Passports, Visas, and Arrival-Departure Records (Form I-94 and I-94W) are official travel documents that foreign citizens coming to the United States must have in their possession to show their country of citizenship and legal status in the United States. Travelers are encouraged to make a copy of their passport biographic page, U.S. visa and Form I-94 as soon as possible after their arrival in the United States. If a passport containing a U.S. visa was stolen, a police report will be required.
If the traveler is a foreign citizen temporarily in the United States and loses the passport containing the U.S. visa, the traveler can remain for the duration of the authorized stay, as shown on the Arrival-Departure Record (Form I-94). In general, the traveler will need a valid passport to depart the United States and to enter another country. The Form I-94 should be handed in when the traveler departs the United States to document that the traveler is departing by the required date. While the visa does not need to be replaced in order to depart the United States, the passport and Form I-94 must be replaced immediately. Please see http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis.
Reporting a lost/stolen passport:
If you ever lost or had your passport stolen and that lost or stolen passport contained a valid U.S. Visa, that visa is invalid even if you recover your passport. Do not use that visa to travel to the United States. You must apply for a new visa if you wish to travel to the United States.
As soon as you realize that your passport with a valid U.S. Visa has been lost or stolen, please take the following steps:
- File a report with the police in the jurisdiction where the passport was lost or stolen.
- Mail or e-mail a copy of the police report, along with your name, date of birth, telephone number, national identification (cédula) number, to the Fraud Prevention Unit of the U.S. Embassy in Colombia.
- The mailing address:
Embajada de los Estados Unidos de America
Unidad de Prevención de Fraude
Cra. 45 No. 24B-27, Post 2
Bogotá, D.C. - Email address is FPMBogota@state.gov
- The mailing address:
If applying for a new visa, in addition to all the required documents the following must be submitted with the application:
- The police report of the loss or theft
- An original, sealed letter from DAS (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad) indicating the entries and departures to and from Colombia. The DAS office is located at Calle 100 #11B-27, Edificio Platinum, Bogotá.
- Letter from applicant explaining the circumstances and date of the loss or theft, date previous visa received, and date of scheduled travel to the United States.
Unless canceled, revoked, or damaged, a visa is valid until its expiration date. Therefore, if the traveler has a valid U.S. visa in an expired passport, the traveler may present it, along with a new valid passport, at the U.S. port of entry.
Please present the original expired passport, along with a new valid passport, at the U.S. port of entry. Both of the passports must indicate the same nationality, and the bearer's name must be identical in both passports.
If the names on the visa and the passport are different, the traveler must present proof of the change (marriage certificate, etc.) to the Immigration Officer at the U.S. port of entry. Both passport types must be the same.
It is important that travelers depart the United States on or before the last day they are authorized to be in the United States on any given trip, based on the specified end date on the Arrival-Departure Record, Form I-94. Failure to depart the United States will cause the traveler to be out-of-status.
Staying beyond the period of time authorized by the CBP official and being out-of-status in the United States is a violation of U.S. immigration laws, and may cause the traveler to be ineligible for a visa in the future for return trips to the United States.
See the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website for information on the I-94 and what to do if you have forgotten to submit your I-94 when departing the United States: http://cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/i-94_instructions/.
To create a log in to pay an MRV fee or schedule an appointment to complete the visa application process, all users must enter their passport number, nationality and date of birth.
Applicants who do not have passports can enter the control number of their refugee document or alien ID in lieu of a passport number. Immigrant visa applicants who cannot obtain a passport may also enter their immigrant visa case number in place of a passport number. Applicants who do not have a nationality may select "No nationality/refugee" under the nationality field.
When you receive your passport, please check the issued visa carefully. In case of any difference between the information on your visa and the information in your passport, return with your passport to Window 14, Monday – Friday from 12:00 pm to 1:00pm.
