Emergency Passport UK: Eligibility, Timing, and Limits

If you are a British national stuck abroad without a valid passport, the document you need is an Emergency Travel Document (ETD), sometimes called a UK emergency passport. You apply online through GOV.UK, pay a £125 fee, and the document is usually ready to collect from a British embassy, high commission, or consulate within two working days. It covers one specific journey home or to another set destination, not future travel.¹

What the Document Actually Covers

An ETD is a single-use paper document issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. It is not a passport and does not replace one. Your permitted route and any transit countries are printed on the document itself, and you can pass through a maximum of five countries on the way to your destination. When you reach the UK, immigration officers take the ETD from you at the border and return it to HM Passport Office. Before you travel internationally again, you have to apply for a full passport through the normal process.¹²

The document is valid for the shortest period needed to complete the journey shown on it. Side trips, onward tourism, and business detours are not allowed.

Who Can Apply

Eligibility splits into two tracks, and the deciding factor is whether you have held a British passport issued on or after 1 January 2006.¹

If You Have Held a Passport Issued On or After 1 January 2006

You can apply if you are a British national, you are outside the UK, you need to travel within six weeks, and your passport has been lost, stolen, damaged, is full, has recently expired, or is currently with HM Passport Office or a foreign embassy. You also need to show you cannot renew or replace the passport from abroad before your travel date. No exceptional circumstances are required. A stolen passport and a flight home in four days is enough.

If Your Passport Predates 2006 (or You Have Never Held One)

The test here is stricter. You must show an urgent and unplanned reason to travel due to exceptional circumstances. The government’s own examples are a child born unexpectedly abroad, urgent medical treatment requiring travel to another country, and attending the funeral of a close relative. Each application is assessed individually. Wanting to get home to avoid missing work would not clear the bar.¹

What You Need Before You Start the Form

Have everything ready before opening the application. You will be asked for:³

Your travel plans, including countries and dates, which will be printed on the ETD
A digital passport photo meeting UK passport photo guidelines, which must not have been used in any previous passport application
A contact phone number and email address
A debit or credit card for the £125 fee, which is non-refundable

If your wallet was taken along with your passport, a friend or relative can pay on your behalf through the online service. After you submit the form, you will be asked for evidence of your British nationality (a birth certificate, a copy of a previous passport, or a driving licence will usually work), plus evidence of your exceptional circumstances if that track applies. If your passport was stolen, a local police report is not formally required but strengthens the application.

How Long It Takes

Two working days is the standard turnaround from applying to collection. Several things push that out to weeks:³

Your original British passport has expired
The applicant is a child under 16
You have not yet paid the £125 fee
You need to provide additional documents or information
An online or in-person appointment is required

Not every applicant is called in. If the application is approved, you will be told how and when to collect the ETD and whether an appointment at your nearest British embassy, high commission, or consulate is needed. Where an appointment is required, staff verify identity by checking your photo against your face and asking questions someone impersonating you would be unlikely to answer.

Applying for a Child Under 16

Children are eligible, but the process is slower and involves an appointment. The child must attend the nearest British embassy, high commission, or consulate with both parents or legal guardians present. If one cannot attend, that person must complete and submit a signed consent form. Everyone with parental responsibility for the child has to either be at the appointment or provide the form. Parental responsibility can rest with a parent named on the birth certificate, someone who acquired it through a court order or parental responsibility agreement, or a UK local authority.³⁴

Plan for weeks rather than days. If a child needs an ETD, start the moment you know.

Where the Document Won’t Get You

Not every country accepts the UK Emergency Travel Document. Before applying, check that your destination and every transit country on the planned route will admit you on an ETD. Contact the relevant embassy or consulate directly if you are not sure. The ETD also does not exempt you from any visa requirement that would normally apply to a British passport holder visiting the same country.¹

What Happens to Your Old Passport

When you apply for an ETD because your passport was lost, stolen, or damaged, HM Passport Office cancels the original in its records to block fraudulent use. This is automatic. If the missing passport later turns up behind a hotel nightstand, it stays cancelled and cannot be used. A new full passport is the only route back.⁵

If You Are Still in the UK

The ETD is only for British nationals already abroad. If you are still in the UK and need a passport urgently, two different services apply, and both produce a full passport rather than a temporary one. The 1-Day Premium Service costs £222 and is available for adults renewing a passport originally issued after 31 December 2001; you collect the passport four hours after your appointment. The 1-Week Fast Track Service costs £178 for adults and £145 for children, covers renewals, replacements, and first child passports, and delivers the passport by tracked post about a week later. Both require an appointment at a passport office. Neither is available for a first adult passport.⁶

1
GOV.UK. Travel Urgently From Abroad Without Your UK Passport
2
GOV.UK. Travel Documents Issued by UK Government Offices
3
GOV.UK. Travel Urgently From Abroad Without Your UK Passport – How to Apply
4
GOV.UK. Emergency Travel Document for a Child – Consent Form
5
GOV.UK. Lost, Stolen and Recovered Passports – LSR Team
6
GOV.UK. Urgent Services – Apply for a Passport