What to do if you lost your passport?

Well, I finally got my new passport back and here are the incidents from when I lost it to how I got it back.

This whole fiasco started when my mum threw away my 'hidden' passport when she was cleaning up my room. That happened around August 2008. When I went home to Kampar on December 2008 for the long holiday, I realised my passport was gone and immediately went to report this matter to the police.

Now, I am unsure if it is acceptable for you to report to a police station different from the region where you lost your passport, but to be on the safe side, always make reports on stolen stuff, accidents, etc. with the police station in the region it happened. So, basically, you need to tell the police how, when and where you lost your passport and you pay RM10 (I think) for the report to be printed out and you're done! Of course, you need to tell them your passport number as well.

(Important note: It is of extreme importance that you remember your passport number. I would recommend you to photostat a copy of your passport and keep it somewhere... or at least jot down the passport number, passport validity period and also the time and places you traveled to with your passport to overseas.)

After this, you would need to see a detective where you'll be subjected to what they called 'interview'. In my case, I had to meet with the detective the next day I made my report. I had heard of the terrible stories on how they would grill you for info but the detective (who is a woman by the way), is quite nice. Anyway, before you went to this interview, please prepare all your documents and information. Well, the detective will tell you which documents to bring but basically they are, your IC, passport size pictures (4 pcs , I think), birth certificate and preferably your name card of the company you work in as well. Please make a photostat copy (2 pcs) for the IC (front and back) and the birth certificate.

I don't remember all the questions she asked, but here are some that I remembered:- parent's birth date and age, parent's occupation, your birth date and age, your occupation, schools and year that you studied in, your siblings birth date and age, your siblings, education level, your siblings occupation and in more detail, you need to explain again on the how, where and when you lost your passport... and also your passport number, the validity period, the number of passports you have had, the place you applied for the passport, the places you have travelled with your passport and the date.

After doing that, you must proceed next to the immigration department to report you lost passport. You must bring passport sized pictures (4 pcs), original and photostat copies (2 pcs) of birth certificate, IC and police report. You will be given several forms to fill in... one is the passport application form, one questionnaire form, another questionnaire form and one checklist. One of the questionnaire form need the signature from the commissioner of oaths, who should be available near the immigration center. I think he charged me RM30 for his signature!

The questionnaire forms, you will be asked to write down again your details, how, where and when you lost your passport, details of your passport (validity period, previous passports numbers, countries travelled to, etc.) Please ensure the information you give is the same as the answers you gave in the police report and police interview, or you'll be in deep trouble.

After finishing everything, you'll meet up with an immigration officer who will be asking you the exact same questions in the questionnaire... again, please ensure your answers are the same as what you have written. If he is satisfied with your answers, he will tell you that you'll get the application results within a month.

In my case, I had an incident with the application. Since my passport was lost since August and I reported it only in December, and someone was apparently using my passport during that period, it is my responsibility to prove that I did not use the passport during that period. Thus, it is important that you make your report immediately you lost your passport or in case you're unlucky enough and your passport is being used by someone else, you'll have to prove that you're in Malaysia and is not using that passport. Luckily, I was on a shopping spree the day my passport was being used and thus I was able to prove that I'm not using the passport at that time.

Anyway, you'll receive a letter like this after several days:-

If you can't read it, it just state that my application has been received and is in process and it will take approximately one month to complete the investigation.

And 3 weeks later, I received the good news! My application is approved! But as a punishment, I can only get a 2 year passport. I will be able to get a 5 year passport only after this 2 year passport is invalid.

Letter stating I can get my new passport that is valid for 2 years

Well, since I was not planning to go anywhere, I did not apply the passport yet. However, there were some questions that I wanted to ask them... such as will I need to pay extra money, how long I can hold out my application for the new passport and if I needed to fill up another form to apply the new passport.

So, in March I went to immigration (during one of my forced leaves) and showed the letter to the counter and ask to see someone who can answer my questions. I waited and waited for like 45 minutes and my number did not appear on the board! So I ask them again and 15 minutes later, my number appeared on the board and I eagerly went to the counter shown. To my horror, I was told to scan my thumbprint and at that moment I knew that they were preparing the new passport for me! Luckily I brought enough cash with me! I had to pay RM300 for my new 2 year passport. Usually RM300 is for a 5 year passport, I guess that's their punishment kua... but it still is better than the horror stories I read online where I had to pay another extra RM300 as punishment!

Anyway, do you know that it is extremely fast to get a passport nowadays, it was written on the receipt that I can get my passport 2 hours after I made my payment! So, I went out to have a long lunch and voila, it's ready when I returned! I was planning to use a better looking picture for my passport, but they used the one I gave them in January and it was horrible! Never realised I'm really THAT bloated. :(

Anyway, the summary of steps are:-

1. Report to police

2. Attend interview with detective

3. Report to immigration

4. Attend interview with immigration

5. Receive letter of approval

6. Get new passport

Documents needed: IC, birth certificates, passport sized pictures and money!

Oh, by the way, I was lucky because they did not deem my case as lost due to negligence. They can withhold your application for new passport for 2 years if they think that it's due to negligence... and if you lose your passport more than twice, you'll never ever get a new passport ever again!!! And remember to photostat a copy of your passport and keep the information of all your previous passports just in case!