Removing data from the Interpol SLTD database

Interpol Database on Lost and Stolen Travel Documents (SLTD) is an important tool in international law enforcement designed to prevent criminals and terrorists from using stolen or fraudulently obtained documents. The database currently contains around 128 million records and was searched 3.6 billion times in 2023, identifying 232,423 positive matches and preventing illegal border crossings with fake identity documents. That helps police to catch criminals who often use revoked, invalid, or stolen travel documents to cross borders.

Entering into the database can lead to blocking of accounts, refusal of entry at the border, seizure of the passport, and other serious legal consequences. But we know how to help you if the SLTD database contains information on travel and identity documents related to your activities. Our team specializes in working with Interpol and provides professional support in removing erroneously entered or outdated data from the SLTD database.

Experienced specialists will analyze the reasons for entering documents into the database, prepare a legal position, take on the collection of evidence, interact with the National Central Bureau and the CCF Commission, and also submit a reasoned official request to delete the record.

What is Interpol’s SLTD database?

In the modern world, international travel has become commonplace, so security issues are paramount. One tool for global control over people’s movement is the police communication system known as the Interpol SLTD database. This system is designed to combat stolen, lost, and fraudulent travel documents that can be used for criminal purposes. That helps police to catch terrorists and criminals at airports and border crossings.

The SLTD database contains information on counterfeit, stolen, lost, revoked/ invalid travel and identity documents to help law enforcement officers around the world track criminals who use them. This international database is administered by the Interpol national central bureau and contains different types of identity documents, including visas, passports, national ID cards, refugee travel documents, residence cards, military and diplomatic cards.

Interpol’s SLTD database contains critical security information used at state borders, at airports, diplomatic services, and law enforcement agencies to verify the authenticity of documents and detect possible abuses. This secure global police communication system helps authorized law enforcement agencies to instantly identify and stop a person or international criminals using an invalid or suspicious document to cross borders.

Only official bodies of Interpol member countries have the right to enter information into the SLTD, including national law enforcement agencies (police, border guards), National Central Bureaus, ministries of foreign affairs, consular and diplomatic offices abroad. 

To make an entry in the Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database, you must report the theft or loss of your travel or identity document, revoke it (for example, when revoking citizenship), and identify falsification or duplication. The final stage is a decision from the court or immigration authority.

Despite the strictness of verification procedures, erroneous entry into the database SLTD – not a rare occurrence. Typical situations include:

1. The person whose passport was reported as stolen/ lost, and later found it and continued to use it – the document has already been entered into SLTD.
2. Information about a valid document was entered into the database by mistake;
3. Duplicates or old passports remained in the system after receiving new ones.

Such cases can lead to negative consequences for a law-abiding person. Additionally, even after a passport replacement, the old SLTD entry may continue to cause problems if it has not been officially deleted.

If you suspect that your document is in the database SLTD — you shouldn’t wait until you are stopped at the border. Seek professional help. Our law firm specializes in checking the availability of records in the SLTD, preparing requests to the NCB and the General Secretariat, submitting applications to the CCF commission, deleting erroneous or outdated data.

What are the risks of having data in SLTD?

If your passport (or other travel document) is listed in the SLTD database, it means it has been officially declared lost, revoked, invalid, or stolen. Even if you have the original in your hands, the fact that it is in the database makes it unsuitable for use on international trips. Let’s take a closer look at the main risks for the document owner:

1. Denial of entry into the country

Most countries check all travel documents in real time through global and regional databases. If you’re passport has been reported as stolen, invalid, or stolen blank in the SLTD, you may be refused at the border. Even if you have a visa, you will be deported immediately upon arrival and even be unable to enter the country indefinitely.

2. Detentions at airports and at the border

If a falsified document is discovered, you may be detained by the migration service for questioning, temporarily placed in a holding area or deportation facility, and may be subject to administrative proceedings or a fine. In some jurisdictions, having invalid or stolen blank travel identity documents may result in temporary passport confiscation.

3. Problems when applying for a visa

If the embassy or visa center discovers that you’re using fraudulent travel documents listed in the SLTD database, the application may be rejected without a refund of the fee. You may also be temporarily prevented from filing travel documents to cross borders in the future. You may be included in the list of “risky applicants” or be verified using a more stringent procedure. This is especially true for visas to the USA, Canada, Great Britain, and the Schengen zone.

4. Refusal to board the plane

International airlines also use SLTD through passenger pre-screening systems. If your travel and identity documents are in the database, you may be denied boarding at the registration stage. The ticket may be canceled, and the trip canceled without compensation. Your profile may be blacklisted by the carrier.

