Recently, one of my friends had lost their Indian passport and French residence permit/titre de sejour in Barcelona, Spain. So, the following process was followed to return to France and apply for the lost documents.

1. First, a police complaint should be filed. This is a mandatory process and will help you to return to France. Do the same thing if you had lost it in France. Though an offline police complaint is preferred, you can also do it online Pré-plainte en ligne. There are a few comments that the police had lost track of the online complaint and it delayed the application process by 2-3 weeks


2. Send an email to the Indian Embassy in Paris cons.paris@mea.gov.in with a copy of the police complaint, passport and visa details (photo/pdf if available)


3. Organise your return to France. Preferred mode of transport will be BlaBla car, Bus or Train. Need to check if the police complaint can be used to travel by Flight. If you are already in France, kindly ignore this step


4. Next step, complete the Passport re-issue application form available in the website Passport seva at Indian Embassies and Consulates and submit it at the nearest VFS centre along with the required documents and fees. Please check the following link for all the info about the application process.VFS Global


5. Tentative list of documents required for the application process at VFS


1. Application passport re-issue from the previous step


2. Affidavit Form F


3. Police Complaint Report


4. Photocopy of the lost passport and the pages with Visa


5. Proof of address in France


6. Any of the following documents to establish your identity.


• Birth certificate


• Voter ID card


• Pan card


• 10th & Degree certificate


• Aadhaar card


6. Normally, VFS takes 2-4 weeks to process your new passport


7. After receiving the new passport, contact your local prefecture for re-issue of the lost French visa/titre de sejour. Normally, this will de done free of cost


8. Also, check with your French Bank about the insurance part. Depending on your contract, they may or may not reimburse the fees paid for various documentation


9. Next step, complete the Passport re-issue application form available in the website Passport seva at Indian Embassies and Consulates and submit it at the nearest VFS centre along with the required documents and fees. Please check the following link for all the info about the application process.VFS Global


10. Tentative list of documents required for the application process at VFS