To ask (in desperation!) for help finding passport

[IfIHadAHeart]

As the title says really, I need my passport on Saturday and cannot find it anywhere. A complicating factor is that I left H a few months ago and may have placed passports somewhere “safe” either at home or at my mums where I stayed for a bit. Both houses turned upside down with no joy, so I’m hoping you lovely people may have some suggestions. I am now too stressed to think straight!!

I think I remember taking them to my mums but to be honest I’m not sure if that’s just because I can’t find them at home. H is now out of the house but can’t rule out him having moved them either I suppose. Annoyingly the only passport I have found is his!

Please help!

It's unlikely if his is still there

Mine was in sewing project bag. I could have sworn I’d returned it to the document folder!

Where were they supposed to be? Where did you find the one you found? Do you still have everyone’s birth certificate and other important documents? Why would the passports not be with them? What reason would you have to bring them to your mothers? Did you get paperwork together for a divorce lawyer and need identifying documentation?

Pull everything off shelves, pull out drawers and look underneath. Flip through books. Look between the bed frame and the mattress, look in the freezer, dirty laundry basket, in any toy big enough to hold them (like a dollhouse, toy cash register etc), between the seats in the car.

Go through any stacks or files of paperwork one piece at a time, moving each piece into a new stack as you go.

Any bag suitcase or purse you have needs to be emptied and thoroughly checked for hidden pockets.

Check beds, take blankets, sheets & pillowcases off one by one. Small items can often be found between other items.

Unfold every clothing item in closets or drawers and shake them out.

And consider this - Did your husband or mil take them out of spite?

This. It's the Rory Stewart Method, and it's always worth a try: go back to the first place you looked, and look more carefully, take your time shift everything and take a really forensic approach.

My DH's credit card was lost recently: turns out he'd gone to the obvious place he thought it was, it was covered up with a small piece of paper so he didn't see it, and he panicked and started to turn the house upside down.

My dd was on her first holiday abroad without us and she mislaid her passport. Panic stations! She and her friends turned the villa upside down until she remembered that one of her friends had suggested hiding it behind a picture frame on the wall. Bingo. Probably not much use to you, but thought I would mention it just in case.

My friend couldn’t find her passport on the day of travel. She started by looking in the ‘passport drawer’ and when it wasn’t there, had a panic.

It was in the passport drawer, but she’d been given a nice black passport cover the previous Xmas and had forgotten about it. She was looking for a red passport, but of course her passport was now black, so she didn’t see it.

However, unless you all got passport covers, it won’t be that.

Is there any chance you didn’t bring them with you when you left H a few months back? I know passports are always on the list of things to take, but I guess it was a very stressful time.

I shouldn't laugh but this made me smile as I've had exactly the same. I'm embarrassed to say my mum looks after mine but I needed it for a job application ID. I was rushing to go out and put a tissue in my handbag and thought "My passports still in my bag. I'll take it out to reduce chances of loosing it" At that friend called saying are you on your way. I took it out n thought I'll put it by X because I'll see that tomorrow when I start that job. Got in that night and put X away with passport.
Weeks later I still can't find it until friend says....weren't you going to change your sockets to USB ones? ......find new socket and passport in my tool box!
The good news was I now dint have to go to GLASGOW (Peterbrough full) for a fast track replacent for my upcoming holiday. The bad news is I don't get the money hack for the on line booking!
A bath always does it for me. I take my mind off its leash and let it wander!

Just wondered - if you have a solicitor, would passports have gone to them for the identity verification. Could they still be there?

If your separation was acrimonious I'd suspect ex. Particularly if either of you have any links to another country. I know passports are a major source of contention with separated parents.

I lost mine once. Spent weeks looking for it and finally gave up and cancelled it. Only to discover it that evening. Under the microwave!!!! Yes I am a clatty bisom who didn't clean under her microwave for weeks. It seemed like a karmic joke.

But yes. Think about all the reasons you might need a passport. New bank account? New job? New mortgage application? Loan? Could you have handed it over to be photo copied and not had it returned?

Another good thing to try.

Imagine you've got your passport in your hand and have to put it somewhere safe.

Go to that place and check.

The amount of times ive lost something. Then buy another, when I go to put it away, I find the one that was lost.

Has your mum "tidied it up" if you took it there? Where does she put things to keep them safe? Worth a go - maybe take something else there "for safekeeping" and see where she puts it.

In handbags, suitcases any luggage etc
Coat pockets of coats you used last time you travelled
In bags, especially them canvas ones (maybe it's me that has half a dozen at the bottom of my wardrobe)
Pull lower drawers our and check under
Pull any furniture out and check under - e.g drawers, bookcases
Inside books, papers etc

Did you take or bring back any carrier bags from your mums? I once just threw a credit card in a carrier bag that had some random bits in instead of putting into my actual bag because I was rushing. Found it a couple months later when I remembered the pair of shoes that I couldn't find and then thought 'ah, I had them in that sainsburys bag last when I visited x'. And there was my credit card too. and some socks. And an empty biscuit packet.

Say a prayer to St Anthony and offer to donate a fiver to charity when you find it. Works every time.

Could your solicitor have them? Or your ex-husband?

Thank you all so much - they’ve been found!

Tried all your tips, eventually the only place left to look was a box of H’s belongings that are still in the garage. There they were inside an envelope full of his paperwork. Definitely not where they should have been…

Glad to hear they've been found!

Hooray!!

I once found mine in the outside pocket of my suitcase where i had put it when leaving the airport the year before!

Both times I misplaced mine they were on the glass of the printer after if had to photocopy them for id

Try a prayer to St Anthony, patron saint of lost things. Can't hurt.

Ah, they've been found. Well done!

I've often found that it's in a likely place, rather than hidden away. Sometimes things can be staring us in the face. Get as many eyes as possible looking. Good luck.