Passport Replacement Paris US Embassy

Unfortunate. So, if I read you correctly, you are in Europe now, lost your passport, will not be in Paris until Sunday and you want to know whether 5ish hours on Monday will get you a passport in time to return home?
Phone them to find out their lead time....and what is required from you. I assume you need valid photos done beforehand abd it might be faster if you have a photocopy of your passport on hand.

That sounds good. I do have a copy of my passport, but I may want rely on their photo capacity. I will try calling them again....

Did you report the loss to the police? I don't know about US practice, but if you loose a British passport they ask for a police report.
Was it lost, stolen or destroyed? Might make a difference.

You say "plan to travel a week from today", but you imply you are not yet in Paris. So you must be "travelling" to reach Paris. Does this travel involve crossing borders, which you cannot legally do without a passport? If you are not in France, you need to get your replacement passport in the country you are currently in.

I am not changing borders so that's a potential problem avoided. I will have to look into the Police report requirement. I have reported it's loss to the French trains, SNCF. Thx.

Myself, I would not cut it that close unless I had a refundable ticket or could make changes at no cost. You are asking for a lot to happen, and I assume, on a Monday, near the beginning of a Month, volumes of people seeking services may be greater (typical Government office crowds). Not sure about the Paris Embassy, maybe they have an area to queue, but Embassies are not really keen on people hanging around, loitering, or being too close to gates; even using cell phones or taking pictures can be restricted.

Certainly call and discuss further, make certain you know what you need to provide; but I would seriously consider adjusting your plan to be in Paris earlier, like Thursday or Friday to be safe.

To try to do that on your last day is asking for failure. It may be OK, what if it isn't?

How will you check into hotels without your passport?

Losing a passport is a pain. I'm afraid it needs fixing sooner rather than later.

You need to take care of this today. Your timeframe isn't realistic. What if they need to verify additional information from home?

You can go to a US Consulate for services: Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Rennes, and others. You don't need the Embassy. In fact, at the entry gate in Paris, you'd be directed to the Consulate side of the building, not the Embassy. Call to verify all info I've gathered on line.

It's always a pain to have plans disrupted, but you need to deal with this now.

Our passports were stolen in Chile. We returned to Santiago from northern Chile where the US Embassy was located. We downloaded, printed and filled out all forms and went to one of the photographers they listed who took regulation size photos for US Passports. We stayed in a hotel near the photographer.. We were at the Embassy when it opened and they told us to return at 3pm when they would be ready. They were ready, we paid the $100 each and left. The Embassy staff was helpful and supportive. We were not leaving for US for another week. This was the process. We then returned north and continued our trip. I urge you to change your plans, travel to Paris and take care of getting the passports. Then return to wherever you are and continue your trip. It is important to take care of this! We were lucky that the Santiago Embassy was not crowded and walked right up to an agent’s window. Paris May be more crowded. These passports were only good for a year but you don’t have to pay the $100 again when your order the new good for ten years passports. This isn’t France but the process would be the same.

This is a paraphrasing of another traveler’s experience after her passport was stolen in Paris. This did not happen to me, but I wanted to share this information. I have not verified any of the Embassy information myself.
The American Embassy lady on the phone told her she needed an emergency passport. It is good for one year and when she gets home, she can turn it in for a 10 year passport at no extra cost.

The Embassy makes the emergency passport the same day.
The Embassy is open Monday- Friday and they take emergency passport applications from 8am - 2:45pm. They are closed on some American and French holidays.

She was at the Embassy at 8am when they opened. If you have an I.D., it will be easier to get into the Embassy.
If you don’t have an I.D., they will request personal information from you and they will try and look you up in the computer system.
You cannot bring any kind of electronics in the Embassy. No phones, iPads, Kindles and cameras.
You check in with the person at the desk. If you have access to a computer and printer, you could fill out the forms online and print them out. Once done with the form and everything is correct, you need a photo for the emergency passport. They have a photo machine there and it’s 4€.

Once the photo is done, you turn it in to the person at the desk. At this point the agent had printed her paperwork and had a folder ready. She signed a form and the agent sent her up a few steps to wait for the next step. She was given a number, and on an electronic board, your name and number will appear along with what window to go to.
This agent checks your paperwork and gives you a form to go to another window to pay. She paid in cash and the agent said that was good because it is much faster. She was given a receipt and went back to the first window. That agent entered her paperwork in the system and then she took a seat again. She was called to a different window where another agent had her swear everything on her form was accurate and she signed the form as well. Then the agent went off to make her replacement emergency passport. As soon as the passport was done they will call you. You check that the information on the emergency passport is spelled correctly and the information is correct. They have you sign the passport and then that’s it.
When you leave, you collect anything you might have needed to check in when you entered. In her case it was her phone.
For her, this entire experience took about 45 minutes.

I always feel like I have to be at the airport by late morning for US-bound flights at the earliest.

I can not imagine that you can report a lost passport, receive a replacement passport, and make it out to CDG in time for a flight that same day. That just really seems to be pushing it to me. Maybe it is possible but I wouldn’t want to risk it. I guess it depends how big your appetite is for possibly having to buy an entirely new departure ticket on Monday when you don’t make that flight.

