Lost Passport in Thailand or Vietnam: What to Do

When a client loses a passport, the instinct is to panic about the flight home. What decides the next few days is starting three things on the same morning: a police report, the client's own embassy, and the ground operator. Then comes the part many travellers do not expect: the host country's own immigration step before the client can leave.

A lost passport can also stop a domestic flight, so it can strand a trip in the middle and not only at the end. This pairs with our 2026 entry rules guide, and it is practical guidance, not legal advice: confirm specifics with the relevant embassy.

The first 24 hours: the sequence that matters

Three things should happen on day one, and they should overlap. First, a police report. The client's embassy or consulate needs it, and so does immigration in both countries. In Vietnam it must come from the police where the passport was lost. In Thailand, the US Embassy tells travellers to get it from the police station near where the loss happened, and the Tourist Police hotline is 1155. Second, contact with the client's own embassy or consulate, the only body that can issue a replacement or emergency document. It sets the document, the fee and the time for that nationality. Third, a call to the ground operator, so the rest of the programme can be reworked while the official steps run.

The emergency travel document

The document most travellers need is an emergency travel document, sometimes called an emergency passport, issued by their embassy or consulate. Some are valid only for the journey home, so check before planning any onward country. Requirements vary by nationality. They typically include the police report, passport photos, proof of identity and onward travel, and a fee. Issuing it takes one to several working days, depending on the nationality and the consulate.

Location matters too. Embassies are in Bangkok and Hanoi, and many countries also have a consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. Check before travel where the client's own mission is. A client who loses a passport at the beach may have to travel to the city to apply.

Leaving the country: the host country's step

A new document is not the end. The lost passport carried the client's entry stamp or visa, and each country has its own step before departure.

Thailand. After the embassy issues the new passport or emergency document, the client has the arrival stamp entered in it before leaving. The application goes to Immigration Division 1 at the Government Complex, Building B, on Chaeng Watthana Road in Bangkok. It needs the new document, the police report, a letter from the client's embassy to the Immigration Bureau, and the entry details: the date of arrival and the arrival flight. Officials check the entry record and stamp the new document. A client who had extended their stay applies at the immigration office that handled the last extension. The Thai government's pages give no fee and no processing time, so leave a margin and confirm both for the case. A guide can go with the client, but the application is the client's.

Vietnam. The client needs a replacement passport or emergency document and also a replacement or exit visa. The Australian Embassy says Vietnamese authorities will not let a traveller depart until the exit visa is issued. Vietnamese immigration requires a Vietnamese police report from the police where the passport was lost, and a declaration made at the client's own embassy does not replace it. Some embassies, Australia's among them, give the client a letter of introduction for the immigration office, so ask the client's own embassy whether it does. The exit visa carries a fee. In November 2025 the Singapore Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh City said the exit visa normally takes about three to five working days. It can take longer after the visa-free period has run out, or for a traveller who entered by land. The US Embassy notes that a local immigration office may refer the case to the Immigration Department offices in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City.

The general entry framework is in our entry and visa requirements overview, but a lost-document exit is a specialist situation. Manage it actively; do not take it for granted.

How long it takes in total

Add the steps together. The emergency document takes one to several working days, and the longer wait is often the host country's step: in Vietnam the exit visa, typically three to five working days and sometimes longer; in Thailand the arrival stamp, for which no time is published. Onward flights usually move, so plan for several working days, not hours, and rebuild the schedule around them.

The part people miss: it can strand a trip

The risk travellers underestimate is the middle of the trip, not the flight home. Domestic flights need specific documents.

In Thailand, since 16 January 2024, non-Thai passengers on domestic flights must show an original passport, a UN laissez-passer or a refugee travel document. That is the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand's rule, as published by Airports of Thailand. What an airline accepts after a loss is not on that page, so ask the airline before rebooking.

In Vietnam, a foreign passenger who has lost a passport can fly domestically with a diplomatic note from their embassy or consulate. An official letter from the provincial Foreign Affairs Department, confirmed by the police where the passport was lost, also works. According to Vietnam Airlines, either document must confirm the passenger's identity and the loss and carry a photo and a seal, and it is valid for 30 days from confirmation.

Some ferry operators may also ask for identification, so check before the client travels. A client who loses a passport on an island can be turned away at the airport for the flight back to the mainland, and a beach leg becomes a problem for the whole itinerary. The response has to protect the onward movement of the trip, not only the eventual exit.

What a ground operator can do

The official steps belong to the client, the police, the embassy or consulate and immigration, and their timing is not the operator's to set. What a ground operator can offer is practical and agreed case by case: someone to go with the client to the police station, the embassy and the immigration office and to translate; rebooking hotels, transfers and domestic flights around the new dates; and keeping the rest of the group's programme running.

Whether a separate escort is available, and who pays for extra nights, transfers and changes, depends on the programme and the contract. Settle it with the operator before the season, not on the day. For an active programme, the operating contacts and the escalation route are in its booking documents.

Prevention: the five-minute checklist

Pass this checklist to clients before they travel:

• Photograph or scan the passport photo page and any visa. Keep a copy in the cloud and a printed copy apart from the passport.
• Keep the arrival date and the arrival flight number with that copy. The Thai arrival-stamp step asks for both.
• Note the embassy or consulate for each destination, and check which city it is in.
• Many governments run a free traveller-registration programme that helps consulates reach citizens in an emergency. Register where one exists.
• Confirm that travel insurance covers document replacement and trip disruption.

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