You keep your identity documents like your eyeball, but still it happened: You are currently in the US and your passport with the US visa it contains is not found or stolen. To limit the damage, you should follow these steps.

Of course it is always annoying to lose ID documents such as your passport, but it can be particularly bad during a stay abroad. Therefore, our first tip is: Make sure you have copies of your passport and US visa before you travel, and keep the copies with you during your stay abroad, or keep them in a safe place.

If your original passport is lost or stolen during a road trip or city break despite great caution, you should keep a cool head and look after the following issues:

1. Contact to the police
As soon as you discover that your passport has been lost or stolen, you should contact the local police department.> The police report will be needed to re-apply for visas at the US Consulate or Embassy. You should therefore plan an extra copy of the police report for this.

2.Country-specific requirements for passport loss
How the replacement of lost or stolen passports is regulated is governed by the regulations of the country in which the identification document was issued. Every country sometimes has its own passport regulations, so you should contact the relevant passport authority. Passport authorities within Germany are the citizen offices, abroad it is the embassies and consulates-general.

3.Delivery visa application to visa issuing US authority (US Embassy / US Consulate)
You should immediately contact the appropriate US consulate to report the loss of your US visa. Thus, possible visa abuse should be counteracted. We recommend that you send an e-mail to the US Consulate General in Frankfurt / Main: https://de.usembassy.gov/de/u-s-consulate-general-frankfurt-de/

Your e-mail to the US consulate should contain the following information:

– Full name
– Date of birth
– Place of birth
– Address in the USA
– cause of the loss (loss or theft)
– Copy of passport and / or visa

4. Re-application of the US visa in the home country

For security reasons, the US visa is no longer valid after a loss report of the passport – even if the “old” passport is retrieved or given in retrospect.
The renewed application for a visa can not usually be made in the USA. If your passport containing the US visa it contains is lost or stolen, you must submit your visa application to a designated US consulate in your home country or residence.
The visa application should be accompanied by the police report from the USA and a letter about the course, d. H. In the visa interview at the US consulate, you should carry these documents along with the regular application documentation.
Please note that you are not required to cancel your US stay and leave the US just to replace your stolen or lost visa. The US visa is a travel document used to request entry into the United States.

Conclusion: Anyone who mentions a few tips in advance and initiates all necessary steps after a passport loss can avoid potential problems when traveling to the USA.