Please listen to all this good advice. Are you anywhere near an American Consulate? They should be able to help you. Or since you're already in France, call the Embassy now to see what they recommend. They will help you, but your short window of time is troubling.

@Bets - to be clear, there is no US Consulate inside a US Embassy; they direct you to the Consular Zone, who handles passport paperwork etc.

To add to others urging you to take a trip into Paris or a nearby consular city in France, go this week do not wait until Monday morning. I have seen the line build up with 3 days worth of people who have had their passports lost or stolen (Friday night through Sunday night) at the Rome and Paris consulate on Monday mornings as I’ve walked by. You should take care of this during business hours early this week.

https://fr.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/acs_lost-or-stolen-items-passports.pdf

Replace your Lost of Stolen Passport as soon as possible:

Go to the U.S. Embassy website
(https://fr.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/passports). The U.S.
Embassy in Paris accepts applications for emergency passports on a
walk-in basis from 8:00 AM to 2:45 PM Monday to Friday, except on U.S.
and French holidays. Please don’t bring your luggage or electronic
equipment. Cell phones and small cameras may be held by the security
services until you leave the building.

If necessary, reschedule your airline reservation. You should make the
reservation for the day after you make your passport application since
it may take several hours to process your passport.

You have received as lot of good advice. Let me chime in to reiterate that you should not wait until Monday. Thank goodness I have never lost my passport but my travel companion did last year and I know two others who did as well. With my travel companion, her passport was stolen on a Wednesday in November and we went to the consulate on Thursday when it opened. Three people were in front of us seeking consular services and my sister-in-law had her passport about 2 hours later. This was in Barcelona. That was very fast. Another person I know had her passport stolen on Saturday (also in Barcelona) and went to the consulate on Monday morning when it opened. There were maybe about 25 people in front of her seeking consular services. She got her replacement passport on Tuesday. Same story for my friend who lost her passport over a weekend in Paris. She got hers on Tuesday as well. In any “first come first serve” situation, you can’t be sure how long it will take. The people ahead of you in line could have very complicated issues to resolve and the number of visitors to Paris and American expats in a Paris make it likely that the wait could be long. Add to that the fact, that consulates are not open on weekend so everyone who lost their passport on a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are in line Monday morning and you see why you should not wait until Monday morning in a Paris. By the way, you do not have to report the loss or theft of you passport to the police. We waited 2 hours for the Barcelona police (@ the restaurant where the bag was stolen and at the station) and finally gave up and went out and went to the consulate the next day and it was a non-issue. The most useful thing to have is a copy of your now-lost passport. That really speeds up the process.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions. I have delayed my flight a day to increase the likelihood of getting it done on time. I do have a copy of my passport as well as my Nexus ID. Still thinking about going to the police.

Here's what happened. I reported the loss in the Provence town I was in. The policeman there could not make the report, but he kindly drove us 10 minutes to the national Gendermerie, where the loss report was completed within an hour, no fuss. He said it would be a replacement passport for 15 days.

In Paris on Monday I arrived at the Embassy for an emergency passport one hour early, and was at the front of the line. Because I was prepared- especially the police report and the photocopy of my passport- it only took an hour. I had delayed my flight til the next day, but could have easily made it. But you can't count on that.

After, we had lunch with new friend a block from Notre Dame under reconstruction, and laughed so hard in that nearly deserted restaurant I was a little embarrassed. Being forced to spend an extra day in Paris was not a disaster!

Thanks for the update! We love happy endings.

I agree with Jane! Thanks so much for the update. I’m so happy it worked put for you AND that you got an extra day in Paris.

Glad it worked out with an extra day in Paris! The amount of time it takes to obtain a replacement passport seems to be overstated on this site by people who haven't had to do it. Our wonderful friend, Zoe, remarked how easy and quickly she obtained a replacement in Italy...I think it took her two hours. I believe those who have actually done it. Consequently, I don't clutch my passport as if I will have no identity should I misplace it. LOL.

Thanks for reporting your good news!
And an extra day in Paris is always a good idea!

Ginny, I had to the good cheers that all worked out. And, now you will be the resident (forum) expert for any others that run into the same problem in the future.
If you had trip insurance, I wonder if you can get that extra day and any airline change fees covered....worth inquiring.

I lost mine years ago and was in and out of the Embassy in Paris in under two hours, after arriving early. The best part was when the guard there said "welcome home, sir"!

Thanks for the reminder about travel insurance, which for once I bought. The vendor was as offered by Alaska Airlines; Allianz. It turns out I did have coverage for a delay in travel. I sent in the documents requested- an itinerary for the original trip, and proof the return was actually one day later. The coverage is $150 per day of delay, per person. The check for $300 showed up in my bank account today!!

Thanks to everyone for their contributions. It was sure a relief that the Paris Embassy had their info online so I could get most of it done in advance. Main thing- file a report of loss with the police, and have a photocopy of your passport. All the legal entities love them.

This is an excellent post! Everything about the process of replacing a lost passport is laid out so concisely I will be keeping it accessible, just in case mine should be among the missing someday. So happy to hear it all worked out so well for you and plus a new friend, cooperative insurance company and an unexpected bonus day in Paris! Thank you for taking the time to post this valuable information.

Thanks, ginnybear, for following up. Yes, this should spur us all on to have all the necessary information at hand.