The delays to obtain an identity document in the Val-de-Marne have never been so long. It now takes 85 days to get an appointment at the town hall to make your passport or identity card. Then, the prefecture takes five to six weeks to process the file. Finally, ten days must be added for manufacturing. Every day, the prefecture of Val-de-Marne, which also manages requests from Essonne, receives between 2,100 and 2,400 files. A little over 50,000 cases still remain to be processed.
This explosion of requests is explained by the postponements due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to France Blue Paris. Since the end of 2021, all town halls and prefectures in France have been totally submerged. An emergency plan has been put in place by the State.
33% increase in requests in one
“Currently we receive around 33% of additional requests”, explains Mireille Larrede, secretary general of the prefecture of Val-de-Marne. Over the first four months of the year, 130,000 files had been processed, compared to 174,000 for the start of 2022. The requests concerned in particular identity cards.
The reasons are mainly related to Covid-19 and the postponement of procedures during the pandemic. According to the prefecture, more and more Ile-de-France residents also want to have the new biometric identity cards, as required by certain companies or certain banks.
More resources and more slots for town halls
To deal with this wave, the State is setting up an unprecedented system to unclog services. Val-de-Marne has been given eleven additional contractors to strengthen the teams. Each of the agents must manage no less than 90 titles per day. The prefecture has also opened slots on Saturdays.
The most urgent requests, in particular departures abroad for compelling professional or family reasons and cases of theft, are given priority. Finally, the prefecture of Val-de-Marne will provide nine large municipalities in the department with a collection system. The device will make it possible to take the applicants’ fingerprints, an essential step in the processing of the file. The city of Créteil is one of those who will be able to benefit from this additional collection system. This device will remain in place until All Saints Day. The fact remains that in Créteil, those who would request an appointment now will not be able to have their passport until September.