Germany
Is Germany behind in terms of digital technology? Many foreigners complain about a bureaucracy that is too complex and outdated. The reason for this is that digital services are not yet sufficiently developed. For example, most procedures for finding housing or obtaining a residence permit are still done on paper. Interacting with local authorities is also more complicated. These are administrative problems that weigh on the morale of expatriates. Moreover, many of these expatriates express regret about the dematerialized payment system.
China
The political system there is that of a state party, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is a vertical and centralized system with intermediaries at the local level. Expatriates deplore a labor market that is too rigid and too vertical. There is an obvious lack of flexibility, which is especially real for Chinese companies, along with an overwhelming hierarchy. The Covid pandemic is a concrete example of how inflexible the Chinese administration can prove to be. There was very little room for adaptation to specific cases, and consequently, binational families found themselves unable to register the birth of their child due to the lockdowns. The Chinese authorities were not at all tolerant. Foreign families often found themselves trapped between two contradictory orders, one coming from the state and one issued by local administrations.
Canada
The Canadian media are not kind to a bureaucracy they consider outdated. Locals and expatriates alike have to deal with it every day. For instance, the processing of visa applications has serious backlogs, and employment insurance benefits are often behind schedule; some Canadians have been waiting more than 6 months to receive their benefits. The Phoenix payroll system, launched in 2016 to pay public servants, has been a fiasco ever since it was introduced, with underpayments, overpayments, late payments, etc. Thousands of public servants have found themselves in financial and psychological hardships and are calling for its termination. The problem in Canada is a paralyzing centralized system. Since Ottawa has been asking for biometric fingerprints from foreign workers before they enter the country, it has been a complete disaster. Since 2021, due to the Covid ordeal, it has become almost impossible for many French immigrants to send in their fingerprints. Quebec employers are asking for a more flexible approach (these prints can be taken in Quebec), but the authorities will not allow it.
France
Here is another bureaucratic system that is bogged down. France and its administrative complexity are well known. A simple formality can turn into a psychodrama because of a double first name, a spelling error, or a lack of communication between the different administrative services. Both locals and expatriates feel that the French bureaucracy is disconnected from reality. Here again, the Covid crisis proved to be a disturbing revelator. French immigrants abroad speak of a French administration that blindly follows the rules without considering specific circumstances. For example, the lockdown prevented people from providing specific documents due to the mandatory closure of establishments. The French media are just as severe and are warning about the "scourge of French bureaucracy" which seems to result in the loss of many points in the country's GDP, every year.
Japan
Locals and expatriates describe the Japanese bureaucracy very well and not without irony: "To understand it, one has to understand garbage sorting". Some cities have more than 30 different garbage cans. Bottles have to be cleaned and their labels and caps removed. Plastic bottles, which must be properly separated from other types of bottles, need to be sorted away from cans. Newspapers must not be mixed with other types of paper (magazines, ads, colored paper). Labels and caps have their own special bin, etc. The list goes on and on! Moreover, one is compelled to strictly respect garbage collection days.
In addition, beware of mistakes! Offenders will be more likely to expose themselves to the wrath of the other tenants (honor is no joke in Japan), especially to a breach of lease rules.
This is how cumbersome Japanese bureaucracy can be, even more so considered one of the most complex in the world. The Minister of Administrative Reforms, Tarô Kôno has already paid the toll for that! In 2020, he launched an online platform for people to expose their problems with the bureaucracy. The platform saturated in one day, much to the Minister's astonishment! It showed the existence of a real problem for many locals and expatriates, confronted every day with administrative slowness. As a matter of fact, in Japan, many things are still done on paper. Sometimes one may get the impression that Japanese technological progress is limited to the fax machine. Recognizing these problems, the Kishida government introduced a digitalization strategy, a serious challenge that needs to be closely followed by locals and expatriates. In the meantime, you are seriously advised to revise your kanji in order to be able to fill in Japanese administrative forms. Large city halls often offer foreign language versions (including English), but this does not apply to all documents.
Language is still a tough barrier
This is the criticism commonly expressed by expatriates in Germany, France, China and Japan. It seems that the language in these countries is too tough to learn. But if an expat can argue about bureaucratic red tape, they must also be able to uphold these countries and their linguistic heritage. It would be unfair to give bad points to France for its silent letters and its different pronunciations depending on whether the word is plural or singular, as it would be unjust to reject German for the length of certain words or to abandon Kanji and its spelling.
Instead, one should consider that language is a heritage and a cultural factor that makes a country special and unique. In fact, it has nothing to do with bureaucracy.
Expatriates who complain speak of a lack of English translation of administrative documents. But here again, it may be better to accept that not everything can be translated into English or into another language. Countries are making efforts to facilitate the procedures for newcomers, like, for instance, offering live support for registration or social security at town halls, but at the end of the day, an employment contract will most likely be written in the local language.
In that sense, it should be up to expatriates to do their part and put all chances on their side by learning the language of their host country before thinking of moving in. Thus, they will be better equipped and qualified to expose the problems they experience with the country's bureaucracy and appreciate any progress made to solve them.
