Take photos of your passport, visa, and ID card and store them in the cloud; if lost, report to police first and then apply for a travel document.

7. Take photos of your passport, visa, and ID card and store them in the cloud; if lost, report to police first and then apply for a travel document.

Cost: No cost involved. Simply take a few photos before you depart.

In plain terms: If your passport is lost, the embassy or consulate can issue a travel document allowing you to return home, provided you can prove your identity. Having clear photos of the passport data page, visa pages, and entry/exit records greatly speeds up the replacement process. You must also report the loss to local police to obtain a police report, which is required for border checks and insurance claims. Since phones are often lost together with passports, do not rely solely on storing photos on your phone.

Benefit: When a passport is lost, foreign embassies or consulates can issue a travel document for repatriation, but only after you verify your identity. The speed of this process depends heavily on whether you possess clear photos of the passport data page, visa pages, and entry/exit records. Additionally, obtaining a police report is mandatory for border checks and insurance claims in many countries. The contact numbers for embassy assistance are the same two emergency hotlines listed in item 2.

Evidence grade: C

Sources: State Council of China (2023). Regulations on Consular Protection and Assistance (National Order No. 763). <https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202307/content_6891761.htm> (Article 16); Author’s experience, no direct documentation

Notes: Store the photos in two separate locations — for instance, upload one set to cloud storage and send another to a trusted family member. Also print a hard copy and keep it apart from the original documents. Photograph your bank cards and prescriptions as well. Since phones and passports are frequently lost together, relying only on phone storage is insufficient. Cloud services often require SMS verification, which becomes impossible if your phone is lost; test access from another device before travel to ensure you can retrieve the files. Photos of official documents are sensitive information; encrypted storage is safer, but if you forget the password, no one can access them, so the copy sent to family members remains essential.