My wife and I just got our new passports back and I was going through the little booklets that they sent along with the passports. They actually had some information that I thought would be quite useful to know in order to avoid problems or to help you out if you are already having problems.
They mention that if your passport is lost or stolen, you should report it immediately. If it is a U.S. passport, you can report it by:
- calling 1-877-487-2778 or
- report it online at travel.state.gov or
- complete, sign and mail a form DS-64, though that seems the least convenient way, unless maybe you are at a U.S. embassy
Other Useful Tips
- while traveling overseas, carry copies of your passport biographical page and the visa, if you needed one for travel
- make sure your health insurance covers you while overseas and consider getting travel insurance that includes medical evacuation, which can be very costly. Medical insurance policies can be very inexpensive if you by them without trip cancellation coverage, since that is normally the most expensive part of a travel insurance policy. Ecuador might make medical insurance mandatory for people coming to that country.
- Peru has instituted kind of a "virtual visa" now. When you arrive to the country, the immigration control people enter your information electronically into their system. Some operators are asking that you request a hard copy of this from the agent to help prove to hotels that you are not Peruvian citizens, and thus not subject to the local VAT tax.
- Keep embassy contact information with you because if there is an emergency, they might be able to provide assistance. For U.S. citizens, you can find the nearest embassy by going to usembassy.gov , or, if you are in the U.S., you can call 888-407-4747.
- U.S. citizens can enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). With the information that you enter in the system, U.S. embassies and consulates around the world might be able to contact you during an emergency, including situations when family and friends are having problems trying to contact you.
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