Lost Your Passport in the UAE? Police Report, Replacement and Updating Your Residence Record

Direct answer. If you lose your passport in the UAE, report the loss to the police in the emirate where it went missing, ask for a loss certificate, and tell the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP). Two separate rules set the clock. The entry and residence law says you must inform ICP within 24 hours of the loss. Its executive regulations say you must report the loss to the nearest police station within three days. In Dubai you file through the Dubai Police "Report Lost Item" service. In Abu Dhabi you file through TAMM. In Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain, file the loss report at the nearest police station, as the executive regulations require. In the first four, the Ministry of Interior then issues a certificate against that report's reference number. Your new passport comes from your own country's embassy or consulate, not from a UAE authority. Your residence is no longer stamped in your passport, because the Emirates ID now proves it. So the last step is updating your new passport details on your residence record with ICP or, for a Dubai-issued residence, with GDRFA.

Where to file the police report, emirate by emirate

The police report is the document every later step asks for: your embassy, your residence file and any exit permit. Each emirate runs its own counter.

Figures are from each service page in September 2026 and can change. Check the live page before you pay.

Dubai

The Dubai Police Report Lost Item service lets you report lost belongings. You can also request a lost certificate for a fee. The service page says that certificate "can be used with other official entities". That is the document you will carry to your consulate.

• How to apply: sign in with UAE Pass on the Dubai Police app or website, which run 24/7. Police stations handle the service from 7:30 to 22:00.
• Condition: the item must have been lost within the geographical boundaries of the Emirate of Dubai.
• Documents: any evidence or documentation related to the lost item, if you have it. A copy of the passport's data page is a useful thing to bring.
• Delivery: the digital certificate is emailed to your registered address as soon as it is issued.
• Validity: the certificate is valid for one month from the date of issue.
• Help: the Dubai Police call centre is 901.

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi Police runs Reporting Lost Items through TAMM. You log in with UAE PASS or visit a service centre, submit the application and documents, and receive a Lost Item Certificate. It asks for an original passport or Emirates ID, so use your Emirates ID. The page lists no additional cost and a completion time of 15 minutes.

Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain

In these emirates, file the loss report at the nearest police station. Clause 3 of Article 6 (First) of the executive regulations requires exactly that. In Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah, the Ministry of Interior then issues a "To Whom It May Concern" certificate for lost documents. The certificate is "based on a report declaring the loss", and the terms require an existing report. So the certificate is the second step, not the first.

• Digitally: select the report reference number, save the application and pay the fee, through the MOI app or website with UAE Pass.
• In person: attend the station yourself, or send a legally authorised representative.
• Documents: Emirates ID, passport, and details of what is missing.

Any online channel for the underlying loss report, including Sharjah Police's own, is set by the local police and can change. The Ministry card lists no certificate fee for Umm Al Quwain. Confirm the current channel and fee with Sharjah Police or Umm Al Quwain Police, or with a licensed UAE lawyer.

Two deadlines: 24 hours and three days

The law sets two separate duties, owed to two different bodies.

1. Inform ICP within 24 hours. Article 14 of Federal Decree-Law No. 29 of 2021 on the Entry and Residence of Foreigners says that if a foreigner's passport is lost or damaged, they must inform the authority within 24 hours of the loss or damage. Read the law.
2. Report to the police within three days. Article 6 (Obligations of the Foreigner), First, clause 3, of the executive regulations issued by Cabinet Resolution No. 65 of 2022 says a foreigner who loses a passport or identity card must report it to the nearest police station within three days. Clause 1 of the same part requires you to notify ICP of any change in your registered data. The page holds two articles numbered 6, so look for the one titled "Obligations of the Foreigner and the Recruitment Agency" in the executive regulations.

If your Emirates ID went missing with the passport, a third rule applies. Article 11 of Federal Law No. 9 of 2006 Concerning Residential Register and the Identity Card requires the holder to notify the authority when the card is lost (full text). The UAE government portal says to report a lost Emirates ID to ICP within seven days.

Neither article sets a penalty of its own, but the deadlines are not optional. Article 30 of the decree-law is a general penalty clause: anyone who breaches the decree-law or its executive regulations faces imprisonment of at least one month and/or a fine of at least AED 10,000. Article 34 lets the Cabinet set administrative violations and sanctions. How ICP or a court treats a late loss report is set by those authorities and can change. Confirm with ICP or a licensed UAE lawyer.

Article 14 also names no channel for informing ICP. The ICP call centre is 600 522222. Confirm with ICP how it wants the loss recorded.

Lost or stolen? Choose the right report

A lost-item report and a criminal report are different services. Dubai Police and the Ministry of Interior both list criminal reports separately from lost items.

If someone took your passport, report a theft. Theft is a crime under Federal Decree-Law No. 31 of 2021 on the Crimes and Penalties Law. The lost-item service records a loss and contacts you if the item is found. A criminal report is a separate service on both the Dubai Police and Ministry of Interior portals.

Three other situations are easy to confuse with a loss:

• Your passport is held in a case. That is not a loss, and a loss report does not resolve it. See passport held during a criminal case.
• Your employer is holding your passport. That is not a loss either, and a loss report does not resolve it.
• You need a police clearance certificate. That confirms your record status; it is not a loss certificate. See the police clearance certificate guide.

