What to Do If Your Passport Was Lost in the Mail

It can be scary to realize that your passport was lost in the mail. A passport is a powerful document that contains a great amount of your personal information. If these items fall into the wrong hands, you could become a victim of identity theft. This is one of the many reasons you should report your lost passport as soon as you realize it did not arrive as scheduled.

You must submit the DS 86 form to the federal government to show that your passport did not arrive in the mail. An explanation of how to do this is provided below. Furthermore, the following sections offer information about how to check your passport application status. This can help you to see if your document may have gotten lost in transit.

How long does it take to receive a passport after applying?

Before you can figure out if your passport got lost in the mail, you must first know, “How long does it take to receive a passport?” This information can give you a better idea as to how late your documents are. Once the government processes your passport application request, it usually takes a few days for these documents to arrive. From the moment your document is mailed, you can check your delivery status two different ways. You can either call the National Passport Information Center (NPIC) or track your delivery via the Online Passport Status System.

You should not assume you have a passport lost in the mail until it has been at least 10 days since your document was mailed. Once this amount of time has passed, you may contact the NPIC and inform the organization that your document never arrived.

How to Report a Lost Passport Using the DS 86 Form

You must use federal form DS 86 to notify the State Department that your passport was lost in the mail. Usually, the NPIC will assist you with completing this document after you call. The DS 86 form is available as a PDF on the State Department’s website. Print this form, fill it out and mail it to the federal government. If you do not want to repay the passport application fee, file this report within 90 days from your document’s issue date. Otherwise, you are responsible for paying all of your application fees again.