If you read these lines when you are just going on a trip abroad, and you have not yet been stolen from documents, consider that you are lucky: you can play it safe and avoid very unpleasant moments that can darken the most rainbow vacation.
First, make more photocopies of all pages of your passport. Leave some copies with relatives or friends so that they can send them by fax in case of loss of a passport. Be sure to bring one copy of your passport with you and wear a copy, keeping the original in the hotel safe or in a safe place. If you have Internet mail, scan all the pages of your passport and send it to your inbox. You also need to bring along another document with a photograph - an internal passport, a driver’s license, a military or library card, in a word, anything where your name is written and there is your photo. Keep this document separate from your passport. Take along 2 photographs of 3.5 x 4.5 cm. If a citizen of Russia or Ukraine has performed these simple actions, the question of what to do if you lost your passport will not arise.
The laws of both countries (Russia and Ukraine) are not much different for those who have lost a passport and wish to return to their homeland. What to do if I have lost my passport? In general, the procedure at first glance seems pretty simple. You need to contact any police department of the country where the trouble occurred, for a certificate of loss of your passport, present this certificate to the embassy, consulate or office of the honorary consul of the Russian Federation or Ukraine with a statement on the issuance of a document called "Certificate of entry (return) to Ukraine" (the same is issued by the Russian consulates for Russians). To get the cherished paper, you will have to lay out an amount from $ 20 to $ 100 (depending on the country where your passport was lost), fill out the appropriate form and attach 2 photos. With this document, valid only 15 days, you can come to your homeland and within 3 days to contact the authority that issued the lost passport in order to receive a new one.
In practice, the procedure for obtaining an “Entry Certificate ...” is rather confusing and involves numerous bureaucratic delays. If a tourist traveling with a group through the travel agency has lost a passport, what to do will tell the group leader. He will be the link between you and the police, help you contact the consulate, etc. If the tourist has not taken with him any other documents proving his identity and does not have a copy of the lost passport in his hands, the group leader will guarantee it (that is, he will write a written certificate with another Russian / Ukrainian citizen that you are you, not someone else).
But what if a person traveling alone lost his passport? Not every police department speaks English (and even more so in Russian). You need to enlist the help of a translator. Further, not in all countries, police officers understand why a person who has lost a passport goes to the police and not to the embassy: there is no crime in the loss. In this case, you need to contact the police with a question of what to do if your passport is stolen. You will need to file a theft and sign a police report. Ask for a copy of your application and find out the address and telephone number of the nearest representative office in your country.
The consulate must verify your identity before issuing you a document allowing you to enter the territory of Russia / Ukraine. And the citizen should help him in every way possible. That is, he must submit a copy or scan of the lost passport, ask the relatives remaining in the homeland to fax him a copy of this passport or any other document proving his identity. But what if I lost my passport, but there are no copies and other documents on hand? Then you need to find two compatriots who agree to come to the embassy with passports and vouch for the person in writing, that is, confirm that they know his last name, first name, middle name, year of birth and place of residence. Otherwise, the identification process may take up to 3 months.