Over the past few months, renewing expiring identity papers has become a real obstacle course.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, many French people had skipped this administrative process, for lack of being able, whatever happens, to travel.

But this year, requests are on the rise again: and the arrival of summer and holidays has not helped. The services in town hall are overwhelmed, the delays astronomical.

The government even launched an emergency plan last May, with the menu, recruiting new agents and expanding the slots for appointments. But the miracle did not happen.

At the moment, it takes an average of 65 days to obtain a new document, according to RTL. In some regions, much more… Good news, however: you can go to any prefecture, regardless of your place of residence, to redo your papers. Find out which regions you’ll expect the least (and most) in our slideshow.

A situation that has completely prevented some French people from going on vacation this summer, for lack of papers.

This is the case of Sarah Cherifia, who tells TF1 that she was unable to travel with her husband and children. The family had planned a trip to Thailand. Finally, Sarah never got her new passport in time, and she had to let her loved ones fly away without her… “It’s heartbreaking” she confided to the microphone of the channel.

She had filed her application four months before the departure date. Without effect: on July 15, his file had still not been processed.

And she would not be the only one in this case.

The national agency for secure titles announces for its part a “return to normal” during the summer.