Passport

It'd be vain to assume the Dutch Ambassador in London would read this post, and even more vain to assume the Minister for Foreign Affairs would. But if either of them does - thanks for the brilliant service.

Seriously.

When I went to apply for my new passport at the Birmingham consulate, I was already surprised at the efficiency and at how professionally they dealt with me. The whole process was so clear - fill out the form, have your picture taken at one of the places that has received instructions about Dutch passport photos, make an appointment, show up for your appointment, hand over your stuff, have your fingerprints taken (whether I'm happy with that is a different matter entirely), hand over your money, and go.

In and out in under 20 minutes - and no waiting, besides.

The consular official told me I'd have my stuff in about two to three weeks.

It's been two weeks, to the day (!), and I've just picked up my new passport from the porter's office here in Leicester. Now that's timely service.

And I like my new passport - I like the turquoise and the way my autograph looks and that I don't look like a criminal in my picture. My last photograph really did resemble some of the newspaper pics of Myra Hindley. And, most of all, I like how it says 'Ambassadeur te London' for the issuing authority - it makes me feel like a secret agent, like I don't just have some ordinary passport but one especially issued by the ambassador so I can provide special services for King and Country (yesss I'm thinking of the future) - on the other hand it also is a step away from the banality of having a passport issued by municipality, it's a sort of step away from mundanely living in the Netherlands.

What I'm also very happy with is the fact that I received my old passport and ID card back. I had to hand them over and though I didn't regret that, I do like the fact that I now get to retain my two Egyptian and my one Moroccan visa. Even though there've been holes punched through them and they were only valid for six weeks max anyway.

Major brownie points for the Consulate and Ambassador for providing a great service overall. So, Minister for Foreign Affairs, if I were you I'd give them a good pat on the back for this. The government isn't all horror and buzzkills.