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Report your lost and stolen passports

by Mark Rowe

Her Majesty’s Passport Office and Action Fraud, the UK police official fraud and cyber crime reporting centre, are urging people to report their lost and stolen passports to prevent unrecovered and unreported documents from being abused and used to commit identity crime or aid illegal travel across borders.

Almost 50 million people hold a UK passport; just under 400,000 are reported lost or stolen each year. This represents less than 1 percent of all passports in circulation. According to the UK authorities, people are waiting on average 73 days before making a report. Once a passport is reported as lost or stolen, HM Passport Office cancel it, and share the information within 24 hours with the National Crime Agency (NCA) to record the loss or theft on international policing body Interpol’s stolen and lost travel document database.

By sharing the details of lost or stolen passports, law enforcers including border and immigration control officers are able to keep ahead of the criminals who attempt to get a UK passport illegally.

Immigration Minister at the Home Office, Caroline Nokes, said: “When you lose your bank card, the first thing you do is contact your bank and have it cancelled, yet people don’t treat lost or stolen passports with the same urgency. But not reporting a lost or stolen passport can have severe consequences, such as people using your identity or attempting to use your documents to try to enter the country illegally.

“That is why it is absolutely vital you report your lost or stolen passport immediately: to help law enforcement agencies prevent people from entering the UK illegally, and to protect yourself from becoming a victim of identity crime.”

Lost and stolen passports can be reported online; visit https://www.gov.uk/report-a-lost-or-stolen-passport.

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