BRP Lost Experience

[rk1234]

Hello everyone,

I am sharing my experience of losing BRP and what to do if this happens to you.

Whilst travelling in France(Paris, November 2017), my wallet which had all bank cards including the BRP was stolen/lost/pickpocketed in a metro.

1. First thing i did was to reach the hotel, use wifi and report it as lost/stolen in the UKBA website. UKBA sends email saying you have to apply for temporary replacement brp to enter UK. Thats true. But its hard to achieve when you are in totally different country without any access to funds and documents required.

2. Went to one of the local police stations - lodged a complaint and got the FIR equivalent from the police stating the items lost with place date and time.

3. Went to British embassy to see if there is anything they might help with, but as expected there is nothing much they can do if you are a non-British citizen. However, the office there gave me 2 options
a. Go to Visa4UK office and make the temporary brp application (takes atleast 15 days or 5 days if premium)
b. Fly to UK if the flight people let you in, then explain the situation to border force in Luton airport, London.

option 3b was riskier, since its dealt case by case basis and depends on the border force officer.

4. Went to Visa4UK office, the officer there gave me same 2 options in detail. However, when i explained how much difficult it is for me to make application in paris without having place to stay, without any access to funds or internet (literally anything), he asked me to reach "Gare Du Nord Train station" and speak to the UK border force there.

5. Went to "Gare Du Nord Train station" , explained an officer the same situation in details and provided hime my copy of police complaint, passport and an mobile where I had saved an image of BRP (luckily!). After speaking with his superior, he said they will allow me to travel to UK in the next available train.

6. I purchased the train tickets, got the border checks done where i briefly explained the situation to another officer who spoke in call with his superior again and stamped my entry to UK. ( I believe this a kind of the point of entry to UK)

After this there was no questions asked and I made entry to UK St.Pancras station. Called UKBA and explained my situation and they asked its totally alright to make a replacement application without having to get temporary replacement brp since i am already in UK with valid border force checks.

Immediately , i made new application the next day with my passport, police complaint and other details as expected in the application.

Date of application : 22nd November 2017
Date of fingerprint at postoffice : 2nd December 2017
Date of BRP arrival : 16 Jan 2018
Date of return of passport and other documents : 17 Jan 2018

This might be lengthy explanation of experience, hope it helps someone in case they need.

In one line :

Did you loose your brp when you are in PARIS - then go to "Gare Du Nord Train station" and speak to UK Border force with your passport, image of BRP from mobile and copy of police complaint.

[vinny]

I'm made this helpful topic a sticky.
Contrast with another member's serious problems.

[vinny]

Travelling On A Lost/Stolen BRP, easier for non-visa nationals.

[vinny]

Beware! BRP – more concerns

[vinny]

UKBAbble's advice.

Contact details.

[portabello]

Thank you for this incredibly informative post.
Just one question: If the Home Office/UKBA already had your biometrics for the original BRP, why did you need more fingerprints/biometric data taken for the replacement BRP?

[goodgo]

I lost my BRP and Passport last week in Slovakia. I have managed to get my new passport by Indian authorities now and I have been looking at completing the BPR replacement Visa application. The challenge I have is, I dont have access to all my 10 years history of applications I made with UKBA, the visas I received, the countries I traveled to including dates etc. from outside my home at UK. My documents and data is there, i just dont know how to complete this complicated application from an outside country.

Going through the example shared by rk1234, Im considering going to garde... train station at Paris and explain it to border control officer to be allowed back to travel to UK.

The fact that my police report was not made in France, and its been days since I lost my things, will impact my ability to persuade people at border control paris to be allowed travel back to UK?

Any advice on how should I approach them so that I can be allowed to travel to UK from Paris?

[cmp17ked]

I lost my BRP and Passport last week in Slovakia. I have managed to get my new passport by Indian authorities now and I have been looking at completing the BPR replacement Visa application. The challenge I have is, I dont have access to all my 10 years history of applications I made with UKBA, the visas I received, the countries I traveled to including dates etc. from outside my home at UK. My documents and data is there, i just dont know how to complete this complicated application from an outside country.

