Germany Doesn't Suck

The office of my school was called on 3 November and informed that my passport was available to be picked up (I had left that number due to the fact that I knew I’d be out of town) and one of the secretaries SMSed me to let me know. So, I got up at 3h30 on 6 November and took the 4h48 (RE) train back to Frankfurt to collect it – arriving on time at 6h49. I took the same metro/tram out to the stop and made the quick walk to the embassy – arriving at 7h20.

There was a line of about ten people that had beat me there, so I took my place in line. The guy in front of me turned out to be a Green Card Lottery winner. He was about twenty-five and had made the trek up from the Lake Constance area of the country to the Consulate for his interview. He told me that he planned on living in NYC. It was great to see someone so enthusiastic about moving to my country.

I sized up the rest of the people in line and figured that I’d be out of there in no time due to the fact that everyone in front of me had a file with them. I figured that most of the people with files had all their paperwork organized for visas and things like that, so they most likely wouldn’t be going to American Citizens’ Services. Great!

I went through the security procedures and reached the ACS section at 7h40, where I found out I was alone. Great! That meant I’d be out of there in no time!

At least in theory.

I waited for a few minutes for my number to be called, but the number led system hadn’t been turned on yet. So, I found someone sitting behind a window who told me that their working ours didn’t start until 8h, unlike what it said on the website (7h30). So, I took a seat and waited.

My number was called (on the display) at 7h55 and I went to window 31. And waited again for a few minutes for the civil servant to come to his window. I told him that I wanted to pick up my new passport. He asked if I had been called and I verify that I had, so he then asked me for my current passport and I gave it to him. He took it, went off to wherever they keep passports, returned with it and had me check it for accuracy. He then saw the form I had filled out for extra pages and told me that that hadn’t been done and he’d have it done then. I asked how long it’d take because I had to catch a train just past 9h and was told 20 minutes at the longest. Great – no problem as it was only 7h50.

I asked if it was done at 8h10 and the guy ran to the stitching section and found out that they weren’t done, but said that they’d be done ‘in a few seconds’.

Right.

I asked again at 8h30, he went back to the stitching section, returned with my new passport and attempted to send me on my way. However, he had forgotten my old passport, so he ran back, got it and tried to get rid of me.

I expressed my dissatisfaction with the service – after having been assured that the extra pages would have been added when I picked it up and here’s how it went:

Passport Idiot: ‘Sorry for the situation.’
J: ‘Thank you, but Deutsche Bahn doesn’t hold its trains because you’re sorry.’

I ran back to the metro stop and managed to catch a tram/metro that was just about to leave (after crossing against the lights), made it back to the train station, bought a ticket and got on the train about 30 seconds before it departed.

Despite the complication I had with the extra pages, the passport renewal process was simple and easy. However, I AM glad that I don’t have to do it again for another ten years.