5. Transfer of data to other databases

Information about stolen, counterfeit, or revoked travel documents from SLTD can be automatically transferred to national border control databases (USA – CBP, EU – SIS), banking systems during the KYC procedure, regional migration and visa systems, including EU and Schengen security databases. This means that problems can arise even if the passport is changed, if the original entry has not been deleted from the SLTD.

Even if you are sure that the travel document is valid and the loss has not been confirmed, the presence of an entry in the SLTD in itself is grounds for action against you. Often, the reason for getting into the database is a consulate or police error, loss of a passport, which you then forgot about and continued to use, or cancellation of a document after changing your citizenship or surname.

How to determine if your document is in the database SLTD?

The peculiarity of SLTD is that the records are not public. Therefore, an ordinary person has no way of knowing about the presence of a problem related to revoked, stolen, or fraudulent travel documents in advance. However, we will tell you what signs may indicate that your identity or travel document is listed in the SLTD database, and how to officially check this through a lawyer.

One of the most alarming signs is an unreasonable refusal of entry or a sudden delay during passport control. Especially if you have a valid passport and visa, you have not violated visa and immigration rules, the reasons for the refusal are not explained to you, or sound vague (“data requires verification,” “problem with the document”). Often in such cases, border services refer to confidential system data. This means that your passport may have been incorrectly or automatically entered into the system as invalid or cancelled.

If you have applied for a visa, are participating in the immigration procedure or citizenship, registered with a bank or on an international platform, but received a response with wording like “Your document raises questions in the international database”
or “It is recommended to replace your current passport” is a strong signal that your passport may be recorded in SLTD.

Finding out on your own whether your passport or other travel documents are in the SLTD is almost impossible. This information is not publicly displayed and is not verified through standard public services. The only legal way is to contact a qualified lawyer who specializes in interaction with Interpol.

Our lawyers can:

• Send an official request to the National Central Bureau;
• Check whether the document is listed in the SLTD database or other Interpol files (red notice, diffusions, etc.);
• Prepare grounds and appeals to the File Control Commission to delete or clarify information;
• If necessary, request exclusion from the list, especially if the document was used legally.

Our law firm provides comprehensive legal support in cases related to SLTD and other Interpol databases. We will help you check the status of your passport, prepare requests and complaints, get invalid entries removed, and protect your rights during border crossings and immigration procedures.

How do we achieve data deletion?

Our legal team specializes in complex cross-border cases, including work with Interpol, and offers clients full support in removing records from SLTD:

1. Legal analysis of the situation

The first and most important stage is professional legal expertise. We analyze the circumstances of the document’s appearance in the SLTD database, study the history of the document (loss, duplicate, replacement, etc.). We check on what basis the entry was made and whether all procedures were followed, we evaluate the possibility of deletion on legal grounds. The purpose of the analysis is to determine a client protection strategy and justify the need to delete data.

2. Preparation of the evidence base

To achieve removal of information from the SLTD, it is necessary to convincingly prove that the document was entered in error or the grounds are no longer relevant. We collect copies of current documents, certificates from consulates and migration departments, documents on the cancellation of the old passport, letters and notifications from authorities confirming the fact of an error or the legitimacy of the current passport. In complex cases, notaries, translators and local lawyers in the country of entry are involved.

3. Liaison with national authorities

The next step is to find out which agency and which country became the source of the recording. Entries in the SLTD can be made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the country’s police, consular and diplomatic services, border authorities, as well as the Interpol NCB. We make formal requests, establish a channel of communication, and initiate the process for clarification or retraction of the record at the national level.

4. Appeal to the General Secretariat of Interpol

If national authorities do not withdraw the recording or the situation requires international intervention, we prepare a reasonable legal request to the Interpol General Secretariat in Lyon. Our team attaches a legal opinion and the collected evidence, sends documents indicating violations, errors or disproportionality of the contribution, and, if necessary, prepares an appeal to the CCF Commission. Important: we act strictly within the framework of Interpol Regulations, which increases the chances of a positive decision.

In addition, our cooperation does not end with the submission of a request. We:

1. We track the status of the request.
2. We re-contact the necessary structures.
3. We inform the client about every step.
4. We provide copies of decisions and confirmations.
5. We are seeking to completely exclude the entry from SLTD and restore the legal status of the document.

Suppose your document is included in the SLTD database. In that case, law enforcement agencies worldwide can verify your travel and identity documents in seconds using our SLTD database, and you can expect problems at the border, so you need to act as quickly as possible. Contact us now for an initial consultation and the development of an effective defense strategy. We will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the case, collect evidence, officially achieve the removal of the record, and return your freedom of movement.xpect problems at the border, act as quickly as possible. Contact us now for an initial consultation and development of an effective defense strategy. We will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the case, collect evidence, officially achieve the removal of the record and return your freedom of movement.