Going through the example shared by rk1234, Im considering going to garde... train station at Paris and explain it to border control officer to be allowed back to travel to UK.

The fact that my police report was not made in France, and its been days since I lost my things, will impact my ability to persuade people at border control paris to be allowed travel back to UK?

Any advice on how should I approach them so that I can be allowed to travel to UK from Paris?

Can I ask how did it go? I was in Montenegro and the immigration auhorities were not useful. Its not a big airport so they didnt know what to do but not allow me to take the flight. I didnt have or credit card just my passport so my family book a ticket to my home country to fill the replacement BRP visa. My documents are coming by courrier to help me fill the form but I am stock in the section of income, they ask you how much are you gonna spend, and your income. I am student and things are already paid over there so I dont know how to fill that part or if I need to send economical proofs, etc.

[Danielmac]

Hi everyone, thank you in andvance to anyone with info or help!

So I am Australian citezen who last year aquired a Tier 5 Youth Mobility Visa. The last few motnhs I did some travelling in Europe and while on a train in Hungary and had my wallet stolen which contained my BRP and bak cards and so on.

So I went online and went through the process of reporting my BRP missing, applying for a Single use Replacement BRP ect.
On the 11th of September 2018 I had my appointment and sent my application and passport along with all other supporting documents (police report, reciept, ect.) to Home office so they could approve or deny my application.

I am now playing the waiting game, I have read that it can take up to 8 weeks, or as little as 15 days to have the application finalsed and, if succesful, recieve the Replacemnt BRP. My issue is that because I am not an EU Citizen, therefore I am bound by Schengen law and am only allowed to stay in the Schengen Zone for up to 90 days within a 180 day period. I have an estimated 13 days remaining on my allowed time in Schengen Zone. As stated earlier I no longer have my passport as it was sent to Home Office for my application so I cannot move to a none Schengen country.

So I guess I am panicking a little and would love to hear about other experinces on how long this applicaion and its answer took for others, and if anyone has advice for me that would b great too.

Thanks

[rajex2000]

Thanks to rk1234 for giving the complete details on how to return from France to London when BRP is lost.

We are Indian nationals living in London. While traveling in Paris (me, wife and a small boy), the wallet in which we had our Passports and BRP cards was pick pocketed in the metro train. Although we could not continue with our planned tour to Switzerland, we could return to London by exactly following what is mentioned here.

As a first step, we reported the incident to the nearest police station and got the copy of the report.

Then got duplicate passports done at the Indian Embassy, though we had to pay a hefty premium to get it on the next day (About 300 euro per passport) and had to put up with the rude behavior of the Embassy staff.

We then visited British Embassy hoping to get some support, but they directed us to the Visa application Center. The official at the Visa application center told us the procedure to apply for a 'BRP Visa' which would take 5 days if we chose the premium service (approximately 600 Euro for premium service) or 15 days in a normal case. However, this is not an easy job as the process is exactly same as applying for a new visa. One needs to have all documents handy, which I think is next to impossible in such circumstances.
As in anyone else's case, we were not in a position to take that approach as we did not have place to stay, had very limited funds and did not have any documents with us to submit. We explained our situation to the person and he suggested us to go to 'Gare du Nord Train Station' and explain to them our situation.

We reached the station and bought refundable tickets for the next available train. First explained the situation to Eurostar members, then the same story to France immigration authorities at the next stage and then to the UK boarder officials at the time of passport verification. The official spoke with his superior on phone who came and took the passports inside for verification. She returned in 10 minutes and told us that we can board the train. Not even a single question was asked! She just told us to apply for new BRP after reaching London. We asked her if there would be any more immigration checks when we reached London. She replied no.
Finally boarded the train and reached London without any trouble. We are so grateful to rk1234, the author of the original post for showing us this option and to the UK Boarder officials in Paris for letting us travel without any issue.

[taekyungp]

Hi all,

Reading from people's past experiences, I was wondering if someone could give me some advice please.

I'm South Korean with an ILR. During my visit in Korea, I lost my BRP and trying to figure out what I need to do.
I've visited the Home office website and a lot of BRPs are regarding various visas. I've contacted the British embassy in Korea and they're directing me to the home office.

