Kathmandu, Sep 17 (IANS): The Nepal government has made it mandatory to report details of lost, stolen or cancelled Nepali passports to Interpol within 24 hours of being notified by the concerned person.
Under the “Procedure on updating details of lost, stolen and cancelled passports with Interpol, 2026,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stipulated that details of such passports must be updated in Interpol’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database.
The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) is the world’s largest international police organisation, connecting law enforcement agencies across 196 member countries.
For the purpose of updating the details, the Department of Passports will designate officials responsible for handling such cases and establish a coordination mechanism. The department will also maintain records of lost and stolen passports and coordinate with the Interpol National Central Bureau of Nepal Police.
The procedure introduced on Wednesday states that the information provided must include details such as the type of passport or travel document, passport number, date of issue, expiry date, date on which it was lost, stolen or cancelled, and the possible location where it was lost or stolen.
The provision aims to institutionalize the timely sharing of information among relevant agencies and ensure that details of lost or stolen passports issued by Nepal are made available internationally to help prevent their potential misuse, the ministry said.
Information involving an immediate risk of terrorism, organised crime, human trafficking, illegal international travel or other forms of misuse must be prioritized and forwarded without delay.
According to the procedure, if a passport is lost or stolen, the passport holder or their authorized representative must notify the Department of Passports in writing. If the passport holder is abroad, they must notify the nearest Nepali diplomatic mission either personally or through an authorized representative.
Upon receiving such information, the Department of Passports must search for the passport number and other available details in its system, verify the applicant’s identity and passport information, and ascertain the document’s actual status.
The passport must then be marked in the system as “lost” or “stolen,” with necessary controls applied to prevent its use. The required information must subsequently be prepared and sent to the designated official or the Interpol National Central Bureau (NCB), Kathmandu, of Nepal Police.
Similarly, Nepali diplomatic missions abroad must verify the details of a passport after receiving a report that it has been lost or stolen and immediately forward the information to the Department of Passports. They must also inform the concerned person that the passport can no longer be used.