If you want to know whether a case exists against you, a loss report does not answer that. See how to check for a criminal case against you.

Getting a replacement passport from your embassy

The UAE does not issue passports to foreign nationals. Your own embassy or consulate replaces the passport. GDRFA's own departure-permit page describes this: after a police report, "a travel pass can be issued by the beneficiary's consulate".

Each mission sets its own documents, fees and timelines, so contact yours directly. Take the loss certificate, any copy of the lost passport, and your Emirates ID.

If you lose the passport abroad, the procedure is set by your own country's embassy where you are, and re-entry on a UAE residence is set by ICP or GDRFA and can change; confirm with them before you travel back, and read about the GDRFA return permit if you have been away a long time.

If your Indian passport is missing

The Consulate General of India in Dubai lists these documents for a lost passport. This is the consulate's own list, not a UAE requirement:

• A photocopy of the lost passport: the first and last pages, the address page if separate, any endorsement pages, and the visa page.
• An FIR or police certificate, or its translated version in English.
• A declaration in Annexure "F".
• If the valid UAE residence visa page is not available, the Entry/Exit paper issued by the UAE immigration authority, with a legal English translation.
• For minors, the consent of both parents.

Since the UAE stopped residence stickers in April 2022, many residents have no visa page to copy; the Entry/Exit paper item covers that.

The consulate also issues an Emergency Certificate for an Indian national returning to India without a valid travel document. If a newly issued passport is lost, it can certify that passport as genuine for your police report.

Check which Indian mission serves the emirate you live in. Confirm its current requirements, fees and timelines with that mission before you go.

If you are a UAE national

Emirati passports are replaced by the UAE. GDRFA's "Replacement of a Lost or Damaged Passport" service asks for a personal photo and a police certificate stating the passport is lost. The listed fee is AED 300 plus 5% VAT, plus AED 10 Knowledge Dirham and AED 10 Innovation Dirham. The holder must be in the country. The expected completion time is 48 hours, and the service runs 24/7 through the ICP website.

Updating your residence record: there is no visa to re-stamp

Older guides tell you to re-stamp your residence visa in the new passport. That step no longer exists. ICP suspended the residence sticker from 11 April 2022, and the Emirates ID now serves as proof of residence. ICP also lets you print a residence details form through its smart services.

So your residence visa did not sit in the lost passport. What changes is the passport data on your residence file. Article 10 of the decree-law lets the ICP Chairman cancel a residence permit early for two reasons: the public interest, or a breach of the decree-law or its executive regulations. Losing a passport is neither of those on its own. Ignoring the two reporting duties is a breach of that law, though, so report within the deadlines.

Two services cover changes to residence data:

Start with the ICP amendment service. If your residence was issued in Dubai, check the GDRFA service.

Neither service page names a replacement passport directly. Which service applies to a new passport number, and whether you need a new Emirates ID card, is set by ICP or GDRFA and can change. Confirm with ICP on 600 522222, or with GDRFA, before you pay.

Leaving the UAE before your new passport arrives

GDRFA Dubai's "Issuance of a Departure Permit" service allows a foreigner inside the country to obtain a permit to leave. This is GDRFA Dubai's service, for files held in Dubai, delivered through Dubai channels such as Al Aweer, Airport Terminal 3, AMER centres and the Hatta land port. Outside Dubai, the equivalent service and fee are set by ICP and can change; confirm with ICP (600 522222) or a licensed UAE lawyer. The GDRFA page says that in exceptional cases involving a lost passport, you file a police report, your consulate issues a travel pass, and then you apply for the exit permit.

• The listed fee is AED 241.
• You must leave within 7 days of the permit being issued.
• The regular exit permit requires payment of all outstanding fines.
• The expected completion time is 48 hours.

Our outpass and exit permit guide covers lost-passport cases in more detail. If you have overstayed, read about checking and paying overstay fines first. If you are unsure whether a ban is on your file, see how to check a travel ban by passport number.

Whether a resident can leave on an emergency document and return on the same residence is set by ICP or GDRFA and can change. Confirm with them and with your embassy before you book.

Mistakes that cost people time

• Filing in the wrong emirate. File where you lost it; the Dubai service covers Dubai only.
• Letting the certificate expire. A Dubai loss certificate is valid for one month. Time your request.
• Merging the two deadlines. The 24-hour duty to ICP and the three-day duty to the police are separate. Do both at once.
• Paying for a visa re-stamp. There has been no residence sticker since April 2022. You update data; you do not re-stamp.
• Reporting a theft as a loss. If it was stolen, file a criminal report.
• Following old guides. Older guides describe stamping the report at a court, the Public Prosecution and immigration. The current police service pages issue the certificate directly.

When to get legal help

Most lost passports are an admin task: police report, embassy, residence update. A lawyer helps when the loss connects to something bigger: identity fraud, a passport held in a case, a travel ban, fines blocking an exit permit, or a residence file problem. You can find an immigration lawyer on LEXAI and contact them directly. You can also check for a travel ban with your passport number before you plan any trip.

This is general legal information, not legal advice. Confirm current procedure with the relevant authority or a licensed UAE lawyer.