Garda Registration..What a hassle!!!
I dont know how many people who read this blog have to do this. But as the proud owner of a student visa, I have to register with the Garda Immigration Bureau to receive a Garda ID card.
Last year they implemented a 100 Euro fee for registering your details with the Garda, and for the issuing of these ID cards. Payable by credit card, or bank draft.
Drat.
100 Euros.
That means…I’ll be 300 euros short by the end of my medical education.
Brilliant.
The worst part of is it, I still have to line up at 8.30, get a ticket at 10.30 (If I’m lucky), and finally get a new ID at around 12.30..or 1..again, If I’m lucky….
So..why am I paying the extra 100 euros? It’s been claimed that the extra 100E is for speedy service and increased efficiency, but I’m not seeing it. I’m actually seeing LESS people behind the glass, asking for our paperwork. With 8 service windows, and 2 people working at any given point in time, I would have to say the 100E is probably being used for the 11pm tea and biscuits break the people are having behind those walls…..
Is anyone else just as frustrated with the Garda Immigration Registration system as I am?
I moved to Dublin from Canada last June and had to wait 5 hours to get my Garda card. It was ridiculous. Luckily my employer paid for the fee as I am here on a work visa. My wife moved to Dublin last April and she had to wait 2.5 hours so may be the process is getting better.
I never understood why they don’t accept cash. They also don’t accept credit cards without chip and pin technology, which hasn’t been adopted in Canada but they don’t seem to care. If you pay by bank draft you have to wait one week to get your card as the wire takes a week to be processed.
I also love the “friendly” staff. They are rude and seem miserable to be working there.