Indian man in Germany says passport renewal was easier than Berlin paperwork
A Germany-based Indian entrepreneur said renewing his passport was quicker than dealing with Berlin's foreign office.
After years of hearing jokes about Indian paperwork, the internet was caught off guard by a viral post praising India’s passport system over German bureaucracy. The comparison came from an Indian entrepreneur living in Berlin, and many online surprisingly agreed with him.
Mayukh Panja took to X to describe how renewing his Indian passport and German residence permit left him “deeply impressed” by India’s ability to handle massive logistical operations despite its scale and complexity.
“There is something deeply impressive about how India handles logistics at scale,” Panja wrote in his now-viral post.
According to him, the process began with securing an appointment at the Indian Embassy in Berlin, which took around 30 days. After submitting the required documents, he received his new passport roughly six weeks later.
What particularly surprised him was the amount of international coordination involved in the process.
“This involved coordinating with the passport office in Kolkata and the local police, the police had to physically verify the address of my permanent residence in Kolkata,” he explained.
Panja further pointed out that Indian passports are not printed at embassies abroad. Instead, they are printed in India and then shipped internationally.
“This entire international affair with cross border movement of physical documents was done in 6 weeks,” he wrote.
He contrasted the experience with Germany’s local bureaucracy, specifically Berlin’s Foreigners’ Office, known as the Auslƒänderbehrde.
“In contrast, it took me 6 weeks to just get an appointment at the Foreigner’s office in Berlin. And just the printing of the new card will take around 8 weeks, all of which will be done within the city,” he noted.
The post resonated strongly online, especially among Indians living abroad who related to the frustrations of European bureaucracy.
See the post here:
While Panja acknowledged that “a lot of stuff doesn’t work,” he admitted he still found himself amazed by “how vast and sprawling our democracy is and it is somehow still not falling apart.”
The internet quickly flooded the comments section with similar stories. Many users said living abroad had unexpectedly made them appreciate how much India’s digital and administrative systems have evolved over the years, particularly in services like passport processing, payments and public documentation.
Others jokingly described the post as “reverse culture shock”, the moment Indians abroad begin praising Indian bureaucracy after experiencing paperwork elsewhere.
After years of hearing jokes about Indian paperwork, the internet was caught off guard by a viral post praising India’s passport system over German bureaucracy. The comparison came from an Indian entrepreneur living in Berlin, and many online surprisingly agreed with him.
Mayukh Panja took to X to describe how renewing his Indian passport and German residence permit left him “deeply impressed” by India’s ability to handle massive logistical operations despite its scale and complexity.
“There is something deeply impressive about how India handles logistics at scale,” Panja wrote in his now-viral post.
According to him, the process began with securing an appointment at the Indian Embassy in Berlin, which took around 30 days. After submitting the required documents, he received his new passport roughly six weeks later.
What particularly surprised him was the amount of international coordination involved in the process.
“This involved coordinating with the passport office in Kolkata and the local police, the police had to physically verify the address of my permanent residence in Kolkata,” he explained.
Panja further pointed out that Indian passports are not printed at embassies abroad. Instead, they are printed in India and then shipped internationally.
“This entire international affair with cross border movement of physical documents was done in 6 weeks,” he wrote.
He contrasted the experience with Germany’s local bureaucracy, specifically Berlin’s Foreigners’ Office, known as the Auslƒänderbehrde.
“In contrast, it took me 6 weeks to just get an appointment at the Foreigner’s office in Berlin. And just the printing of the new card will take around 8 weeks, all of which will be done within the city,” he noted.
The post resonated strongly online, especially among Indians living abroad who related to the frustrations of European bureaucracy.
See the post here:
While Panja acknowledged that “a lot of stuff doesn’t work,” he admitted he still found himself amazed by “how vast and sprawling our democracy is and it is somehow still not falling apart.”
The internet quickly flooded the comments section with similar stories. Many users said living abroad had unexpectedly made them appreciate how much India’s digital and administrative systems have evolved over the years, particularly in services like passport processing, payments and public documentation.
Others jokingly described the post as “reverse culture shock”, the moment Indians abroad begin praising Indian bureaucracy after experiencing paperwork elsewhere.
