The Day My Visa Came Back

When I originally made the decision to come back to Canada, I made the decision with the knowledge that if it didn't work, getting back into the UK would be relatively easy. At the time, something called an ancestry visa existed. All I had to do was prove that my grandparents were born in the UK, and I'd get a five year visa to be able to live and work in the UK, after which I could apply for permanent residency. Just as I moved back across the ocean, however, Britain overhauled it's immigration policies. My visa disappeared. And my hope of easily returning to the UK crumbled with it.

For the past eight months I've felt trapped. With my life in Britain locked behind a big door of bureaucracy, I've felt stuck in Edmonton, legally obliged either to stay here, or to start over from scratch somewhere else in Canada. I've been angry at Edmonton. Angry at it for sucking me back in and holding me hostage. I've tried to blame it for my unhappiness. I've tried to forgive it and give it a chance. I've tried to make it home again. I've tried to detach myself and know that my time here is temporary. I've tried imagining a life for myself on Vancouver Island. I've even tried imagining a life for myself in Calgary. Yes, Calgary. That's how desperate I am to get out of Edmonton. The truth is, I just want to go back to Britain. I miss the life I had over there. I miss my friends. I miss my oyster card. I miss having a good fry-up with my hangover. All the other viable options just look like second choices and consolation prizes.

I did the skype thing with two of my best friends still up in St Andrews this morning, and felt the familiar pull of wishing I was living with them again. So I went back to the UK visa website, hoping that maybe, just maybe, I could find a way to make it work, and I discovered something that changes everything. The ancestry visa still exists. It never disappeared, they just re-did the website and hid it in the fine print of the work visa. I feel like my life has tangibly changed today. That a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I'm free of the shackles holding me in Edmonton. Free to go home.