Now that travel is possible again, many citizens want to renew their ID cards.
That's why there are currently waiting times in town halls.
Wolfratshausen / Geretsried
- For a whole lockdown, the citizens had time to deal with any expired identity cards and passports.
However, a bad human habit is often to deal with necessary matters at the last minute.
As a result of the easing of travel and the beginning of the holiday season, the passport offices of some municipalities are now in a state of siege.
It is not that bad in the town halls in Geretsried and Wolfratshausen, but there is a noticeable increase in interest, says Ute Raach, manager at Karl-Lederer-Platz. “There is a greater need because of the holiday season and the low incidence values that enable vacations abroad again.” In the meantime, there has been a waiting time for appointments - party traffic is still restricted in the town hall due to the pandemic regulations. "It can now be between two and three weeks," says Raach, "previously it was one or two days." When you ask, you now always check whether the person has another form of ID. “Some people are not even aware that they still have a passport in their drawer when their identity card has expired.“Or that for some destinations the (expired) passport is not needed at all, but the ID is sufficient.
In order to prepare for a possible rush, the town hall is upgrading: “We are currently in the process of introducing an online booking system,” says Raach.
"We have selected a provider, the test phase is over." With the system, people are not required to call the town hall or come over to make an appointment.
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In Wolfratshausen it can take longer before the passport or ID is extended. Because of the travel restrictions, the topic was not of interest to many for a long time, now with the easing “there is a lot of catching up to do”, confirms Hubert Bernwieser from the regulatory office. Coupled with the restrictions caused by the pandemic, there are bottlenecks for administrative procedures. But they reacted to it, says Bernwieser. "In the meantime, we allow two citizens to enter the registration office at the same time by making appointments, every 15 minutes." This avoids "spontaneous queues" in the waiting area. Because: "If someone were to get infected there, they no longer need a passport." However, Bernwieser restricts: As far as the appointments are concerned, we are currently booked four weeks in advance. "Further courtesy of the administration:The town hall has extended its opening hours so that citizens can make appointments. "This is how we take some pressure off."
But what if someone urgently needs to go abroad, but the document is no longer valid?
Both Bernwieser and Raach can calm down.
"If someone has to go to their sick mother or a funeral, we always try to postpone an appointment," assures the Geretsried manager.
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