Yes. If you lose your passport and report it, your passport number changes: the U.S. Department of State permanently cancels the reported passport, and the replacement you apply for is a brand-new document with a new number, new issue and expiration dates, and a new book or card entirely.1U.S. Department of State. Report Your Passport Lost or Stolen There is no way to keep the old number.
Why the Number Changes
A U.S. passport number is tied to a single physical document, not to you as a person. The moment you report the passport lost or stolen, the State Department invalidates that book or card in its system, usually within one business day of an online report. The cancellation is permanent. You cannot reactivate a reported passport even if it turns up in a drawer the next morning, and attempting to travel on one that was previously reported lost or stolen can get you stopped at a checkpoint or denied entry abroad.1U.S. Department of State. Report Your Passport Lost or Stolen
Because the old document is dead, the replacement cannot inherit its number. You are treated as a new applicant issuing a fresh passport, not as someone renewing an existing one.
How You Get the New Number
Reporting the loss does not itself produce a replacement. You have to apply separately, and because a lost or stolen passport breaks the chain of possession, you cannot use the mail-in renewal process. You apply in person at a passport acceptance facility using Form DS-11, even if the missing passport was still valid.2U.S. Department of State. Application for a U.S. Passport DS-11 Many post offices, public libraries, and county clerk offices serve as acceptance facilities, and you can report the loss and apply at the same visit by filling in the details of where and when the passport went missing on the DS-11 itself.1U.S. Department of State. Report Your Passport Lost or Stolen
Bring proof of U.S. citizenship (an original or certified birth certificate, a naturalization certificate, or a photocopy of the missing passport if you have one), a valid government-issued photo ID, and a recent 2×2-inch color photo. A police report is not required but is worth bringing if the passport was stolen. Do not sign the DS-11 in advance; the acceptance agent has to watch you sign and administer an oath.2U.S. Department of State. Application for a U.S. Passport DS-11
What It Costs
Because you are treated as a first-time applicant, you pay both the State Department’s application fee and a separate execution fee to the acceptance facility. For adults 16 and older in 2026, a passport book runs $130 plus a $35 execution fee, for $165 total. A passport card is $30 plus $35, for $65. Getting both is $160 plus $35, for $195. For children under 16, the book is $100 plus $35 ($135 total) and the card is $15 plus $35 ($50 total). The two fees are paid separately.3U.S. Department of State. United States Passport Fees for Acceptance Facilities
What to Update Once the New Number Arrives
Sign the new passport book right away. A passport book is not legally valid until the bearer signs it in the designated space; passport cards do not require a signature.4eCFR. 22 CFR 51.4 – Validity of Passports Check every field on the data page before you rely on the document for travel.
Then, because the number has changed, update it wherever the old one was on file:
- Trusted Traveler Programs (Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, NEXUS, SENTRI): sign in to your TTP account and choose “update documents” to enter the new passport information. Your membership remains valid across the change, but the benefits will not work until the new number is on file.5U.S. Department of State. DHS Trusted Traveler Programs
- Airlines with upcoming reservations, and any frequent flyer profiles that store passport data.
- Foreign visas in the old passport. Contact each issuing country’s embassy or consulate to ask whether the visa can be transferred or whether you need to reapply. Some countries let you travel carrying both the canceled old passport and the new one; others require a fresh visa. Confirm before you fly, because arriving at immigration with an invalidated passport and no current visa is the kind of problem that ends a trip.
If You Lose It Abroad
The number still changes. Contact the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate and appear in person with a passport photo, any ID you still have (a driver’s license or a photocopy of the missing passport helps), proof of citizenship, and your travel itinerary. If there is not enough time before your departure, the consular section can issue an emergency passport valid for up to one year, which you can exchange for a standard passport after returning home. That standard passport will again have a different number from the emergency one.6U.S. Department of State. Lost or Stolen Passport Abroad
One boundary worth naming: none of this applies to an expired passport you simply cannot find. The lost-or-stolen reporting system is only for valid passports, and an expired book already carries a retired number. If your current passport is still valid and missing, though, expect a new number the moment you file the report.