How to deal with roadblocks in government offices

Understanding the cause of the downtime

Most cases that come to us have a common feature: lack of precision. An official does not reject an application out of spite, but because they lack a legal basis to issue a positive decision. In 2023, we worked with a company from the logistics sector that waited 4 months for an extension of an important certificate. After our intervention and the addition of one specific note explaining the economic goal, the case was closed in 19 business days.

A common mistake is sending letters full of emotions or generalities about 'lost benefits'. The office does not evaluate your losses this way. The key is to refer to specific paragraphs of the law that directly regulate a given process. We know the realities of this market and know that an official must have a 'backing' for every stamp. If you don't provide it, the case will lie at the bottom of the pile of files for weeks to come.

An official must have a legal basis for every decision. Without it, the case will simply get stuck on the desk.

Technical side of the application

When preparing an application, focus on form, not the volume of text. The document must be written in a language that allows for quick transfer of data to the office's IT system. Our standard approach assumes eliminating all adjectives and focusing exclusively on facts: dates, amounts, and reference numbers. In one of the cases, after organizing the structure of an application for a grant for modernization of the machine park, the approval time was shortened by 32%.

Do not send documents 'just in case'. Include only what is required by the regulation. An excess of attachments often triggers the opposite effect to that intended – the official wastes time reviewing irrelevant papers. If you must include a justification, let it take no more than one A4 page and contain a specific list of actions that the company will take after receiving the decision.

When to call for external support

Let's get down to the details: when should you give up on trying to fix official paths on your own? If you have received a second consecutive request to supplement formal deficiencies, and you still do not understand what the office expects, it is a sign that the communication requires a format change. At Orzeł Strategic Partners, we solve an average of 47 cases annually, most of which come to us after the client has already exhausted standard contact channels.

There are situations where the official interpretation of regulations is simply wrong. At such moments, it is not worth fighting on your own because an emotional dispute will only discourage the official from your application. What is needed then is a cool legal analysis that clearly shows that the requirements set by the institution go beyond statutory limits. This is our standard approach – we do not argue, but we point out a flaw in the logic of the reasoning.

If you received a second request for supplements, stop guessing and check the legal basis.

How we work on difficult cases

Our work starts with verifying the complete set of documents. We check whether all stamps, dates, and signatures are in accordance with the requirements of a specific law. Next, we create a short note for the office that explains the case in 3-4 sentences. This significantly facilitates the work of the clerk handling your application. These are the facts – simple communication shortens waiting time by weeks.

If the process gets stuck at the verification stage, we don't call every day asking 'what's up with the case'. Instead, we send a formal inquiry about the deadline for completing the proceedings, citing regulations on the timeliness of administrative actions. This is usually enough for the case to be taken out of the freezer. Remember that in offices, there are people who have their own procedures – you just need to adapt to them.