by Anne Harris, U.S. Consul Agent in Cozumel

Have you lost your U.S. Travel Documents?

Learn the new rules

As of 26 March 2003 - Given the new security environment, Washington will no longer
allow Consular Agents to issue transportation letters.

Passengers who lose their documents of identification or proof of U.S. citizenship should contact their airline carrier about being re-boarded for return to the US. Typically, if you are
traveling on a round trip ticket and you are accompanied by someone who does have
ID, who can verify your identity & your U.S. citizenship, most airlines will re-board their own passengers.

Depending on your situation, they may also have to call the U.S. Immigration office at your point of entry, to verify that you will be admitted if you are boarded . Be sure to contact them prior to your departure and/or get to the airport very early on the day of your departure , so they have the time needed to meet the regulations of your re-entry to the U.S.

For those passengers whom a carrier categorically refuses to board with their existing documentation, the only three options are:

1. Have someone send you, by Federal Express or DHL courier or fax, adequate proof of
your identity & citizenship that will be accepted by the carrier to board you.


2. Fill out a passport application at the Consular Agency which will be forwarded to
the Consulate in Merida for expedited processing. In practice this will usually take
at least four working days . If you have lost your photo ID and/or you have never
had a passport , you must be accompanied by someone who does have photo ID who can
make a sworn statement of your Identity and citizenship. Passport fee is $ 85 usd.


3. Go personally to the US Consulate in Merida for passport processing. If you arrive
before 12 noon, the Consular Officers will probably be able to issue a passport the
same day, if everything else is in order. This is not a guarantee however, and will
almost certainly not be possible for those arriving in the afternoon.

Please take great care with your credentials. If you lose them , not only are you
going to be greatly inconvenienced, you also make it more difficult for us to secure
our borders by possibly putting your travel documents into the wrong hands.

Please make every effort to recover your documents.

Make a police report of your loss and also notify the Consular Agent so that we can put out an alert that someone may try to misuse your credentials.

In Cozumel, Contact : Anne Harris, U.S. Consular Agent

(Usual Office Hrs : 12 - 2 pm Monday - Friday) - Office Address: 2nd floor right rear of Villa Mar Mall in the Main Plaza (Behind Fat Tuesday's Bar Grille) across from Cozumel Online

office ph (987) 872 4574 - e-mail: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

24 hr (emergencies only) cell ph: 876 0624 (prefix 044 987 if calling from Cozumel)

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