What to Do if You Lose Your Passport in Turkey

Losing your passport in Turkey is stressful, but the steps are clear. First make sure that it is really lost: retrace your steps and ask at your hotel and at the places you visited. If you cannot find it, act quickly: report the loss to the Turkish police, then contact your embassy or consulate for a new passport or an emergency travel document. If you live in Turkey with a residence permit, you also need to update your passport details with the migration authorities.

Immediate Steps to Take After Losing Your Passport in Turkey

• Report the loss to the police. Go to the nearest police station (polis merkezi), or to the gendarmerie (jandarma) outside city centres, and ask for a written loss report (kayıp tutanağı). In the tourist areas of Istanbul, the Tourism Police (Turizm Polisi) can also help. In an emergency, for example if your passport was stolen with force, call 112, Turkey's single emergency number.
• Keep the police report. Your embassy or consulate usually asks for it, and you may also need it at the airport, for your travel insurance and at the migration office.
• Contact your embassy or consulate. Most countries have an embassy in Ankara and a consulate general in Istanbul, and some also have consulates in other cities. Check its website for the current procedure, opening hours and fees, and book an appointment if one is needed.
• Tell your airline if you have a flight soon, because you may need to change the date.

Getting a New Passport or Emergency Travel Document

Only your own country's embassy or consulate can replace your passport. Depending on your travel plans, it issues either a new passport or an emergency travel document (sometimes called a laissez-passer), which is valid only for a short time or for a single journey. The embassy decides which document you receive.

You usually need:

• the police loss report
• passport photos that meet your country's rules
• any identity document you still have, such as an ID card, a driving licence, or a copy or photo of the lost passport
• proof of your travel plans, such as a flight booking, if you apply for an emergency travel document
• the fee, which is set by your country

Processing can take from one day to several weeks, depending on your country and the type of document, so plan your travel dates around it.

Leaving Turkey or Staying On After a Lost Passport

• Visitors: when you leave Turkey, show your new passport or emergency travel document together with the police loss report at passport control. Before you fly, ask your consulate whether anything else is needed in your case, for example if you entered with an e-Visa or your permitted stay is about to end.
• Residence permit holders: after you get your new passport, notify the Provincial Directorate of Migration Management (İl Göç İdaresi Müdürlüğü) in the province where your permit is registered within 20 working days, so that your residence permit record shows the new passport. Getting a new passport from your consulate does not update this record automatically.
• Do not overstay: a lost passport does not stop the days of your visa or visa-free stay from running. If the replacement takes longer than your permitted stay, contact the Provincial Directorate of Migration Management or the YİMER helpline (157) before your stay ends.

Preventive Measures to Safeguard Your Passport During Travel in Turkey

• Keep a photocopy and a digital copy of your passport's photo page, your visa or e-Visa and, if you have one, your residence permit card, separate from the passport.
• Leave your passport in the safe of your hotel or home when you do not need it, but always carry an identity document, because the police can ask foreigners for identification.
• In crowded places such as markets, public transport and tourist sites, carry your passport in an inside pocket or a money belt.
• Note the address and phone number of your embassy or consulate before you travel.

Procedures checked in October 2026. They can change, so confirm the current steps with your embassy or consulate and with the Turkish authorities before you act.