Circuit Breaker

08 Aug Circuit Breaker

Dear Here to Help,

Sometimes, I feel like I am caught in a dystopian novel, like Catch 22, when I am dealing with bureaucracy. It’s so frustrating!

After spending hours on hold to one organisation, I am told that I don’t have the necessary authorisations and then I have to ring another organisation, or another part of that organisation to obtain the authorisations, then ring the first organisation back and cross my fingers that it all worked. If not, I am sent somewhere else.

Help!

Oh boy! That really is frustrating.

Sometimes, it is helpful to call in a “circuit breaker” – something, or someone, that can break you out of your Catch-22 situation.

Let me give some examples to try and help you understand what I mean.

When I worked in Luxembourg, I needed a “carte de séjour”. I checked online for a list of everything that I needed, organised it, had the relevant documents signed by the appropriate people, put it all in a document folder, made an appointment, and went to the relevant department.

When I was in my appointment, the woman asked me for each necessary document in turn. She seemed quite surprised that all my paperwork was in order. Finally, she asked me for my photographs. I handed her my recent passport photographs, which met all the specifications. She threw them back at me and told me to come back with “proper photos”.

I asked her what was wrong with the photos and she said “they have not been taken by a Luxemburgish photographer. Go and get some photos taken by a Luxemburgish photographer.”

I went away, thoroughly confused. I made another appointment, for another day, with a different official. (I peeked first to check I was not getting the same person.) I handed over my file and they complimented me on the most comprehensive file they had ever seen.

Similarly, when I was studying in France, I needed a “carte de séjour” and a “carte d’étudiant”.

I went to the Uni, to a short queue, to get my “carte d’étudiant” and was told that they were not allowed to issue that without my “carte de séjour”.

The queues for the “carte de séjour” were often under the sleet, snow or in the cold with a large group of people desperate for their cartes. The relevant department’s doors opened late and closed early, plus a lunch closure in the middle of the day.

When I did manage to get through the door, they told me they could not issue the “carte de séjour” without the “carte d’étudiant”.

I was so frustrated that when I returned to the shorter queue at the Uni and told them that I was sick of being caught in this vicious cycle. I told the person that I was tempted to just get on the next plane out because clearly there was no way out. She said she was bound by the rules.

Finally, I went to my Masters course convenor and told him of the situation. He made some calls. I promptly had my “carte d’étudiant” and was released from this Catch-22.

There is usually a circuit breaker for difficult bureaucratic issues – we just have to think creatively to find it.

This article comes from my column entitled “Here to Help” in the Local, August 2022. If you have an everyday problem just begging for a simple, real world solution, send it to “Here to Help” and let’s see what we can achieve.

Elaine Abery has a closet full of great ideas and empowering solutions. She’s also the Director of Unravelling Red Tape, a company dedicated to helping everyday people, not-for-profits and companies change the world through improved decision-making and legislation.