So what do you do when you lose your passort?

Imagine this, okay? You’re standing in line, at your transfer airport waiting to check-in your bag and board the plane back home after a holiday in a foreign country. When you reach for your passport, it’s not there. Trying not to panic, you search your bag. The compartment that you usually store your passport is empty. Dread floods through you. You step out of line to search your backpack. You ask your friends and they swear its not them playing a prank on you. You pull out each item, twice. You shake your things, all to no avail. It’s gone.

This happened to me on my way Singapore from , Bali.

A bunch of us went to Bali for the Diwali weekend, and it was a greattt trip till it turned into my worst nightmare. This probably is a good time to mention that I lost my International forex card a day earlier. So basically that meant I am stuck in Jakarta with no money, no transport and I was alone.  How did this happen? Well, it is a mystery of sorts. I had my passport till I boarded my flight from Depensar airport, Bali. Somewhere between traveling from Bali to Jakarta, I lost my passport.

After the initial freaking out, I calmed down enough to go to ‘lost and found’ department of my airlines and enquire about my lost passport. They unfortunately, found nothing in the airlines while they cleaned it up and they could not check again because the aircraft was already airborne to. I was literally dumbstruck!

 The officials directed me to the immigration where, after a strenuous 20 minutes of explaining what occurred to me to 4 different people, they eventually told me what needs to be done. First thing I did was look for a transfer hotel where I could spend the night, but to my dismay I found out that the hotel at the airport was shut due to renovation. So essentially, I could not even book myself a room at a hotel because of no passport. 

 

 Oh damn it!

Assuming the worst, I figured I would have to spend the night at the airport like the hippies do, sleeping on the sofa and using my bag as a pillow. 

  Waiting for my burger, and getting comfy in the restaurant.

BUT MY FRIENDS! GOOD LUCK IS A BEAUTIFUL AND RARE THING! So it happened, that I was messaging Rashmee about this whole debacle, and after she yelled at me and she was sufficiently reasonable she reminded me that Ananthu, my classmate is from Jakarta and has family there so I should probably talk to him. And ananthu, turned out to be my knight in the shining armor. He spoke to his father, who in turn messaged me enquiring about my whereabouts. He then offered me place to stay for a few days till I figured my passport situation.

I reached the given address, with apprehension evident on my face when suddenly Arya (ananthu’s sister) met me , and took me upstairs to meet Aunty who in turn, asked me one question “Are you veg or non-veg?” . My face broke into the widest smile in hours! I knew then , that this situation is going to work itself out. 

 

After I got to have a hot shower and a good meal, I set about calling my mother telling her of my whereabouts.  A lot of people have asked me , “So, what did your parents say?” Well, my dad has no clue about this misadventure (uhh, please lets keep shhushhh about this! And no, he doesn’t read my blog) and as for my mom! She reacted better than most parents. Sure, I got yelled but like my sister says “Not enough” . She was logical for most parts, but oh boy my sister , she sure did blow a fuse or two..and then proceeded to cry about the whole thing (Women! Go figure.) But I love you, didiii.

Here’s what to do next if you lose your passport :

Step 1: Go to the Police

Next morning, I went to the police station and filed a FIR reporting my lost passport. After convincing them that what happened was genuine and promising them to be super careful next time around, I was granted a FIR.

Step 2 : Gather the Things You’ll Need at the Embassy
To get your passport, you’ll need two recent ID pictures. Go click passport size pictures of yourself, and Get your FIR prior to going to the embassy, the embassy may send you to the police station to get your statement if you arrive without it. Then fill an online form reporting the loss of your passport and take a print out of it.
Step 3:  Contact the Embassy or the Consulate
 After visiting the police station, I went to the Indian Embassy. Embassies are larger and usually located in a country’s capital. Many smaller cities have consulates, figure out the directions to the nearest one. If you are unable to locate one, ask the police to help you out with the directions. Usually, the temporary passport is available within a few hours of turning in all of your documentation. You have to pay 100 USD to get issued a new, hand-written passport . You can use it for 90days, or 1 year in my case. This passport is handwritten and wont have a barcode , so basically it cannot be used as a proof of your identification .
Step 4:  Hold On to Your Passport
This is the most important step. The bottom line is you only get one replacement passport. When I was issued my temporary passport, the consulate said that although it’s relatively simple to replace a passport, needing it replaced more than once sends a red flag. Suspicions arise that you might be intentionally “losing” it to help non-residents or terrorists get into the country. If it happens a second time, the process is much more complicated and you will be watched more closely.

No matter how big and scary this sounds, fortunately, the problem can be resolved, leading to a temporary passport. All it takes is a little time and money! But I am telling you this frankly, I do not deserve this good a treatment for my carelessness. I was lucky enough to find a friend who lived there and who would help me out with the staying and the general sense of security I felt in a foreign country. I thank my good luck, each day.

And here, I am back at SP Jain sipping my coffee and writing this blog while still waiting for all the “lost passport” jokes to end. But like Aisha says, from now on whenever someone loses something it is gonna be referred to as  “oh, don’t pull a Tanu”  .