Published
Article written by
/2021/12/14/61b8b9accb57c_france-3.png)
With the resumption of travel after two years of Covid-19, town halls and prefectures are struggling to cope with passport applications. In big cities, it sometimes takes four months of waiting to get an appointment. In the Rhône, a small town delights its citizens…
At 6 am, Thursday March 31, a small queue forms in front of the town hall of Vaugneray (Rhône). It is the only one in the region to offer to redo your passport without an appointment, for the first 25 arrivals. “I came on Tuesday, but apparently I arrived too late”, deplores Sandrine Gautier. The situation calls for solidarity. Marie has thus come to queue for her brother-in-law, who works at night. “I’ve been here two hours, arrived at 4 a.m. [du matin]I was thirteenth”she says.
City Hall opens at 8 a.m. To pass the 25 files, the agents must redouble their efforts. “It also allows us to help people, we have a lot of thanks, so it’s always a pleasure”, confides Alexandra Garnier, administrative agent. The situation remains grotesque for the town hall, which would like a little help. “If all the town halls that have a collection system played the game by offering half-days without an appointment, I think there would be much easier access for citizens”judge Béatrice Dumortier, 2nd deputy mayor of Vaugneray.