RE: Getting paperwork done in a 3rd world country: A Tolkien worthy odyssey
I have 4 years waiting for my passport. Over a small mistake in the registry, my gender and civil status were changed to "Male" and "Married" instead of "Female" and "Single". I had to request a modification, but it took all my might to get that approved. Had to deliver a letter certifying that I was female (humiliating, since at that point I was ironically being very feminine, thanks to my uterus), and that I was single (even more embarrassing according to a "friend"). When that was verified through the online platform, I had to wait for a closure on the investigation process. It took a whooping 4 years to get the "Your process is completed".
I had to get a new passport date, so I requested it as soon as I had the chance. I did the online request on April, and I got the date on the 02 of may. For the 02 of may, but I got it at 10:00pm. I missed it already, and I was F-ed. Or so I thought. The system reassigned my passport date for today, 18 of May. I went, there were over 179 people waiting under the scorching morning sun (I was the lucky 180). But hey, surprise surprise: I had to wait a whooping 4 hours to get the bad news: since my country has an election process coming, all passport dates were postponed for the 24 of May due to the system being used only to issue IDs for people to vote. I lost my morning to bureaucracy. I still don't have a passport, and I'm really tired of waiting for it.
-A.
Holy crap I can't imagine having to wait 4 years for a passport!
It happened something similar to my aunt, she has a weird last name and the dude in the registry messed up, she didn't notice and went years with that mistake, when she found out it took a lot of money and time to change it...
I could speed up the process paying up someone to "Manage" through the bureaucracy, but I'm not going to do so. First of all, because it's illegal to pay for speeding up a legal process (jail time and all, here), and second of all because I can not and will not be part of the corruption that has my country in the gutter.
Although I'm well aware that it's kind of an idealistic notion, I'm a believer that if we take the steps to make a change in our perception and actions upon what's wrong and what's right, even something so small makes a significant difference. And even if I have to wait a bit more, I'll do so with a clear conscience, because I did nothing wrong, did not contribute to the corrupted system, and still got what I wanted in the end. Now, I'll wait for Thursday to get my passport. I'm sure I'll get it eventually! hahaha
-A.