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In a hypothetical case where one finds themselves in a country where their country or origin does not have a diplomatic mission (embassy, consulate) nor an agreement with another country (like EU embassy cooperation), how does one obtain a passport? Usually embassies in neighboring countries service their citizens living in the non-mission countries, but without a passport it’s impossible to leave the country, rendering it impossible to ever leave the country legally. Moreover, are there any cases known of people who have been “trapped” in a country for that reason?

Wahlhoff
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    How did you get into that country without a passport? Did you lose it? Did it expire? Surrender yourself and be deported. – badjohn Aug 23 '18 at 21:14
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    In many cases (like renewals for instance) you can often do it by mail, no need to visit the country. But in most cases there will be some form of representation via a third party. Consider that there IS a US embassy in all but name in Cuba despite those two countries having no relations, for instance. And in the weirdest cases you may end up with a laissez-passer. – jcaron Aug 23 '18 at 21:19
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    The general advice would probably be to call the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in one's home country and ask what to do. – hmakholm left over Monica Aug 23 '18 at 21:27
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    Transnistria or St Helena would be good examples of such countries. Losing your passport there would probably be no fun – Crazydre Aug 23 '18 at 21:30
  • You might be able to get a passport by post. In fact, if you are British, this is the only way to obtain a passport from abroad. – TonyK Aug 23 '18 at 21:52
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    @jcaron Your info is a couple years out of date. There is now an official US Embassy in Cuba. – cpast Aug 23 '18 at 22:52
  • @cpast, ah indeed it's called an embassy again now. But for decades it wasn't called an embassy, but acted like one. – jcaron Aug 24 '18 at 00:02
  • If there are no diplomatic relations, your country might have a protecting power. – o.m. Aug 24 '18 at 06:54
  • I think your country has a diplomatic mission, just not on your country. So the diplomatic mission of nearby country is also responsible for your country. Ask to them, because their are responsible for your country. They will organize stuff (pick up passport, organizing interviews, etc.). Just in a more slow timeline, but they will regularly visit also your country. [Sometime other country embassies will handle some stuff for you (under supervision of the original country)] – Giacomo Catenazzi Aug 24 '18 at 10:09
  • I think this question is too broad. The answer is potentially different for every pair of countries. If you have a specific question about a specific case, please do ask it, but overly broad hypotheticals aren't really what the site is for. – David Richerby Aug 24 '18 at 12:49

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