A Day in a Jordanian Governmental Department

Last week I went to the Jordanian civil status and passport department to renew my expired Jordanian ID... and what a surprise was waiting for me there ! First, I was up all night so I though to myself I should go there early so i could finish everything quick and be back to my bed before I know it (stupid me) I had to do it anyways.

So I went there around 7:45AM to find a very very VERY long line in front of me, the  department  was on the third floor and the line starts at the entrance of it on the third floor and ends in the middle of the street !

We waited for 15 minutes for them to open their doors, after they did I thought that I'm going to get my ticket, wait in line for my number to be called for and have everything done in 15 minutes (Yeah right!).

When i got my ticket I sat somewhere on one of those school crocked wooden seats and started looking around exploring the place waiting for my turn, what got my attention is that there was no cameras anywhere, no signs that indicates that there is no smoking, eating or drinking in here, no AC, no fans -except for the ones over the employees- and to top it off it was very very hot, people where lighting cigarettes all around, some having their morning coffee and others just checking out women and there was this guy that kept telling people to keep a look out for thieves that wander the place looking for a chance to snap a wallet or a cellphone... With time passing by I started getting pissed off because the employees of the department were nowhere to be found and everybody was waiting in the middle of this mayhem to get out of there and move on with their day!

Around 8:30AM one counter opened (out of three) and apparently employees of the department had their breakfast, coffee, read the newspaper then decided it was time to actually start working!... I waited for 30 minutes to get a signature and a stamp then I paid the fee and after that they told me I had to wait approximately 2 hours to get my new ID, of course i didn't stay there, I was already out early and that doesn't happen very often! so I took the chance and paid Zain costumer center a visit to pay my phone and internet bills, and so i did... 

It wasn't far away, it took me only 3 minutes to get there... The place was wonderful, air conditioning, leather seats, 6 counters opened and only a couple of people were in line in front of me, my turn came within a minute, the employee was very polite and helpful and I just didn't want to leave the place to be honest! but eventually I paid my bills, asked about everything I had I mind (Even stuff that i wasn't interested in!!) and got out heading back to the civil status and passport department thinking that my ID should be done by now and I wouldn't have to come back for it again tomorrow but what I didn't realize that everything I did in the customer center took under 20 minutes! so i started wasting time by walking around and exploring the area.

After a long walk I took a bus back to the civil status and passport department and went to the fourth floor to see if my ID was ready, they told me to come back for it tomorrow, "The computer is under a lot of pressure" made me feel like it was going through a divorce or something!! and yes apparently they only have one computer serving three to four thousand citizen a day.

The next day I went back to get my ID to find the same line as yesterday, but this time I went a little after 8, I stood in line and I didn't know that i was in for a treat ! the whole floor had only one employee on one counter and we waited for about 40 minutes til one of the employees finished his morning break, chatted with his girlfriend on the phone and played Angry Birds for a while then decided to get on with it! that ladies and gentlemen was my experience with the civil status and passport department, and that is the reality of our governmental departments, no supervision, no order, no maintenance, zero efficiency and in desperate need for change.