Guillaume Dominguez, edited by Alexandre Dalifard / Photo credit: FREDERIC SCHEIBER / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 19:47 pm, April 21, 2023

This Friday, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne was traveling in the Indre to discuss public services. The head of government promises to halve the time it takes to obtain identity documents by this summer. An announcement that reassures the inhabitants of the 15th arrondissement of Paris, victim of the saturation of the service.

After Emmanuel Macron, it was Elisabeth Borne's turn to be greeted by a concert of pots and pans. This Friday, the Prime Minister was traveling in the Indre to talk about the concerns of the daily life of the French and in particular the difficulty of obtaining identity documents. Faced with this, the head of government promises a halving of deadlines by this summer. For the occasion, Europe 1 went to the town hall of the 15th arrondissement of Paris and notes that this announcement is not luxury for the French.

"No slot to offer me"

In this town hall, the entire right wing of the building is devoted to the renewal of identity papers. The waiting room is full of people and no more appointments are available for several months. Ghislaine, who has come to redo her passport, finds the door closed. No luck for this retiree who lives in the neighborhood. "My papers have not been good since November 2022. I never managed to get an appointment in Paris in my availabilities. At the town hall of the 15th, I was answered very nicely, but there was no slot to offer me. It takes six months to find an appointment, there is a real problem, "laments this retiree at the microphone of Europe 1.

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A passport in hand, Ariane breathes a sigh of relief as she leaves the town hall. "This is the end of an ordeal. It took me eight months to get an ID card. I foolishly lost my wallet. Impossible to get an appointment, whether in Paris or at my parents' house in Normandy. I was constantly updating the site and whenever there were niche openings, I missed them. I finally got my ID back eight months after losing my wallet," she said.

An obstacle course for many French people that has lasted since the end of the first confinement. The France recorded 12 million applications last year, up from 9 million in 2019.