Use the phrase red tape when you're talking about something that takes much longer than it should and involves more procedures, forms, or rules than make sense.
Applying for a passport or a driver's licence is well known for the amount of red tape involved. In other words, there are lines to stand in, forms to fill out and sign, and various proofs of identity required. Most people complain about the red tape they deal with when they're registering a car or buying a house, working with an impersonal business or government branch. The term comes from the actual red tape that was used to bind documents in colonial America and in Great Britain.