Lost passport or biometric residence permit

If you have lost your passport or biometric residence permit in the UK or abroad we can advise on what to do.

Your passport and UK visa are very important documents. Your UK visa is the printed vignette in your passport or biometric residence permit (BRP).

They are a form of identification.
They are proof of your immigration permission to be in the UK.
They allow you to travel into and out of the country.
You may also need them to prove your eligibility to work, rent, open a bank account.

If your passport or BRP are stolen, you must follow specific procedures to have them replaced. These procedures vary according to:

which documents have been lost or stolen, and
whether they went missing in the UK or overseas.

If you get a replacement passport or BRP, you must bring them to a Student Services Centre as soon as possible. We need to scan a copy of your documents.

Some international students are required to register with the police. If this applies to you, you have to get your police registration certificate updated too. It must include your new passport or BRP details.

If you renew your passport, you must provide the new details to UKVI. Complete and submit a change of circumstances form.

Passport lost or stolen inside the UK

If you've lost your passport in the UK, follow these steps.

Report the loss of your passport to the local police.
Contact your embassy to get a replacement passport. See the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCCO) list of foreign embassies in the UK.
Your passport may have contained a vignette with your current UK visa. If so, you must apply to transfer this visa onto a biometric residence permit (BRP). Find out more about applying to transfer your visa to a BRP.

You don't need take further action if your UK visa is on a BRP already and you haven't lost your BRP.

Passport lost or stolen outside the UK

If you've lost your passport outside the UK, follow these steps.

Report the loss of your passport to the local police. Make sure you get a police report.
Contact your embassy in the country where your passport was lost or stolen. Get a replacement passport.
Your passport may have contained a vignette with your current UK visa. If so, you must make a vignette transfer application. This will allow you to get a replacement UK visa printed inside your new passport. Find out more about applying for a vignette transfer. On the first screen of the application, select 'Transfer or replace your visa (vignette)'.

You don't need take further action if your UK visa is on a BRP already and you haven't lost your BRP.

BRP lost or stolen inside the UK

If you've lost your BRP in the UK, follow these steps.

Report the loss of your BRP to the local police. Ask them if it has been handed in.
Report your lost or stolen BRP to UKVI. Once you've reported your BRP as lost, you can't use it again, even if you subsequently find it.
Apply for your replacement BRP within three months of losing the original. You can be fined up to £1,000 and made to leave the UK if you do not apply for a replacement within three months.

Find out more about applying for a replacement BRP.

BRP lost or stolen outside the UK

If you've lost your BRP outside the UK, follow these steps.

Report the loss of your BRP to the local police. Make sure you get a police report.

Report your lost or stolen BRP to UKVI. Once you've reported your BRP as lost, you can't use it again, even if you subsequently find it.

Apply for a single-entry replacement BRP visa. You can use this once to return to the UK. When choosing the visa type, select 'Replacement biometric residence permit visa'.

Once you're back in the UK, you must apply for a replacement BRP. You must do this within three months of reporting it lost or stolen unless you have a good reason. An example of a good reason would be if you were unable to return to the UK in that time. You can be fined up to £1,000 and made to leave the UK if you do not apply for a replacement within three months.

Find out more about applying for a replacement BRP.