As the deadlines explode for a renewal, the staff allocated to the task will be increased.
Frequent travelers know it: as the holidays approach, it is always prudent to take a look at the validity date of your identity document, at the risk of great disappointment once you arrive at the airport. But, this year, even the most far-sighted are going to have a bad surprise: the deadlines for obtaining an appointment have exploded. It takes an average of two months to submit a renewal request, compared to fifteen days to three weeks usually. However, there are significant regional disparities. A situation caused by the unprecedented influx of requests.
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Noémie, a 20-year-old business school student, experienced this misadventure. Last week, she started looking for appointments to redo her passport so she could travel to Canada in August. “I did not find any slot in Lille before the end of July”, she explains. She then decides to look in Anjou, where her parents live. « Since it’s less populated, I thought it would be easier to find. » Wasted effort! « It was even longer“, she remembers. By chance, she takes a look at the availabilities in Paris. Luckily, two slots are open the next day. “Surely withdrawals, because they were the only ones”, she points. If she considers herself lucky to have found this opportunity, she had to pay 40 euros, the price of the Lille-Paris round trip by TGV, to get there. A route to renew once the document is ready, In order to retrieve it.
IDs that are out of date or expired for less than five years are completely acceptable
Anne-Gaëlle Baudouin, Director General of the National Agency for Secure Documents
In order to reduce delays, the ANTS (National Agency for Secure Documents) has made unprecedented efforts. The workforce in the prefectures will thus be drastically increased. A 30% increase was announced by the general manager, Anne-Gaëlle Baudouin. In addition, 400 collection devices, equipment for registering an application for an identity card or passport, will be deployed in town halls. The goal: « a normal situation in the summer »so that « no one is prevented from going on vacation », she explained Friday on Franceinfo.
This exceptional situation is the conjunction of several independent phenomena. First, containment. During the two years of the epidemic, many identity cards and passports expired, without the owners trying to renew them. According to Anne-Gaëlle Baudouin, it would thus be 1.3 million titles which would not have been requested. A catch-up effect that happens all of a sudden with the holidays, the desires to leave and… the end-of-year exams, such as the patent or the baccalaureate. An identity document is indeed required to be able to participate. In this case, a valid document is not necessarily necessary. « IDs that are outdated or expired less than five years ago are completely acceptable »reassures Anne-Gaëlle Baudouin.
Brexit, an aggravating circumstance
Another aggravating circumstance: Brexit. Until the exit of the United Kingdom from Europe, a simple identity card was enough to join the country. This is no longer the case today. A change that pushes up the demand for passports. Finally, Anne-Gaëlle Baudouin highlights the attractiveness effect of the new identity card, rolled out last year.
In an attempt to save time, the ANTS recommends giving preference to online pre-requests, on its website. The goal: to arrive with a file already prepared, which should make it possible to « halve meeting time », explains the general manager. Good news, once the application has been filed, the processing and production times are now close to a normal situation.
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