Counter 7 bis: the form to request the form

In the endless edifice of the General Administration, a simple certificate requires proof that you already possess it.
An account of a day when every solution begins with a supporting document for the solution.

8:01 a.m. The lobby opens, the line folds back on itself, and the screen announces: “Please wait — your waiting time has expired.” To the left, Provisional Reception redirects to Definitive Information; to the right, Definitive Information redirects to Provisional Reception. Between them, the signage contradicts itself: “Counter 7 bis →” and, just below, “← Counter 7 bis.” Users turn in circles, tickets A000, A000 bis, and A000 ter pile up; they call the “next previous.”

To obtain form U-13, you must present the U-13 certificate, issued upon presentation of the duly completed U-13 form. Pre-registration is done online, exclusively from the kiosks located behind the turnstile that opens… once pre-registration has been validated. The QR code printed on the wall points to a page accessible only from the internal network of Corridor B, reserved for those who have already obtained the U-13. The switchboard, overwhelmed, offers a clear message: “Due to an exceptionally high call volume, we are permanently unreachable.”

Appointments are mandatory and can be made only online; the calendar shows “yesterday full” and “tomorrow to be determined.” To create an account, a confirmation code is sent by post, to be collected on site with an appointment. The grievance book is available on request, stamped with the stamp kept at Counter 7 bis. Closed. “Complexity is the guarantee of equal treatment: everyone gets lost at the same pace,” asserts, unflappable, Ms. L. Normandeau, head of Iterative Simplification. “If it’s clear, it means we’ve made a mistake.”

At 4:59 p.m., progress: an “Incomplete file” stamp valid until 5:00 p.m., to be renewed tomorrow with proof of patience less than 24 hours old. You leave with a brochure, “Everything is becoming simpler,” which details fourteen steps, eight appendices, and three cross-references to documents that exist only if they have already been cited. The next day, you start over: same corridor, same circle, new expiration date. Here, the straight line is a roundabout.