Emergencies such as a lost passport

Don't panic — handled in order, most of these are solvable.

Lost passport

1. Report at a police station and obtain a loss report certificate.
2. Visit your embassy or consulate to apply for a replacement passport or a travel document. See embassy-contacts.
3. Once you have the new passport, report to the immigration office to update your registration details.
4. If departure is imminent, ask the embassy about emergency issuance. See lost-passport.

Lost residence card

1. Apply for reissue through the immigration office or HiKorea. See arc-reissue.
2. Carry the application receipt.
3. If it was stolen, report to the police too — there is an identity theft risk. See personal-info-protection.

Your stay is expiring and you lack documents

• Contact immigration before the expiry date. Explain the situation and you will be guided.
• Call 1345 first to find out how.
• Leaving it because you can't gather documents leads to overstaying. See overstay-consequences.

Other emergencies

• Your employer holds your passport — unlawful. 1350, 112, 1345. See passport-taken.
• Arrest or detention — you may request an interpreter and legal counsel. See detained-by-police.
• Hospitalisation making you miss a deadline — prepare a medical certificate and consult 1345.

Where to go

• 112 police (loss and theft reports)
• 1345 Immigration Contact Centre (not 24-hour — check the hours)
• Your embassy or consulate
• Your local immigration office
• 1330 tourist information (24-hour interpretation)

Questions people ask

I lost my passport and residence card together. Work in order: police, then embassy (passport), then immigration (card). The report certificate helps establish your identity.

It happened at the weekend. 112 and 119 operate 24 hours. Administrative matters wait for a weekday, but 1330 can interpret if it's urgent.

I have no money to get to the embassy. Ask a local foreign residents' support centre or a migrant organisation for help. See ngo-support.

I must leave the country but have no passport. The embassy can sometimes issue a travel document. Contact them immediately.

Take care

Never pay a broker who offers to "sort it out fast". Emergencies are exactly when scammers strike. Handle everything through official channels — police, embassy, immigration. Photographing your passport in advance makes reissue far faster.

Related

lost-passport · arc-reissue · passport-taken · overstay-consequences · embassy-contacts

Source

Ministry of Justice, HiKorea www.hikorea.go.kr / As of 2026-08