Document recovery
In short
Police station or Public Security Bureau first, for a written report of the incident. Your embassy second, for the passport itself or a one-journey emergency travel document. The exit-entry administration third, because the Chinese visa inside the old passport has to be reissued separately. If your embassy cannot issue anything, China's own answer is a foreigners' exit-entry permit: CNY 100, decided within 30 working days.
Open supportApplies to
Any foreign visitor whose passport is lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed while they are inside mainland China.
Check before you rely on it
The consular half of this page is sourced only to the UK foreign ministry. Emergency travel document rules differ by country — read your own ministry's page if you hold another passport.
Review date: 2026-07-25
The instinct is to call the embassy first. The published order puts the police report first, because that report is what the Chinese counter later asks to see. Nothing here is legal advice.
What to do
The timeline nobody expects
This is the number that turns a lost passport from an errand into a rebooked trip.
A foreigners' exit-entry permit is the document China issues when a foreigner has no valid passport through loss, damage, theft or robbery and cannot get a reissued document from their embassy in China. The service guide sets a decision within 30 working days from the date the application is accepted, a published fee of CNY 100, an in-person application with an interview, and collection in person with the acceptance receipt.
The permit is not issued to anyone who falls within Article 28 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law — an uncompleted criminal punishment, a criminal case in which you are a suspect or defendant, a court bar in an unsettled civil case, or unpaid labour remuneration where the relevant departments have barred your exit.
Service Guide on Issuance of Exit-Entry Permits for Foreigners (National Immigration Administration, page dated 2021-04-01, read 2026-07-25)Which route is yours
Find your row first. Your embassy and the Chinese exit-entry administration issue different documents and neither can do the other's job.
| Your situation | Published route | Timing, and the source |
|---|---|---|
| First hour, whatever else is true | Nearest police station or Public Security Bureau, and get a written report of the incident. | Immediately. Everything downstream asks for this paper. UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, read 2026-07-25 |
| Your embassy can reissue a passport | Apply through your embassy or consulate in China. The passport is theirs to issue, not China's. | Set by your own passport authority. No opened Chinese source publishes a timetable for it. UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office / HM Passport Office, read 2026-07-25 |
| Your embassy issues an emergency travel document instead | One-journey document that lets you travel home. British nationals apply if they are outside the UK, need to travel within six weeks, and have held a UK passport issued on or after 1 January 2006. | Usually valid for one single or return journey, routed through a maximum of five countries. UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office / HM Passport Office, read 2026-07-25 |
| Your embassy cannot reissue or replace anything | Apply for a foreigners' exit-entry permit at the exit-entry administration of a public security organ at prefecture level or above, in person, with an interview. | A decision within 30 working days of acceptance. The published fee is CNY 100. National Immigration Administration, read 2026-07-25 |
| The passport is replaced but the Chinese visa or permit went with it | Apply for the reissue at the exit-entry administration of the public security organ at or above county level in your place of stay. The lost visa or permit is declared void by the issuing authority. | As soon as you hold the new passport or the embassy's note. National Immigration Administration, read 2026-07-25 |
| You renewed the passport in China rather than losing it | Contact your local exit and entry office, or call the national immigration service hotline on 12367. | Before, or immediately upon, receiving the new passport. UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, read 2026-07-25 |
Rebooking trap
This is the detail that breaks an itinerary with a Hong Kong, Macao or neighbouring-country leg still in it.
The UK foreign ministry states that holders of Emergency Travel Documents are not allowed to enter China without a visa. The document itself is usually valid for one single or return journey and routes through a maximum of five countries. Plan a direct way home rather than a loop, and do not assume a side trip out of the mainland can be resumed.
Source: UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office — Foreign travel advice: China — Entry requirements (read 2026-07-25)
Source: UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office / HM Passport Office — Travel urgently from abroad without your UK passport (read 2026-07-25)
The published facts
Chinese documents are sourced to the immigration administration; consular documents to the UK foreign ministry. Sources read 2026-07-25.
The UK foreign ministry's China advice is explicit about the order: if your passport is lost or stolen, go to the nearest police station or Public Security Bureau and get a report of the incident. The Chinese exit-entry service guide later asks for a certification of passport loss report, so the errand you do first is the one the counter needs.
Foreign travel advice: China — Getting help (UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, read 2026-07-25)
A foreigners' exit-entry permit is issued where a foreigner in China has no valid passport or other international travel document through loss, damage, theft or robbery, and cannot get a reissued document from their embassy or consulate in China.
Service Guide on Issuance of Exit-Entry Permits for Foreigners (National Immigration Administration, page dated 2021-04-01, read 2026-07-25)
A decision on a foreigners' exit-entry permit is made within 30 working days from the date the application is accepted. The charging standard published in the guide is CNY 100, on the basis of Ministry of Public Security notice Gong Tong Zi [1996] No. 89. You collect it in person with your acceptance receipt.
Service Guide on Issuance of Exit-Entry Permits for Foreigners (National Immigration Administration, page dated 2021-04-01, read 2026-07-25)
The applicant completes the procedures and accepts an interview in person at the exit-entry administration of a public security organ. Applications are taken at prefecture level and above, including districts and counties of the four municipalities; county-level offices may be authorised to accept them.
Service Guide on Issuance of Exit-Entry Permits for Foreigners (National Immigration Administration, page dated 2021-04-01, read 2026-07-25)
A certification of passport loss report, or a note from your embassy or consulate in China, or an invalidated or expired document plus whatever temporary identity document you are using instead of a passport. Plus the Visa/Stay Permit/Residence Permit Application Form and a photo that meets the exit-entry photograph guidelines.
