Help! Urgent advice needed - passport stolen - France/Italy Travel!
Jul 10th, 2010, 07:09 AM
#21
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"I think you are being kind of cavalier about what is a legal requirement of a foreign country - not a random rule of the US government."
I agree and personally, having had my passport stolen several years ago while at Milan airport and not able to get home because of it, I would do as instructed, convenient or not.
I agree and personally, having had my passport stolen several years ago while at Milan airport and not able to get home because of it, I would do as instructed, convenient or not.
Jul 10th, 2010, 12:13 PM
#22
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Can you find out why they suggest you have to go to Paris? It would be important to know the reason, as maybe there is a reason you have to do that. Now I could be wrong, but I wouldn't enter a country without a passport, even if you are on a train or some way they don't check at the border (you could walk across, for one thing), as I think that is illegal. And you would be doing it intentionally, knowing you didn't have one.
Jul 10th, 2010, 12:19 PM
#23
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thanks so much for all the information and thoughts. we have decided to try the train to italy and hope for no passport checks.
to answer a few of your questions: i do have a copy of my passport and my drivers license so hopefully that will help. the only embassy or consulate in france that provides emergency replacement passports is paris - which is very very inconvienient! so we will go to italy where all the consulates provide this service. we actually were going to camogli and vernazza so florence is not close but is closer than paris and we will hopefully not lose all our time in italy.
in case it helps others, my passport was stolen in nice from our rental car. a very stupid mistake - my husband and i removed everything else of value from my purse and put it into the trunk while parked on the street near the chagall museum. we forgot my passport was in a zippered pocket. someone on the street must have been watching us because they opened the locked trunk without breaking the window and did not even look in the glove box which had two ipods. so basically they stole my purse with a few cosmetics and my passport
thanks again for all the suggestions and info and hopefully others can be more vigilant about passports than we were!
a
to answer a few of your questions: i do have a copy of my passport and my drivers license so hopefully that will help. the only embassy or consulate in france that provides emergency replacement passports is paris - which is very very inconvienient! so we will go to italy where all the consulates provide this service. we actually were going to camogli and vernazza so florence is not close but is closer than paris and we will hopefully not lose all our time in italy.
in case it helps others, my passport was stolen in nice from our rental car. a very stupid mistake - my husband and i removed everything else of value from my purse and put it into the trunk while parked on the street near the chagall museum. we forgot my passport was in a zippered pocket. someone on the street must have been watching us because they opened the locked trunk without breaking the window and did not even look in the glove box which had two ipods. so basically they stole my purse with a few cosmetics and my passport
thanks again for all the suggestions and info and hopefully others can be more vigilant about passports than we were!
a
Jul 10th, 2010, 12:30 PM
#24
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Best of luck in Italy. I would guess that the passport replacement office in Paris is a very busy place on a Monday in July.
One of the most frequently posed questions on this forum and one of the most hotly debated is whether to carry your passport with you. LauraMarie79's case is just another example pointing to the need for an inside pocket or a money belt, on your body, for your passport and other valuables.
BTW, trunks are easily opened. One key fits all, or nearly all.
One of the most frequently posed questions on this forum and one of the most hotly debated is whether to carry your passport with you. LauraMarie79's case is just another example pointing to the need for an inside pocket or a money belt, on your body, for your passport and other valuables.
BTW, trunks are easily opened. One key fits all, or nearly all.
Jul 11th, 2010, 02:12 AM
#30
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The days where a local consul can issue replacement passports seem to be vanishing.
New passports have chips and are technically more difficult to produce.
http://france.usembassy.gov/usc_pptoverseas.html says :
U.S. CITIZENS
Issuance of Passports Overseas
Beginning on April 8, 2002, American citizens residing or traveling abroad who require issuance of a U.S. passport will be issued the latest, state-of-the-art passport incorporating a photo-digitized image and other enhanced security features. These passports will be issued at the National Passport Center (NPC) in Portsmouth, N.H. and returned to the Embassy/Consulate abroad by express mail. U.S. Embassies and Consulates will continue to issue passports for emergencies requiring immediate travel.
For passport renewals:
U.S. Embassies and Consulates will forward the approved passport applications to the National Passport Center by express mail and the new passports will be returned in the same way. Processing time from application to delivery for the new passports should be no more than 2 weeks depending on the type of mail service you choose.
While the added document security will benefit all Americans, especially those overseas residents who are frequent travelers, we recognize that this procedure will take more time than our previous same day service. As this new security initiative is introduced, let’s work together to make the transition smooth and effective. We ask that you take the time to please check your passports to see when they expire and be sure that you apply for replacements well in advance. You must renew your passport by mail if you meet the requirements. You may refer to the Embassy website for further instructions on how to renew your passport by mail. For all other types of passport applications, go to our general section on passports.
