Rigmarole
Etymology
A worn-down form of "ragman roll." In the Middle Ages a "ragman roll" was a long roll of parchment listing many statements — the term is linked to the Ragman rolls, the documents Scottish nobles signed swearing fealty to Edward I in 1296. From "long list on a roll" the phrase slurred over centuries into rigmarole, meaning a tediously long, confused rambling.
noun · /RIG-muh-rohl/
A lengthy, complicated, and pointless-seeming procedure or rambling account.
What it names
Bureaucratic or narrative faff — the drawn-out set of steps or the long-winded story you have to sit through to get to the point.
Example
Getting reimbursed involves a rigmarole of three forms, two approvals, and a receipt nobody can find.
Related idea
Red tape names the rules and bureaucracy themselves; rigmarole names the tedious, rambling experience of slogging through them.