Service Guide on Issuance of Exit-Entry Permits for Foreigners (National Immigration Administration, page dated 2021-04-01, read 2026-07-25)
The permit is not issued where the applicant falls within Article 28 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law. Article 28 bars exit for people under uncompleted criminal punishment, criminal suspects and defendants, people barred by a court in an unsettled civil case, and people in arrears of paying off labour remuneration who are barred by decision of the relevant departments.
Article 28 · Service Guide on Issuance of Exit-Entry Permits for Foreigners (National Immigration Administration, page dated 2021-04-01, read 2026-07-25)
Article 67 says a lost, damaged or stolen visa, stay permit or residence permit is declared void by the issuing authority. Article 35 says the reissue is applied for at the exit-entry administration of the public security organ at or above county level in the place of stay or residence. Your embassy does the passport; this office does the Chinese document that was inside it.
Articles 35 and 67 · Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China (National Immigration Administration, page dated 2021-03-10, read 2026-07-25)
The UK emergency travel document lets a British national travel from abroad when they cannot use their UK passport. It is usually valid for one single or return journey and can route through a maximum of five countries. Applicants must be outside the UK, need to travel within six weeks, and normally have held a UK passport issued on or after 1 January 2006.
Travel urgently from abroad without your UK passport (UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office / HM Passport Office, read 2026-07-25)
The UK foreign ministry states that holders of Emergency Travel Documents are not allowed to enter China without a visa. If your remaining itinerary leaves the mainland — Hong Kong, Macao, a neighbouring country and back — that leg has to be rebuilt or dropped.
Foreign travel advice: China — Entry requirements (UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, read 2026-07-25)
The same advice states that you will be denied entry if you do not have a valid travel document, or if you try to use a passport that has been reported lost or stolen. If the old passport turns up after you have reported it, it is no longer usable.
Foreign travel advice: China — Entry requirements (UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, read 2026-07-25)
Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119, traffic police 122, maritime search and rescue 12395. The FCDO in London answers on 020 7008 5000, 24 hours, for urgent help about someone abroad. Keep these on paper, because the phone and the passport are often lost in the same bag.
Foreign travel advice: China — Getting help (UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, read 2026-07-25)
Dialling +86-12367 and choosing English on the interactive voice response system gives an immediate, direct voice response. The China Immigration Service Hotline is run by the authority behind the exit-entry counters, and the same service is in the NIA 12367 app and its WeChat and Alipay mini-programs.
China Immigration Service Hotline 12367 Now Supports French (National Immigration Administration, page dated 2025-12-11, read 2026-07-25)
China does not recognise dual nationality. The UK foreign ministry states that a person who enters China on a Chinese passport or identity card cannot be helped by the British Embassy, and that former Chinese citizens may be treated as Chinese citizens and refused access to UK consular services.
Foreign travel advice: China — Entry requirements (UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, read 2026-07-25)
The UK foreign ministry publishes lists of English-speaking lawyers, translators and interpreters in China, and guidance on being arrested or imprisoned and on being a victim of crime. It also states that it cannot provide tailored advice for individual trips. A consulate documents you and connects you; it does not clear a Chinese immigration file for you.
Foreign travel advice: China — Getting help (UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, read 2026-07-25)
In short
The first-hour question, the how-long question, and the one about the visa that went with it.
Go to the nearest police station or Public Security Bureau and get a written report of the incident, before you contact anyone else. That report, or an equivalent note from your embassy, is what the Chinese exit-entry administration asks for when it reissues your documents. Then call your embassy or consulate about the passport itself.
Your embassy issues the travel document — a replacement passport or an emergency travel document. It does not issue the Chinese-side paperwork. If the embassy cannot reissue anything, China's own answer is a foreigners' exit-entry permit, applied for in person at an exit-entry administration, with a decision within 30 working days and a published fee of CNY 100.
The only Chinese timetable published is the exit-entry permit: a decision within 30 working days of acceptance, collected in person. No opened source publishes an expedited version of that route for a stranded tourist. Rebook on the assumption of weeks, not days.
The visa is declared void by the issuing authority under Article 67. Article 35 sets the reissue route: the exit-entry administration of the public security organ at or above county level in your place of stay. It is a separate application from the passport, and it happens after your embassy has dealt with the passport.
No. The UK foreign ministry states that holders of Emergency Travel Documents are not allowed to enter China without a visa. An emergency travel document is also usually valid for one single or return journey and routes through a maximum of five countries, so plan a direct way home rather than a loop.
Do not try to travel on it. You will be denied entry if you try to use a passport that has been reported lost or stolen, and Article 67 makes the visa inside it void once the loss is declared.
Yes. The guide states the permit is not issued to an applicant who falls within Article 28 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law — an uncompleted criminal punishment, a criminal case in which you are a suspect or defendant, an unsettled civil case where a court has barred your exit, or unpaid labour remuneration where the relevant departments have barred it.
Not published
Being stranded without a passport is a legal position, not just an inconvenience. These gaps are left open on purpose.
What to freeze first, which bookings survive on the passport alone, and who to call.
Open the recovery guideArticle 38, what a police check involves, and what to say when you do not have the document on you.
Open pageIf the replacement runs past your last permitted day, this is the extension route and the published penalty.
Open pageNext move
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