For emergency passport issuance:
Emergency passports will be limited in validity, and cannot be extended. Passport holders will be required, to exchange their limited validity passports for a full-validity photo-digitized passport upon completion of their emergency travel, either through passport facilities in the U.S. or U.S. Embassies and Consulates abroad.
The State Department remains committed to ensuring that American citizens receive the most secure documents in a timely manner.
From personal experience, moving around Europe passportless is strangely easy and a good story + other id goes a long way on the rare occasions a passport is requested.
However, with increased security needs, you may have a problem getting an emergency passport in Italy based on statements made by French gendarmes.
Why not phone the Italian consul ?
Peter
New passports have chips and are technically more difficult to produce.
http://france.usembassy.gov/usc_pptoverseas.html says :
U.S. CITIZENS
Issuance of Passports Overseas
Beginning on April 8, 2002, American citizens residing or traveling abroad who require issuance of a U.S. passport will be issued the latest, state-of-the-art passport incorporating a photo-digitized image and other enhanced security features. These passports will be issued at the National Passport Center (NPC) in Portsmouth, N.H. and returned to the Embassy/Consulate abroad by express mail. U.S. Embassies and Consulates will continue to issue passports for emergencies requiring immediate travel.
For passport renewals:
U.S. Embassies and Consulates will forward the approved passport applications to the National Passport Center by express mail and the new passports will be returned in the same way. Processing time from application to delivery for the new passports should be no more than 2 weeks depending on the type of mail service you choose.
While the added document security will benefit all Americans, especially those overseas residents who are frequent travelers, we recognize that this procedure will take more time than our previous same day service. As this new security initiative is introduced, let’s work together to make the transition smooth and effective. We ask that you take the time to please check your passports to see when they expire and be sure that you apply for replacements well in advance. You must renew your passport by mail if you meet the requirements. You may refer to the Embassy website for further instructions on how to renew your passport by mail. For all other types of passport applications, go to our general section on passports.
For emergency passport issuance:
Emergency passports will be limited in validity, and cannot be extended. Passport holders will be required, to exchange their limited validity passports for a full-validity photo-digitized passport upon completion of their emergency travel, either through passport facilities in the U.S. or U.S. Embassies and Consulates abroad.
The State Department remains committed to ensuring that American citizens receive the most secure documents in a timely manner.
From personal experience, moving around Europe passportless is strangely easy and a good story + other id goes a long way on the rare occasions a passport is requested.
However, with increased security needs, you may have a problem getting an emergency passport in Italy based on statements made by French gendarmes.
Why not phone the Italian consul ?
Peter
Jul 11th, 2010, 03:29 AM
#31
Jul 11th, 2010, 03:32 AM
#32
This link shows all the emergency hours for all the Italian consulates.
http://italy.usembassy.gov/acs/addresses.asp#Genoa
http://italy.usembassy.gov/acs/addresses.asp#Genoa
Jul 11th, 2010, 08:58 AM
#34
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Even though new high-tech passports now come from the US, it may take only a day or two with overnight UPS-type service (of course, you'll no doubt pay for that). And it does mean you'll need a couple of days in/near one spot...
Jul 11th, 2010, 11:55 AM
#35
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Didn't see that you mentioned filing a police report, but I basically made the same mistake around the Calanques near Cassis when in my 20's...hid my purse under my seat because I didn't want to carry it = smashed window, purse with airplane ticket (pre-computer days), passport, travelers checques all gone. I used the Marseilles embassy, but that was many many years ago.
The American embassy needed the police report to confirm the theft, where I learned the word for a strap purse...bandolière...sorry about your unfortunate incident.
As suggested, I would check with the Embassy on movement to another country while waiting for the new passport.
The American embassy needed the police report to confirm the theft, where I learned the word for a strap purse...bandolière...sorry about your unfortunate incident.
As suggested, I would check with the Embassy on movement to another country while waiting for the new passport.
Jul 19th, 2010, 03:55 PM
#39
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Here's the update: We made it to Italy with no passport check on the train and no jail time 
As others had posted, the hotels in Italy did ALL ask for my passport (we had a few days in Camogli and one day in Florence before we got to the consulate in Florence to get my emergency passport). Hotels would not take my driver's license as an id. However, they did take the photocopy of my passport so it was a very, very good thing that my husband is much better about following traveling precautions (like making copies of important documents) than I. The consulate in Florence made my emergency passport in about an hour which was much, much faster than I expected. They were not busy at all so perhaps that helped things move faster.
Again, thanks for all the advice!
As others had posted, the hotels in Italy did ALL ask for my passport (we had a few days in Camogli and one day in Florence before we got to the consulate in Florence to get my emergency passport). Hotels would not take my driver's license as an id. However, they did take the photocopy of my passport so it was a very, very good thing that my husband is much better about following traveling precautions (like making copies of important documents) than I. The consulate in Florence made my emergency passport in about an hour which was much, much faster than I expected. They were not busy at all so perhaps that helped things move faster.
Again, thanks for all the advice!
