Consular News

United States Provides Lost / Stolen Passport Data To Interpol

Guatemala, May 5, 2004

In association with the U.S. National Central Bureau of Interpol and Interpol General Secretariat in Lyon, France, the U.S. Department of State announces a new program that will contribute substantially to worldwide travel document security and our ability to impede the movement of terrorists and other criminals.

To accomplish this end, the United States is joining other countries in providing current information on issued passports that have been reported lost or stolen to the Interpol's lost and stolen document database, which is available to border authorities worldwide.

Issued U.S. passports reported lost or stolen are immediately invalidated, added to an electronic database, and may not be used for travel. Only the passport number, country of issuance and document type will be provided to Interpol. To protect the passport holder's privacy, the name and biographical data from the passport will not be given to Interpol. Should a hit occur against the Interpol database, the hit will be verified with U.S. authorities before action is taken against the bearer of such a passport.

We believe this is a significant step toward curbing not only terrorism but also crimes of many types including identity theft.

U.S. citizens are encouraged to notify the Department of State's Passport Office of the loss or theft of their passport at the earliest possible moment in order to prevent misuse of the document and identity theft. This can be accomplished via the Department's website http://travel.state.gov or by calling 202-955-0430.

For U.S. citizens traveling or residing abroad, this can also be accomplished by notifying the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad.