Passport & GC stolen in Verona - Experience

[niladri30]

People,

Friday night, September 7, in Verona, Italy, I joined the ranks of those whose passports and GCs have been stolen while abroad. Here are the details, if it helps anyone. Replace 'Indian' embassy/consulate with your home country, as applicable:

1. What: Indian Passport issued in San Francisco and Green Card stolen, along with most personal effects

2. What remained that was impotant:
- (a) An ID, in the form of a California Drivers License
- (b) All credit cards

3. Nearest Indian Embassy AND the American Embassy: Rome. 5 and a half hours by train from Verona

4. What helped as a stroke of luck:
- (a) I had a scanned first-page of my stolen passport sitting in my gmail account. I printed that out and gave it to the Indian Embassy in Rome, along with application for a replacement passport (same form to fill as new passport)
- (b) I come from West Bengal and speak fluent Bangla. Internet cafes, Xerox services, PCO etc. in Rome are completely taken over by Bangladeshis. I spoke their language. I am certain that if I had no money for a hotel they would have done something for that as well :P

5. What did not help: Happened late Friday night. Embassys are closed weekends. Silver lining to this: Walked around and saw almost all of Rome. (18 mile walk. Not recommended unless you are a hiker. I am.)

6. Things to do where your stuff is stolen:
- (a) make a police report, immediately; take your copy; make at least 3 potocopies
- (b) try and notify the nearest Indian Mission AND American Mission (i.e. embassy or consulate, by phone at least)
- (c) obtain address and phone numbers of above missions. Look at websites to determine hours of operation and requirements like photographs, fees, mode of payment in advance before you go. Saves plenty of time. It's easy, go to an internet cafe - that's what I did
- (d) if you had a visa, inform the nearest embassy or consulate of the country that issued you a visa, by phone, and ask about any requirements. I informed the German consulate which had issued my Schengen visa (valid for all Schengen member countries, including Italy)
- (e) try and inform embassies of ALL countries where you are expected to cross borders that might need your lost visa(s). Make notes of names and phone numbres of people you talk to
- (f) put confirmed flight reservations on hold
- (g) get something to eat; find accommodation if needed

7. How long does it take to get an Indian passport: It took me 5 hours on Monday. Entered Embassy at 9:30AM. Got forms by 10:00. Turned in forms, 8 (eight) photos, copy of police report, copy of first page of old passport, 170 Euros (cash only), for fees and faxes (yeah they verify with India as well... I know coz they dug up the address of the place I lived at when I was in primary school :P) by 11:30. Got fresh passport at 3:00PM

8. Procedure for US Embassy / Consulate:
- (a) Call and ask for Department of Homeland Security; Customs and Border Protection (you can probably skip this step... you will know in the next point why)
- (b) You will probably get a voice mail asking you that if you are a Permanent Resident in need of a Letter of Transportaion to transport you to the US because your GC was lost, stolen, or left at home, you must go to www.uscis.gov and make an INFOPASS appointment (hey, did you think you were gonna get away without INFOPASS? )
- (c) while making INFOPASS appointment it helps if you have the numbers of your old passport, and your A#. Please provide the email address requested. They contacted me on it within 2 hours

I got an INFOPASS appointment for Tuesday at 9:30AM (I noticed that nothing was available for Wednesday, so you might want to set up this appointment as soon as you have the opportunity, BUT you must have your new passport at the time of appointment, so that limits how early you can go)

9. What does the American Embassy do for you: They verify your particulars and provide you with:
- (a) a Transportaion letter telling the airline that they can carry you to the US without liability under Sec 273 of the Immigraion & Naturalization Act etc etc of transporting an alien without a visa into the US
- (b) a sealed letter to the US CBP officer at Port of Entry in the US telling them to arrest you upon arrival (nope, just kidding! )

10. What do they need:
- (a) 4 photographs, regular, passport size, full face, frontal
- (b) copy of police report
- (c) proof of residence like bank statement, electricty bill (you can usually download off your bank or have someone in the US fax them over to you in advance. I couldn't d/l the electricity bill... gave them Comcast BB internet instead :P
- (d) $300, which might be "waived under certain circumstances". They did not ask me for $300

11. How long does it take: 30 minutes

12.What do you do next: Reschedule flight (I boarded a plane Wednesday morning Central European time and was back in the US Wednesday evening US time, PST); appear at airport with transportaion letter (the airline at the last port of boarding kept it), explain to all visa authorities along the way as to what happened (or follow instructions from their embassies). They might make you wait 5 minutes or so while they check their computers that you indeed had a visa. I had only the Germans to contend with: they were more thrilled that I spoke their language, than worry about my visa status (which they checked anyway). Tip: If you speak the local language - go for it!

13. Arrive in the US. Explain circumstances to CBP officer at POE. They will probably schedule you for Secondary Inspection right away, or admit you with Deferred Inspection (you get to go to their local office later). I was scheduled immediately, and out from Secondary in less than 10 minutes, with advice to apply for a replacement card: "You're good with us, but get the card replaced... you can apply from the website..." etc.

