The UK Home Office has urged to immediately report your lost or stolen passport to prevent abuse and fraud.
Almost 50 million people hold a UK passport of which just under 400,000 are reported lost or stolen each year. This represents less than 1 percent of all passports in circulation.
Despite the risks associated with lost or stolen passports, people are waiting on average 73 days before making a report.
Between 2010 and March 2018, Border Force officers denied entry to over 144,000 people.
Her Majesty’s Passport Office and Action Fraud have teamed up to urge people to report their lost and stolen passports to prevent unrecovered and unreported documents from being abused and used to commit identity crime or facilitate illegal travel across borders.
Immigration Minister, Caroline Nokes, said:
When you lose your bank card, the first thing you do is contact your bank and have it cancelled, yet people don’t treat lost or stolen passports with the same urgency.
But not reporting a lost or stolen passport can have severe consequences, such as people using your identity or attempting to use your documents to try to enter the country illegally.
That is why it is absolutely vital you report your lost or stolen passport immediately: to help law enforcement agencies prevent people from entering the UK illegally, and to protect yourself from becoming a victim of identity crime.
All lost and stolen passports can be reported online, making the process quick and simple to use.
Source: Gov.uk
