VisaResidents in Réunion must request a lost residence card online
A current-rule guide to the local filing route, supporting documents and help when the online application cannot be completed.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
Last verified against linked sources:
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Use the island’s online procedure for replacement
Foreign residents who lose a residence card while in Réunion should use the prefecture’s online replacement route. The island’s official immigration instructions list duplicate residence cards among applications made through the national ANEF platform and say these applications are not handled at the prefecture counter. Booking an appointment for another immigration category is therefore not a substitute for submitting the correct application.
This guide concerns a card lost while the holder remains in Réunion. European citizens and their European-family residence documents have separate guidance. The prefecture publishes [email protected] for local questions and asks correspondents to include their ten-digit foreign-national number, full names and phone number. Use the local instructions to identify the responsible service; the reviewed page does not establish a guaranteed replacement time or an automatic appointment without an application.
Prepare the missing-card file and identify your fee category
The national lost-card checklist asks for a sworn declaration of loss, a copy of the missing card if retained, passport pages showing identity, validity and entry stamps, recent address evidence and the digital photograph code. Proof of tax or stamp payment is requested when the card is handed over. Filing for a duplicate permanently invalidates the original, even if it is later found; the duplicate has the original validity dates.
The Service Public page, verified on 1 July 2026, lists a standard one-year temporary card at EUR 350 and specified categories such as students and family reunification at EUR 150. Other EUR 50 categories and exemptions include protection and certain violence-related statuses. Use the category selector rather than assuming a universal price.
Match address evidence to your housing arrangement
The separate address-evidence guide lists utility or fixed-line/internet bills, a tenancy agreement or rent receipt for tenants and owners. Hotel residents supply an accommodation certificate from the hotel and the latest monthly bill. Someone staying with family or friends supplies a dated, signed hosting declaration and a copy of the host’s identity or residence document, with the host’s address evidence where the address on that identity document is no longer current.
There is a precise age discrepancy to resolve: the general address page allows evidence less than six months old, while the lost-card checklist specifies less than three months. Prepare evidence meeting the shorter period where possible. For example, an applicant living with a relative should assemble the hosting documents, rather than upload an unrelated bill that does not demonstrate that arrangement.
Buy the right electronic tax stamp
The government tax-stamp guide covers duplicates as well as first residence cards and renewals. Electronic stamps can be bought online or from an equipped tobacco shop. Online payment accepts the listed bank-card networks, including Visa and Mastercard, but not PayPal or American Express. Check the applicable amount before buying, especially where an exemption may apply.
The stamp is delivered as a PDF bearing a scannable code or by SMS with a sixteen-digit identifier. Preserve that payment evidence for collection. The guide warns against buying a fine-payment stamp by mistake and links a refund service for an unused stamp. Purchasing a stamp is a payment step; it does not submit the missing-card application or prove that the prefecture has approved it.
Escalate a technical block through the documented support route
The 1 August 2023 ministerial order provides telephone and contact-form assistance through the citizen contact centre and physical help through prefectural digital-access points. Where initial support has not enabled submission, users can be directed to a digital-access point in their department. Those staff help with computer use and assembling the online application; the order says they do not verify whether the file is complete.
The same order reserves a substitute submission route for people still unable to file despite that assistance. Ordinarily the prefecture must invite the applicant after establishing the technical impossibility; alternatively, the applicant can produce a citizen-contact-centre document confirming it. An individual physical appointment is then offered, and the prefect may allow post or email submission. Keep error messages and support correspondence so the local service can assess the blockage. These provisions do not make an unsolicited paper application automatically admissible.
