In the all-digital age, a simple renewal turns into a circular odyssey where each proof demands its own proof. At the counter and online alike, the applicant discovers that their file is at once untraceable, incomplete, and urgent.
This morning, Salomé V. shows up to renew her “attestation of attestation,” a document certifying that another document does indeed exist somewhere. Counter 4 sends her to 7, which redirects her to the online portal, which advises calling the switchboard that, for the sake of efficiency, sends her back to Counter 4. Between two lines that do not move, she is asked for the original of the photocopy of the original. “Without the original of the photocopy, impossible,” an agent rules, without looking up.
On the digital side, the simplicity continues: to create her account, she needs a code sent by SMS… by postal mail. The portal then requires a PDF printed and then scanned, digitally stamped in blue ink. Proposed appointment date: Tuesday, June 31, between 7:59 and 8:01 a.m. Asked for comment, the Department of Redundant Harmonization stands by it: “We simplify by complicating, so that no one gets lost without good reason.”
At two minutes to noon, the ticket machine announces that a ticket is required to obtain a ticket. The display panel calls number 13 after 42, “in accordance with protocol.” Salomé is finally asked to bring “proof of absence of proof” issued by the Bureau of Exceptions, open on the first even Thursday of each month from 9:17 to 9:18. “We have indeed lost your file for reasons of confidentiality,” an official email allegedly specified, electronically signed with an unfindable signature.
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