How to Replace a Lost or Stolen Visa

Getting your visa approved is the last stage of the process of traveling out of your home country. Immediately it is approved, you already have a ticket to move.

Visa is like a pass of how you enter a country that you are not a citizen of legally without any consequences attached to it. Now when you apply for a visa and you lose or it was stolen, what is the next step to take? This will be listed in this article.

Difference between Visa and Passport

• One difference between a visa and a passport is that it is your home country’s immigration office that will issue you your passport for a small fee. For a visa, it is the country’s immigration office you are going to that will issue that visa to you.
• Another difference is that the conditions for issuance of a passport are different from that of a visa.
• Passport is issued to confirm your citizenship. It includes your name, photo, date of birth, place of birth, and sometimes height. For a visa, it is issued so you can travel in and out of a particular country without restriction for a period of the existence of the visa.
• Passport takes longer time to expire, visa doesn’t.

How to Replace a Lost and Stolen Visa in the United States

In the United States, a lost or stolen visa cannot be replaced. All you can do is visit the US embassy in person abroad to apply for a replacement. To get the replacement, you will need a document confirming you had one, you lost it.

In the US, your official documents such as the visa, passport and departure records are what foreigners need in their possession to show they are a citizen of their home country and further have the permission to enter the US. However, photocopies of these travel documents are advised to be made.

If as a foreigner in the US for a short stay lose your visa, you will still be allowed to stay for the period on your visa since it is on your Arrival-Departure Record. A valid passport is needed for the departure from the US however. Your I-94 form (Arrival-Departure Record) is needed to leave the country.

A number of steps to take when your visa gets stolen or lost are:

1.Report to the Police

Find the nearest police station and report the missing document to them. If possible, provide photocopies of the original and make sure to fill the report as accurate as possible. It is wise to always make photocopies of important document with you in case things like this happens.

2.Request for Replacement of Lost or Stolen Arrival-Departure Record or Passport

If by chance it is your passport of Arrival-Departure Record you lost, it is under the responsibility of the DHS, you will file for replacement at Application for Replacement/Initial Nonimmigrant Arrival-Departure Document at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

ALSO, READ Does Age And Years of Working Matters When Traveling Abroad

3.Report Lost or Stolen Visa to the US Embassy Abroad

Let the Consul at the Embassy be aware of the Visa you have lost. State where you lost it if you did, if it was stolen, state the last place you found it. Also, do not fail to attach the visa photocopy if you do have one. If you know the category of the visa you lost, state it.

Note that, when you have reported your visa missing or stolen and the complaint has been received, if you peradventure find it, the visa has become useless and you will need to apply for a new visa.

4.Applying for Visa Replacement

A lost or stolen visa cannot be replaced. You only apply for replacement by making it known to the embassy and applying for a new one. The old one will become useless, and you won’t have to go through the other rigorous process you went through to get the first visa.

Note that a written document will be provided to show that you lost your visa. A police report must also be included in this document. Visit here to file your visa replacement.

5.How to Replace a Lost and Stolen Visa in the United Kingdom

When you lose your visa or passport, how you get it back is dependent on where you lost your visa. The two options are lost visa and passport outside UK and lost visa or passport inside UK.

Lost Visa or Passport inside UK

1.Report to the Police

The first thing to do when you lose your visa or passport is to report to the nearest police station as soon as they can. A form will be given to fill and a crime reference number which will be used for applying for replacement. Say it was lost London, Metropolitan Police do not issue Crime Reference Numbers.

2.Apply for a New Passport or New Visa

To apply for a passport, you will have to contact your embassy to let them know you have lost or misplaced. Alist of embassies in the UK. For your visa, you will also have to apply for a new visa where there is already a visa stamp on your passport.

Lost Visa or Passport outside UK

1.Tell the police

You must report to the police when the loss or theft of your visa comes up of the country you are visiting. You should also get a reference number in case your passport was lost or stolen. Submit a visa enquiry.

2.Contact your embassy

Also contact your embassy in the country you are visiting and apply for a new visa. For how to go about your lost visa, see UK government entry clearance guidance on replacing visas.

If you have lost your passport, visa or Arrival-Departure Record, you don’t need to be wary about it, with the necessary guidelines stated, you will be able to travel again.

ALSO, READ List of Countries Offering Visa on Arrival

Originally posted 2022-05-20 10:39:55.