I cannot understand, seriously, how we could have built a system where you have to have French documents in order to identify yourself to various services.
A friend's of mine dad is Polish. He is retired and worked for years in France. Now he cannot access all of his retirement data because some sites require France Connect and he does not have any French papers anymore.
When asked about that, France Connect's support basically replied "fuck you" (in French).
There must be thousands of people in his situation and yet, nobody cares.
There are similar hassles in Sweden with their BankID for people who can't get it, but have connections to Sweden one way or another. Swedish bureaucracy works quite well if you fit the mold, but can be totally useless if you don't. I think the issue is that as long as enough of the "normal" population thinks it work, no one really cares about those it doesn't work for.
This is exactly the same in France. The system is fine when you are in the mold as you are saying. It is at least much better than in the recent past.
Another aspect of French bureaucracy is that it becomes fuzzy when you are dealing at a more local level. Say you want to get a library card for which you have to show proof that you live in the city. I did not have mine handy, and after a lengthy exchange of gazes and after everyone has done "pfffff", "hmmmmm", they got a form from a drawer on wich you could state on your honor that you live there.
Lots of foreigners are rebutted after an initial no, when it is sometimes just an invitation to a longer exchnage.
A friend's of mine dad is Polish. He is retired and worked for years in France. Now he cannot access all of his retirement data because some sites require France Connect and he does not have any French papers anymore.
When asked about that, France Connect's support basically replied "fuck you" (in French).
There must be thousands of people in his situation and yet, nobody cares.