I lose the passport it is linked to?

The ETA is automatically cancelled when you report the passport lost — it cannot be transferred. You will need to apply for a new ETA linked to the new passport number. The fee is the same (£20) but there is no refund on the original ETA.

Do I need a police report for a lost passport?

Not if it is lost in the UK — HMPO accepts an online declaration. If it is stolen abroad, the local police report is mandatory for the Emergency Travel Document and for any travel-insurance claim. Always ask for a written reference number in English where possible.

Can I expedite a lost passport replacement online without an appointment?

Yes — the online 1-week Fast Track service (£166) does not require an appointment. Submit the application, post any supporting documents, and HMPO will couriered the new passport within seven working days. There is no need to attend a passport office.

What is the difference between a lost passport and a stolen passport for HMPO?

Operationally none — both are cancelled identically and both require the same replacement application. The distinction matters only for the police report (stolen requires a crime number) and for some travel-insurance policies that pay out only for stolen documents.

Can I keep my old passport number on the replacement?

No. Every replacement passport receives a new biodata page and a new document number. This is by design — the old number remains on the cancellation list for at least seven years.