Lost passport in Korea — United States

Key facts

Search first, or reissue?

Three things make searching first more attractive for Americans than for most.

Cost. US$165 for an adult, US$135 under 16, for an emergency passport of limited validity — a year or less, with no chip. Replace it within that year on form DS-5504 and the full passport costs nothing, so this is a one-off US$165 rather than a recurring one.

Location. Seoul only. From Busan that is a day, and the day is not optional.

Access. The embassy is appointment-only, and appointments are not guaranteed. Same-day printing is possible in a genuine emergency, but that is a judgement someone at the embassy makes, not a service you can book. Requests go by email to SeoulInfoACS@state.gov with your itinerary, and you wait.

Against that: reporting the loss cancels the passport permanently. A passport found afterwards is cancelled and stays cancelled.

Search first if your flight is not imminent, if you are outside Seoul, if the passport carries visas you need, or if it went missing along with a wallet or a bag.

Replace without hesitating if you are flying in the next day or two. US$165 is cheaper than a missed flight, and the embassy answers its phone outside office hours.

A Korean police report is optional for the US, not required. File one anyway — it is free and immediate.

The cost is less bad than it first looks. An emergency passport in Seoul is US$165 — but replaced within a year on form DS-5504, with the instruction letter issued alongside it, the full-validity passport is free. Keep that letter.

So the passport itself is a single US$165. What still sits on top is the travel: a trip from Busan to Seoul, and a night there if the appointment falls badly.

None of that argues for missing a flight. It does argue for spending a few days looking, if you have a few days.

Where to apply in Korea

The embassy is at 188 Sejong-daero, Jongno-gu, Seoul. The number, 02-397-4114, also works outside office hours.

Start by emailing SeoulInfoACS@state.gov with the subject line "Emergency Passport Request" and your travel itinerary.

Bring form DS-11, one 2×2 inch photo, proof of US citizenship, photo ID, and your itinerary.

Our sources do not state the embassy's public counter hours. Check with the embassy before you go.

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

An emergency passport is a stopgap, but upgrading it is not a second purchase. Replaced less than a year after it was issued, using form DS-5504 with the instruction letter that came with it, a full-validity passport is free of charge.

Miss that window and it becomes an ordinary application: form DS-11 in person, US$165, four to six weeks, or two to three weeks for US$60 more.

The practical advice is short. Keep the instruction letter, and apply within the year.

Questions