Replacing a lost Lesotho passport requires police evidence

Use the lost-passport category rather than ordinary renewal

Basotho replacing a lost passport should obtain the police evidence and check the receiving office's complete replacement checklist before paying. Lesotho's government service page distinguishes a lost passport from one that is expired or full. The lost category asks for a completed loss form, one passport photograph, a M2 revenue stamp, the passport application form and the applicant's identity card. Simply arriving with the ordinary renewal documents can leave the loss declaration missing.

The service page lists M430 for a lost regular passport, compared with M130 for an expired or fully endorsed regular passport, and gives three days for those domestic services. These are published service-category figures. They do not establish that an application lodged abroad will reach the same office or follow the same timetable. A person whose passport is full should retain it for the replacement file; someone whose passport is missing should use the loss route instead.

• Completed loss form
• Passport application
• Identity card
• Passport photograph
• M2 revenue stamp

Report the loss and confirm which documents the office will retain

Home Affairs' frequently asked questions tell applicants to report a lost passport to the nearest police station, including when the loss happened outside Lesotho. The police report or affidavit and the applicant's identity document are then taken to the passport office. Keep a copy of the report and ask the receiving mission whether it requires the original, a certified copy or additional evidence about the circumstances.

The ministry breaks its M430 loss or damage charge into a M300 penalty and M130 application fee. Its separate emergency-passport charge is M630, comprising M130 plus M500. Paying the emergency amount is not a substitute for explaining the loss or identifying the right service. The same page gives a maximum five working days for passport receipt, unlike the government service page's three-day listing. Neither domestic estimate establishes a guaranteed overseas delivery date.

London requires a police loss form and a separate affidavit

The Lesotho High Commission in London makes replacement applications personal and by appointment. Its lost-or-damaged passport instructions require the normal new-passport evidence, a passport copy where available, National ID, the local police lost-property form and an affidavit explaining the loss. That is more explicit than treating every reference to a police report or affidavit as permission to choose only one. Prepare both for the London file. Provide an accessible email address and telephone number so the mission can raise document queries.

Use [email protected] to arrange the appointment and confirm current payment arrangements. London says incomplete passport applications will not be processed. Its published overseas sequence allows thirty working days to deliver applications to Foreign Affairs in Lesotho and expects passport delivery within two months of application. Those are distinct from the domestic three-day or five-working-day figures. A London applicant should therefore plan around the mission's handling process and ask what evidence confirms readiness for collection before arranging travel.

US applicants should resolve the fee and certification differences locally

The Lesotho embassy in the United States separately asks for a certified police-report copy when a passport is lost. Adults need a valid Lesotho identity card, the prescribed form, photographs, signature and thumbprints; forms are completed at the embassy. The page also asks for a certified copy of the current, expired or exhausted passport where applicable. Tell the embassy when that document is unavailable because it was lost.

The US page displays M150 for a thirty-two-page regular passport, while Home Affairs displays M130. It directs applicants to arrange payment through someone in Lesotho at Foreign Affairs' consular office. The public pages do not reconcile that fee difference or establish the final overseas loss-replacement total. Obtain the receiving embassy's current category and payment instructions before sending money. Do not add a domestic penalty to an overseas base figure and present the result as a confirmed quotation. Replacing a passport also does not itself renew immigration permission in the country of residence.