Travel + Leisure

TRAVEL + LEISURE / MARCH 2016

DAVID ALEXANDER ARNOLD AND KIRA TURNBULL

Tip | HUS TLE WITH LESS

HASSLE Indian passport

holders have SmartGate

entries at few

international airports.

The new Mobile Passport

Control app (for iOS and

Android) lets you access

express immigration

lanes at participating

airports. Download the

app and when you land,

use it to fill out a customs

form and submit a selfie;

you’ll get a QR code that

an officer can scan with

your passport. “Think

of it like a tollbooth,”

says John Wagner of US

Customs & Border

Control. “This is your

exact-change lane.”

1 | LOOK AGAIN

Though your fi rst instinct may be to

call the authorities, have someone else

sift through your belongings with fresh

eyes, advises Brenda Sprague, deputy

assistant secretary for passport services

for the U.S. Department of State. “Once it’s

been reported lost, too bad,” she says. The

document is cancelled, and details go into

the Lost Documents database. Anyone,

including you, who is caught trying to use a

document that’s been reported missing could

be detained—and at the very least will be

denied entry or boarding. So have a pal check

your pockets, drawers, safes, suitcases,

and other bags. If you’re at home, be sure to

search the clothes you were wearing the

last time you used your passport.

2 | CALL IT IN

If you’re overseas and you’re certain the

passport is gone, contact the Indian

Mission as soon as you can; a staff

member will take the report and tell

you how to get an Emergency Certifi cate.

(The embassy generally can’t issue

documents on weekends or holidays.)

You’ll have to pay a fee, and should arrive

with identifi cation and a new passport

photo. When you get home you can

exchange it for a regular book at a small

fee. If your passport goes missing at home,

make an FIR at your nearest police station,

and the Passport Seva Kendra. You’ll have

to apply for the replacement in person.

GONE, BABY, GONE

Passport lost or stolen? Follow these
steps at home and abroad.

3 | REVIEW YOUR PLANS

Some countries—including France—may

not allow you in with an emergency

passport, because it lacks the

electronic data chip embedded in a

regular version. Manage your itinerary

accordingly. — MALENA CAROLLO

The Case

for Covers

A scuffed, stuffed

passport may be a badge

of honour—but it can

also derail a trip. Border

offi cers can reject a

document for being dog-

eared, torn, or otherwise

beat-up. A passport case

can prevent problems, and

these might get a second

look—in a good way.

1. Cedar Street Dot
   Passport Holder, US$78;
   katespade.com


2. Clare V. Leather
   Passport Case, US$115;
   clarev.com


3. Byredo Passport Case,
   US$250; byredo.com


4. Passport Case in
   Intrecciato Nappa, US$340
   bottegaveneta.com


5. Valextra Passport Holder
   3CC, US$490; valextra.com

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