I'm due to fly out in 3 days and was wondering if it's possible to enter the UK without my biometrics and apply for a replacement while I'm in the UK? I'd be very grateful for any advice!

Thanks

[vinny]

A refused entry.

[gbptier1general]

Hi all,

Reading from people's past experiences, I was wondering if someone could give me some advice please.

I'm South Korean with an ILR. During my visit in Korea, I lost my BRP and trying to figure out what I need to do.
I've visited the Home office website and a lot of BRPs are regarding various visas. I've contacted the British embassy in Korea and they're directing me to the home office.

I'm due to fly out in 3 days and was wondering if it's possible to enter the UK without my biometrics and apply for a replacement while I'm in the UK? I'd be very grateful for any advice!

Thanks

Hi
Did u com UK?
you must have submitted a police report for a replacement BRP? You should declare it where required as it’ll be obvious on ur passport but also explain it and attach the police report.Thr is little fee.
U wil get 1-Month single entry from sourc Country&after coming uk u need to get ur BRP replacmt.

[amoroso]

Hi All,

I lost my BRP in Toulouse France, and will be traveling to Milan Italy and then Florence in Italy, before heading back to UK on 15th April.

Similar to some of the experiences shared, I have lost my wallet too, which contains my debit card.

Right now I think I have 2 options:

1. Try to re-enter UK with my passport and a soft copy of my BRP
- Would I be allowed to fly?
- Anyone has experience of getting rejected/accepted at UK borders through plane? because experiences shared by others seem to be at UK borders by train from Paris.

2. Get a one-time replacement BRP
- Doing this without a debit card is impossible, unless I seek help from someone else
- The appointment location is in Rome. This means I have to travel to Rome from Florence (another online payment)? and either fly from Rome back to London (buy a new ticket which means another online payment) or fly back to Florence to catch my plane back to london?

It is obvious to me that the first option would be so much more feasible, but only if UK allows me to re-enter with a soft copy of my BRP.

Any suggestions?

Would appreciate any advice!

Thank you!

[gbptier1general]

Hi Amoroso,

As per general steps & looking to ur case,
It is better to get the UK-fees paid in ur Home country & send an Email to UK-HO BRP-Lost team& u will be given a caseID/Reference Number.
With this apply application +UK Fees as u mentioned ,may take 2-3 weeks to get in postal to u.
Once u get u can come on same day flight& apply for new BRP- inside UK.

I am not aware of option -1, u might call UKVI contact number:-0300....& seek better help.

Good Luck!!!

[Lapr268]

Hi All,

I lost my BRP in Toulouse France, and will be traveling to Milan Italy and then Florence in Italy, before heading back to UK on 15th April.

Similar to some of the experiences shared, I have lost my wallet too, which contains my debit card.

Right now I think I have 2 options:

1. Try to re-enter UK with my passport and a soft copy of my BRP
- Would I be allowed to fly?
- Anyone has experience of getting rejected/accepted at UK borders through plane? because experiences shared by others seem to be at UK borders by train from Paris.

2. Get a one-time replacement BRP
- Doing this without a debit card is impossible, unless I seek help from someone else
- The appointment location is in Rome. This means I have to travel to Rome from Florence (another online payment)? and either fly from Rome back to London (buy a new ticket which means another online payment) or fly back to Florence to catch my plane back to london?

It is obvious to me that the first option would be so much more feasible, but only if UK allows me to re-enter with a soft copy of my BRP.

Any suggestions?

Would appreciate any advice!

Thank you!

Hiiii Amoroso

Have you solved your case?
I happened to have a similar case to you. I lost my BRP in barcelona and I’ve got my passport replacement. I’m still considering whether I should fly to London or use the train to London??

Thank you

[Chinnurae]

Hello - I am also in a similar situation. I have got a replacement passport from my embassy and have applied for a BRP replacement visa on priority. How long does it take for the response? Does it come back in 5 working days? I am really worried.

Please share if anyone has any experience with BRP replacement visa on priority.