Replacement

Replacing a lost or stolen Vanuatu passport means reporting the loss, having the old booklet canceled and applying for a new one to the Vanuatu Department of Immigration and Passport Services, supported by a police report or declaration of loss and proof of your citizenship. Once a passport has been reported missing it is canceled, and it cannot be used again even if it turns up later.

This page is for Vanuatu citizens, including those who acquired citizenship through investment and live abroad, who have lost a passport, had one stolen or found one badly damaged. It sets out what to do in the first hours, which documents a replacement application normally needs, how the process differs when you are traveling and how to reduce the impact of a future loss. Practical details on photographs and on how the new booklet reaches you are covered on their own pages and linked below.

What Should You Do First If Your Passport Is Lost or Stolen?

Speed matters more than paperwork in the first hours. A passport that has been reported missing is far less useful to anyone trying to misuse it.

1. Search properly once. Check bags, hotel safes and the last places you showed the passport. If you report it and then find it, the booklet will already be canceled.
2. Report a theft to the local police and ask for a written report or reference number. For a simple loss, a police report is still useful and is often requested.
3. Notify the passport authority. Tell the Department of Immigration and Passport Services, directly or through the designated agent who handled your citizenship, so the passport can be recorded as lost or stolen.
4. Find your copies. A scan of the data page and of your certificate of citizenship will make every next step easier.
5. Tell your bank if the passport was used as identification for accounts, in case someone attempts to impersonate you.

Lost, Stolen or Damaged: How the Cases Differ

The route to a new booklet is similar in all three situations, but the evidence you need is slightly different.

A passport counts as damaged when the data page, photograph, chip where one is fitted, or machine-readable zone can no longer be read reliably, or when pages are torn out. Airlines and border officers may refuse a passport in that state, so replacing it before travel is the safer course.

Which Documents Does a Replacement Application Need?

The exact list is confirmed by the passport authority or by your agent, but a replacement application for a Vanuatu passport generally includes:

• the completed passport application form and a signed declaration about the loss, theft or damage;
• the police report or reference number, where one was obtained;
• a copy of the certificate of citizenship, which shows the legal basis for the new passport;
• a copy of the lost passport's data page, if you have one;
• new passport photographs meeting the current rules, described on our photo requirements page;
• payment of the replacement fee, which is set by regulation and confirmed at the time of application.

For a child's passport, a parent or guardian usually signs on the child's behalf and provides the consent normally required for a minor, as set out on our page about passports for children. The general information point for Vanuatu passport services is the Department of Immigration and Passport Services.

What If You Are Abroad When It Happens?

Many citizens by investment live outside Vanuatu, so a loss usually happens far from Port Vila. Vanuatu's diplomatic network is small, and in many countries there is no local office that can issue a passport on the spot. In practice the options are:

• applying for a replacement through the designated agent who handled your citizenship, who can coordinate with the passport authority and arrange delivery;
• contacting a Vanuatu diplomatic or consular post if one covers the country you are in, and asking whether it can help with an emergency travel document;
• using another valid passport you hold, if you have a second nationality, until the replacement arrives.

Do not assume a temporary document will be accepted everywhere. Check with the airline and with the border authorities of your destination before relying on it. How the new booklet travels from the issuing office to you is explained on our collection and delivery page.

Visas, Travel Plans and the New Passport

Visas in a lost passport do not transfer automatically. Whether a visa can be re-issued into the new booklet depends on the country that granted it, so contact that country's visa service. This matters particularly for the Schengen area, where Vanuatu citizens have needed a visa since 4 February 2023, with the requirement made permanent from 3 February 2025 under Regulation (EU) 2025/11, and for the United Kingdom, which has required a visa since 19 July 2023.

The new passport will carry a new number and new dates. Update airline profiles, bank records and any residence permits linked to the old number. The expiry date of the replacement is the one printed on its data page; our page on passport validity covers how to plan around it.

How to Limit the Damage of a Future Loss

• Keep an encrypted scan of the data page and the certificate of citizenship.
• Store the original certificate separately from the passport, never in the same bag.
• Note the passport number and expiry date somewhere you can reach without the booklet.
• Keep your agent's contact details current, since they are often the quickest route to the passport authority.

A lost Vanuatu passport is an inconvenience rather than a crisis if your citizenship records are safe and the loss is reported quickly.