A rant against our bureaucracy

[Zhivago]

More suspicious packages causing disruption. Presumably it's Russian spies. Our government isn't able to keep them out.

Probably our imbecilic bureaucracy caused by a succession of incompetent home secretaries is putting us at great risk. I have witnessed this first hand recently.

The issuance of passports is probably an area where you want competent staff working, lest malicious actors obtain by deceit false passports.

Yet while trying to get a passport for my recently born son, the most ridiculous situation has arisen that makes me question the quality of the staff working in this important department.

Amsterdam issues an international birth certificate in multiple languages including English. HM passport office have decided that they won't accept this and want a Dutch language birth certificate translated into English. Except Amsterdam doesn't issue birth certificates like that.

So now I'm in a Kafkaesque situation where they want me to provide a document I can't get. Meanwhile my son must remain stateless. And when I phone up I just get useless customer service agents who can't do anything except fob me off with "that's the procedure sir" ad nauseum.

A country needs a functioning bureaucracy. We lost ours.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Rant on. That's a ridiculous situation.

[Sandydragon]

More suspicious packages causing disruption. Presumably it's Russian spies. Our government isn't able to keep them out.

Probably our imbecilic bureaucracy caused by a succession of incompetent home secretaries is putting us at great risk. I have witnessed this first hand recently.

The issuance of passports is probably an area where you want competent staff working, lest malicious actors obtain by deceit false passports.

Yet while trying to get a passport for my recently born son, the most ridiculous situation has arisen that makes me question the quality of the staff working in this important department.

Amsterdam issues an international birth certificate in multiple languages including English. HM passport office have decided that they won't accept this and want a Dutch language birth certificate translated into English. Except Amsterdam doesn't issue birth certificates like that.

So now I'm in a Kafkaesque situation where they want me to provide a document I can't get. Meanwhile my son must remain stateless. And when I phone up I just get useless customer service agents who can't do anything except fob me off with "that's the procedure sir" ad nauseum.

A country needs a functioning bureaucracy. We lost ours.

That’s bonkers, have you tried going to a passport office in person? The call in centre are just following a script and can’t/ won’t think for themselves. Sometimes easier to have a face to face conversation when it’s something away from the norm.

[Stom]

More suspicious packages causing disruption. Presumably it's Russian spies. Our government isn't able to keep them out.

Probably our imbecilic bureaucracy caused by a succession of incompetent home secretaries is putting us at great risk. I have witnessed this first hand recently.

The issuance of passports is probably an area where you want competent staff working, lest malicious actors obtain by deceit false passports.

Yet while trying to get a passport for my recently born son, the most ridiculous situation has arisen that makes me question the quality of the staff working in this important department.

Amsterdam issues an international birth certificate in multiple languages including English. HM passport office have decided that they won't accept this and want a Dutch language birth certificate translated into English. Except Amsterdam doesn't issue birth certificates like that.

So now I'm in a Kafkaesque situation where they want me to provide a document I can't get. Meanwhile my son must remain stateless. And when I phone up I just get useless customer service agents who can't do anything except fob me off with "that's the procedure sir" ad nauseum.

A country needs a functioning bureaucracy. We lost ours.

That’s bonkers, have you tried going to a passport office in person? The call in centre are just following a script and can’t/ won’t think for themselves. Sometimes easier to have a face to face conversation when it’s something away from the norm.

There aren't any passport offices overseas anymore. Everything goes through one office in the UK, where the passport needs to be sent to Dortmund to be made, and then back to the UK, before being sent to wherever you are. A total farce.

I was lucky enough that the kids were born pre-Brexit, so they only needed their second passports since, which was a "simpler" process than it would have been if they'd been born post-Brexit.

[Zhivago]

More suspicious packages causing disruption. Presumably it's Russian spies. Our government isn't able to keep them out.

Probably our imbecilic bureaucracy caused by a succession of incompetent home secretaries is putting us at great risk. I have witnessed this first hand recently.

The issuance of passports is probably an area where you want competent staff working, lest malicious actors obtain by deceit false passports.

Yet while trying to get a passport for my recently born son, the most ridiculous situation has arisen that makes me question the quality of the staff working in this important department.

Amsterdam issues an international birth certificate in multiple languages including English. HM passport office have decided that they won't accept this and want a Dutch language birth certificate translated into English. Except Amsterdam doesn't issue birth certificates like that.

So now I'm in a Kafkaesque situation where they want me to provide a document I can't get. Meanwhile my son must remain stateless. And when I phone up I just get useless customer service agents who can't do anything except fob me off with "that's the procedure sir" ad nauseum.

A country needs a functioning bureaucracy. We lost ours.

That’s bonkers, have you tried going to a passport office in person? The call in centre are just following a script and can’t/ won’t think for themselves. Sometimes easier to have a face to face conversation when it’s something away from the norm.

I did look into maybe going to Newport, but it seems they only allow expedited face to face applications for renewals.

I'm hoping that this nonsense is just a way for the passport examiner to delay their deadline. That it's just a delaying tactic.