‘Just queue and wait’: Hong Kong grapples with massive number of applications for passports, mainland China travel permits

At the Immigration Department’s West Kowloon office in downtown Tsim Sha Tsui on Friday afternoon, dozens of people waited in line to enter, as more arrived.

With the crowd thickening around him, a security guard said repeatedly: “It doesn’t matter if you have an online booking. If you are here to deal with your passport, you have to get in the queue.”

A woman standing in line with her daughter said they were there to collect the teenager’s new passport but gave up when they realised how long they would have to wait.

“The department said it was ready to collect, so we came, lined up outside and got a ticket,” she said. “But once we got inside, we were told it would be another three hours. Why do we need to wait this long just to collect a document? How is this possible?”

A man who left the office with his new passport told the Post it was his second attempt, after leaving in frustration several days earlier.

Hong Kong immigration and visa agencies have been packed with people eager to renew their passports since the city’s borders reopened fully in February.

Those heading overseas need Hong Kong passports that are valid for at least six months, while those travelling across the border must have mainland travel permits.

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In a reply to the Post, the Immigration Department said passport applications rose significantly as the city began relaxing its pandemic restrictions at the end of last year.

It received 195,077 passport applications last month alone, the department spokesman said. That was more than triple the monthly average of 60,000 applications in 2018.

Although it had devoted extra resources and manpower to handle the influx, the department encouraged people to use its mobile app, the internet, or self-service kiosks at various branches as much as possible.

But a check by the Post found that the online system for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport appointments showed “Quota Full” for all offices in the city. There were no dates available for booking for passports.

People could try walking in, but that meant confusion, frustration, and hours of waiting at many locations.

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At the West Kowloon office on Friday, Michelle Chow Yan-yee, 38, a mother of two boys aged five and eight, said she had waited for two hours to try and get her sons’ passports renewed.

“I couldn’t get an appointment online, so I’m trying to walk in,” she said.

China Travel Service, which issues permits and visas to mainland China, has also seen a flood of applications. On its website, there are no available slots at its offices to handle mainland travel permit applications for the next four months.

At its Grand Millennium Plaza centre in Sheung Wan, dozens were still trying to walk in at 4pm on a weekday, an hour before it closed.

People were turned away by staff who told them not to come back unless they had secured a slot by booking online.

“It has been like this since February,” said a security guard there.

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More than 1.3 million Hong Kong residents left the city from April 4 to 7, ahead of the Easter long weekend, according to official data.

Fanny Yeung Shuk-fan, executive director of the Travel Industry Council, estimated that up to 1.5 million people were waiting for new mainland travel permits and did not expect the situation to ease until the last three months of the year.

“We have reflected this situation to the government and related departments across the border. We suggested measures such as increasing the number of staff handling these applications,” she said, adding that authorities were receptive to the feedback.

She said those who had to cross the border for emergency situations, such as medical treatment, the death of a loved one or urgent business, should apply for a one-time temporary permit at China Travel Service offices.

They did not need to make an online reservation if they brought along supporting documents, she said.

Tourism sector lawmaker Perry Yiu Pak-leung said many Hongkongers allowed their travel documents to expire during the three years of the Covid-19 pandemic when strict travel restrictions were in place.

“With the summer holidays coming up, a lot of people have begun thinking about their next trip. We have heard from travel agencies that some customers did not even realise that their passports or return permits had run out until they tried to sign up for a tour.”

He expected that it would “take some time” for the immigration authorities to deal with the sudden increase in applications.