14. Point to note: Inexperiencd officers at Secondary Inspection might want to ask you to fill a form of Waiver of Entry Documents (used to cost $165, now costs $374). The officer at San Francisco explained that I wasn't technically asking for a waiver: I used to have the required docs; they got stolen. He said so technically no "waiver" is involved and it saves me time and money. He stamped my passport with the admitted stamp. In the place where they write ARC (Alien Resident Card), he wrote LPR (Lawful Permanent Resident), since, actually, the card was non-existent in the transaction.

15. Lessons Learned:
- (a) Carry PP and GC on person, not in a bag (do no get your pocket picked of course :P)
- (b) scan copies of PP and GC before leaving and store them in an internet accessible place like yahoo briefcase or your email account
- (c) take with you, before you leave home, the addresses and phone numbers of your home country embasssy/consulate and those of the American ones that serve the areas where you wish to travel

16. Last Words:
- (a) Your US bank ATM cards will work in almost all ATMs when you need cash. This is also the best exchange rate you can get... but sometimes you get docked $5 as a fee
- (b) If your money and credit cards and all forms of ID are stolen, go to your home country embassy first, after you have made the police report. If it takes money to go there, tell the police and ask or free use of telephone
- (c) Ask the cops to lend you money :P
- (d) If you are at a busy railway station or some such place with automated ticket machines, systematically and periodically check all the returned change slots for change left behind by other people - you gotta eat first! :P

Hope all this helps someday, even though I don't exactly wish it on you!

Note: All time-frames indicated are my personal experience. Individual durations will vary.

[chatterjee1]

Thanks Niladri. That was very detailed and informative. True abt the bangladeshis bit, Rome was swarming with them when I was there last
. Good Luck with your replacement card.

[Jackolantern]

How were they stolen? From the hotel room while you were gone, or by a pickpocket/mugger on the street?

I like that the GC is not something affixed into the passport. When I travel, I will keep the GC on my person and the passport at the hotel (locked in my suitcase, or the hotel's safe if they have one) or vice versa. That way it is highly unlikely that both would get stolen.

[niladri30]

Yup, keeping the GC separate from the passport is a good idea. That's the reason My drivers license did not get stolen. Actually, I used to be paranoid at one time about keeping things like PP on my person... somewhere down the line I got complacent and lax.

The docs were in my computer case which was locked in my colleague's car. The car was broken into (two windows shattered) while we had stopped to eat in Verona, about midnight. My colleague's home town is Verona. He is an Italian based in Munich, Germany, and claims that Verona used to be a quiet sleepy little city... maybe his German license plates also had something to do with it. He lost 2 computers and a drivers license, and last heard of was chasing around for a new one while I was chasing around for my docs.

[aabbcc11]

Niladri,
Excellent write up. While your info is superb the best thing to do is to carry pport and GC on your body at ALL times. A moneybelt or neck wallet is the only way. While you can replace the docs what is lost is the info the pport contained.
I must say that car break ins are well known in Italian cities plus they have more pickpockets than India does i think.;-) A little reading up before you left would had ensured you followed these easy steps and saved some headaches and $.

[aabbcc11]

We also carry a photocopy of the cover pages of passport and flight info, always kept in the suitcase at the hotel. This way the bags can be traced as ours if they are lost by the airline plus we have the copies in case of such situations.

[niladri30]

While I appreciate that the docs should have been on my person, a hotel safe was not an option. I was traveling, and between hotels. I was supposed to be checking into a new hotel that night. So, ALL luggage was in the car, with no hotel safe to store docs at. I was left pretty much in the clothes I was wearing and my wallet which contained credit cards and drivers license.

[Yankee_Boy]

Hi there,

Admire your tenacity and approach. It is also very heartening to see that you shared your story for others. God bless you and all the very best.

Very informative post!

[Nama:]

Niladri,
Thanks for a good write up. As someone who got his GC recently., I had been to Ireland and UK Last month and I was worried everyday, abt losing my passport and GC. With so many times you take out your PP and GC out in Europe for boarding next flight etc, I was really worried (I told myself that I am bit childish for my age, though) I retuend safely. I can unserstand the agony you went thru and thank you for sharing your story.

Regards
Nama:

[isitanylonger]

I am in a similar situation, though I am a Canadian Citizen ..do I need to get a Transportation Letter? I can enter the US with my Canadian passport and the airline incurs no liability since they don't know where i live. Will they be able to look everything up? My specific problem is that I left my GC in a hotel in another city. They have mailed it to my current hotel, but it hasn't arrived as yet. I can simply ask them to courier to me in the US.

[Jackolantern]

Originally Posted by isitanylonger

I am in a similar situation, though I am a Canadian Citizen ..do I need to get a Transportation Letter?

Call the US Consulate and ask them what to do.