Lost passport in Korea — Taiwan

Key facts

Search first, or reissue?

Two consequences shape this decision, and both arrive later.

A replacement passport is valid for a maximum of five years, not ten. You lose half a passport's life.

Two or more losses within ten years can trigger a review of up to six months, with validity then set between eighteen months and three years. A second loss is a materially different event from a first one.

If this is not your first lost passport, searching first is worth real effort.

Search first also if you are continuing to another country — the 入國證明書 returns you to Taiwan and nothing else — if the passport holds visas, or if it disappeared with a bag or a wallet.

Reissue if you are flying home shortly. US$5 and a document valid for 30 days is a light landing, and the 30 days give you room that a seven-day document would not.

Note what does not change: a passport found after you have reported it still cannot be used. Reporting is the decision point.

Our sources do not state how long the 入國證明書 takes to issue. Check with the office before you go, particularly if you are working to a flight.

Put the five-year limit in context. If your passport had eight years left on it, reporting the loss costs you those years — you will be reapplying, and paying, well before you otherwise would have. That is a real price, paid later, and it is easy to overlook while standing in Seoul worrying about a flight.

The 30-day validity of the 入國證明書 does give you more room than most emergency documents. It does not extend the moment of decision, though: reporting is still what cancels the passport.

Where to apply in Korea

Two offices. The Taipei Mission in Seoul, at 6F Gwanghwamun Building, 149 Sejong-daero, Jongno-gu. The Busan office at 9F Dongwon Building, 70 Jungang-daero, Jung-gu.

Busan also covers Jeju, Daegu and Gwangju — there is no separate office in those cities.

Busan takes walk-ins in the morning; afternoons are by appointment.

Bring the form, two 2-inch photos on a white background, and your ROC identity card. Bring the Korean police report — and if the police will not issue one, a 遺失護照說明書 is accepted instead.

Seoul has an emergency line on 010-9080-2761 outside office hours.

Before you go to the embassy

File the Korean police report first. It is free, you can do it online through 경찰민원24 or at any police station, and the receipt is issued immediately. It does not cancel your passport — it records that you lost it.

Several embassies will not issue an emergency document without that receipt, so doing it first saves a second trip.

Found property is held for six months. Worth knowing: an item handed in at a hotel, a restaurant or a taxi company does not appear in the system that day. It can take several days to get there. A search a week after the loss is not a wasted search.

If you live in Korea rather than visiting: once you have a new passport, the new number has to be reported to immigration within fifteen days. That is 출입국관리법 제35조, and the fine for missing it runs to ₩1,000,000. It does not apply to short-stay visitors.

After you get home

A replacement costs NT$1,300 and takes eleven working days.

It is valid for a maximum of five years. If you have lost two or more passports in the past ten years, expect a review of up to six months, and validity between eighteen months and three years.

Questions