Among those waiting outside the Immigration Department on Nguyen Trai Street in HCMC's District 1 was 22-year-old Nguyen Quoc Danh (R). He said he was there before daybreak because he needed a passport so he could study abroad. He had tried to submit his application three times already, but failed because there were simply too many people ahead of him.
About two kilometers away, at 5:30 a.m., around 50 people were waiting in front of an immigration office on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street.
Demand for passports has soared after the application process was temporarily suspended for one month for "non-urgent" purposes. Since the beginning of this month, people have been flocking to immigration offices to apply for new passports or get old ones renewed. The rush has prompted many residents to arrive at the offices hours before they open.
At 6 a.m., about an hour and a half before working hours begin, hundreds are thronging outside the gates.
After the gates opened at around 6:30 a.m., people crowd the stairs that lead to the office.
Chau, 45, has one of his family members throw a bottle of water as he waits on the stairs.
Huynh Thi Thanh Van, unable to join the bustle, sits outside on the sidewalk. She has traveled all the way from Can Gio District, around 40 km away, to get a new passport to go to Thailand.
"There are too many people. I'm already 80, I can't compete with them, so I just sit here and wait for my turn. I brought with me a bag of food because I know I will need to wait for a long time," she said.
The immigration office has had to deploy extra personnel to guide people on how to complete necessary documents to apply for a passport. The office receives around 1,000 submissions every day.
Even at noon, people still crowd the office's entrance.
Since July 1, a new passport form, with new decorations on its pages and covers, is in use.
People who complete the needed procedures can expect to get their new passports in one or two weeks.
Passports issued with the old form will continue to be valid till they expire.
