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What to Do if You Find Someone Else's Lost Passport

Most people have good hearts. At least, that's the impression you get after looking at studies regarding lost wallets. For example, a 2007 study using planted wallets and hidden cameras showed that 74% of the people who found the wallets attempted to return them. In 2009, the Toronto Star did a similar test with 20 wallets and found that 15 were returned.

It stands to reason, then, that most people would also try to return a lost passport. After all, in many ways a passport is just as personal a possession as a wallet. Here's how to go about it:

 Identify the Owner

Obviously, the first step in returning a lost passport is to identify the owner. You can get their name, birthday and picture by looking on the second page. To try to make contact, turn to the third page, where they should have listed emergency contact information. This information should include the name of the person they would prefer the State Department to contact in the event of an emergency as well as that person's phone number.

 If you're lucky, the number will still be valid, and the emergency contact personcan put you in touch with the owner of the passport.

Going the Extra Mile

 If calling the emergency contact number doesn't work, there are still a couple of things you can try. First, if you found the passport at a business, ask someone who works there if anyone has asked about it. If not, consider calling your local police department to see if anyone has filed a report on it. Finally, you can utilize Google or online yellow pages to see if you can find a current contact number for the person on the passport.


Last Resort

If you do manage to find the owner of the lost passport before they report the passport missing, you'll be saving that person passport fees of at least $135, possibly more if they have a trip scheduled soon. However, if you can't find the owner, you need to return the lost passport to the Department of State so that they can cancel it.


Here's the address:

U.S. Department of State

Passport Services

Consular Lost/Stolen Passport Section

1111 19th Street, NW, Suite 500

Washington, DC 20036


Even if you can't get the passport back to the person who lost it, trying to return a lost passport virtually guarantees that you'll have good karma for years to come.

 About the Author
Alison Kroulek is a freelance writer and blogger with a focus on the travel industry.
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