When I Lost my Visa and Other Important Things

Me trying to not loose stuff is like me not walking into something for a whole 30 minutes.

I am a very organised person. I run events with military precision, I have been known to do spreadsheet itineraries for holidays, and I have never ever missed a deadline.

However when it comes to keeping hold of my things, important things, I am absolutely incompetent.

I have lost countless oyster cards with A LOT of money on, I have had about 4 drivers licenses in the past two years, and do not get me started on the amount of bank cards I have had replaced.

You would think that while I was travelling around Canada earlier this year I would find a way to keep my important things safe.

In fact I did. I had everything in a nice new handheld bag I ESPECIALLY bought for the trip to keep those documents secure.

But this is me, and nothing is ever safe.

I lost my Visa Work Permit.

The one thing I needed most of all. Lost. Nowhere to be found. Vanished. Missing in action.

Now I had three options:

One: Apply online for a new one, pay 30 dollars, and receive a new one in the mail to a an address I yet do not have a minimum of 3 weeks later. (I needed to start work within 2 weeks and could not without this visa)

Two: Travel back to the airport and ask to speak to Immigration, and kindly beg for mercy.

Three: Choose option one or two.

I chose to make my way to the airport, found the immigration office and just casually asked for a reprint of my IEC Visa. That simple? No and the conversation went a little bit like this:

Me: Upbeat Hi, how are you?

Immigration Officer: Blank stare

Me: Ok, I erm, Had my visa for only two weeks, but I seem to have lost it, and erm was wandering if you could reprint it?

Immigration Officer: Blank Stare.

Me: Could you reprint it?

Immigration Officer: Blank Stare then sternly You need to apply online

This friendly exchange went on for about another 5 minutes until he agreed to do it. I think he just wanted me to stop talking. 30 dollars and 2 hours later he handed it over, along with my passport he had been holding hostage.

This visa is now safely put away, somewhere in my wardrobe. I think. Maybe I should double check…

I still do not have an explanation of where it went, apart from it went missing in Winnipeg. F U WINNIPEG!!!

Other Important Things

• In Vancouver, I lost my bus pass. Twice.

It was really annoying as I had about 10 dollars on each card when I lost it.

• I lost my work key pass on the first day of my new Canadian job.

As you can imagine I made a great impression with my new boss, especially as she told me when she gave it to me DO NOT LOOSE IT. 25 dollars to replace.

Total cost to replace all the above: 75 Dollars

Number of times I said ‘fuck this’: 5147

Not giving up: Priceless

Give my other posts a read too! –

Welcome to Winnipeg

Snow, Ice and Me

Reaching Canada, What the F*ck Have I Done?