One million identity documents could not be issued between 2020 and 2021 due to the health crisis. “This figure generated significant tension on the demand for the creation or renewal of identity papers. Toulouse, like Béziers for Occitania, responded to the call for the emergency plan launched by the State”, underlines Gnadang Ousmane, municipal councilor in charge of administrative formalities at the town hall of Toulouse. Yesterday morning, the elected official went to the house of citizenship of the Roseraie in Toulouse where six temporary offices were opened last week to try to clog this strong demand on the eve of the summer holidays.

At the end of the morning on Tuesday, all the offices were occupied by families, young people, older people who came to fill out the form and put their fingerprints on the official and adapted machines, provided by the State. “I was able to have an appointment quickly and fortunately because I absolutely need a passport for my holidays in August”, slips a young woman at the end of her appointment, visibly relieved to have been able start the administrative procedures thanks to this emergency system.

2,100 appointments per week

And by the admission of the members of these offices “the appointments are literally taken by storm”. “In concrete terms, before 1,600 meetings of this type were provided per week, with the deployment of these ten temporary offices, we go up to 2,100 weekly meetings”, further details the elected official. Currently, these thousands of appointments are therefore spread over 28 offices equipped with the equipment plus the ten temporary offices.

In order to keep this important machine running, personnel have been hired and trained for this specific mission. The town hall of Toulouse had anticipated the demand by setting itself since April additional time slots, especially in the evening.

In practice, people making an appointment online, go to one of the offices of the city of Toulouse and then have to wait an average of seven weeks to receive an SMS telling them that their passport or identity card is ready. . “It is important to say that if people have been able to settle their renewal of identity papers, they must cancel their appointment, this frees up the place”, slips one of the managers of the Roseraie office. Indeed every morning, an update on availability is carried out by the agents to free up slots. “We hope, thanks to this increase in load, that by the end of August, we will have income in an almost normal situation”, hopes Gnadang Ousmane.