igovt passport website failure

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ajbw

58 posts

Master Geek

Subscriber

#112464 10-Dec-2012 09:32

Tried to renew my passport online today (and yesterday).
The first page 'Check my availabiity' worked fine, then the igovt logon button gave me this:

can't find the server at online.passports.govt.nz

Tried pinging:
ping online.passports.govt.nz
ping: unknown host online.passports.govt.nz

ping passports.govt.nz
PING passports.govt.nz (210.54.54.84) 56(84) bytes of data.
No response.

telnet passports.govt.nz 80
Trying 210.54.54.84...
Connected to passports.govt.nz.
Escape character is '^]'.
GET index.html
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Cache-Control: no-cache
Connection: close
Pragma: no-cache
Content-Length: 188

Request RejectedThe requested URL was rejected. Please consult with your administrator.

Your support ID is: 7670277365534499521Connection closed by foreign host.

Tried switching off the firewall, and trying firefox, opera and konqueror - same result.

A couple of calls to the passport office got the response
"sometimes people do have a problem
- try a different computer
- maybe it's the firewall
- I actually get the same response as you, but I think that's a security thing
- It seems to work better with Internet Explorer"

Anyone else had problems?

Jaxson

7025 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#729536 10-Dec-2012 09:47

I'll be trying mine soon, hope it's working by then.

Real small niggle in the comms/use interface part:
What I didn't like was how the first part is 'check you're eligible to do this'... and then it gives you no confirmation notice (like 'success - you are able to proceed' etc), it just leapt right into filling it out.

Kyanar

3141 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#729599 10-Dec-2012 10:46

For a start, the reason it rejected your HTTP test with telnet is because you malformed the HTTP request, and being virtualhosted it had no idea what site you were requesting. Correctly requested, that would be:

GET /index.html HTTP/1.1 
Host: passports.govt.nz

InternalAffairs

1 post

Wannabe Geek

Trusted

DIA

#729647 10-Dec-2012 11:50

Hi There

This is the Department of Internal Affairs, responding to your issue. We are very sorry you had a problem and we are looking into what went wrong.

ajbw

58 posts

Master Geek

Subscriber

#729656 10-Dec-2012 11:59

Good to hear that. I'm happy to help you out if you want me to do any tests from outside.
So far, it doesn't seem to be a cookie, firewall or browser issue.

Jaxson

7025 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#729967 10-Dec-2012 20:40

Just worked fine right through for me.

alasta

4563 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#729970 10-Dec-2012 20:49

I had problems too when I renewed mine a couple of weeks ago. I don't recall exactly what went wrong, but there were a variety of different problems over multiple attempts.

My experience with Inland Revenue is that it's easier to fill out paper forms, lick stamps and walk to the post box than it is to try and use their online services so I figured that I would probably have to do the same with Internal Affairs. However I gave it one last try a couple of days later and it worked.

If the government is really serious about gaining operational efficiencies by transacting online wherever possible then they really need to do a lot better than this.

ajbw

58 posts

Master Geek

Subscriber

#729976 10-Dec-2012 21:09

I've just tried th stock android browser and opera mobile on an tablet.
Both of them found online.passports.govt.nz, and both of them gave
'Your igovt login has not succeeded' even though I only clicked on the link to get to the login, rather than actually doing it.
There have been occasional complaints from the browsers about certificate problems...

lchiu7

5233 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#730702 11-Dec-2012 18:10

I did mine about a week ago and had no problems with the site at all. It did help I already have an iGovt logon for another reason.

The only issue I had with the application was the fact my photo, while passing the online test, failed the human test. The problem was flash reflection in my glasses which I had to correct by taking a bunch of photos in daylight and avoiding the use of flash.

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