As early as 9 p.m. Tuesday, several dozen people reached the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ba Dinh District to "claim" their places in the queue for the next morning.
Most would then sell the "placeholders" to those who wanted that place.
At 6 a.m. Wednesday, on the sidewalks in front of the consular department people sitting on small stools or on the ground had formed several columns of queues, waiting for their turn to go in.
Many of the people had fallen asleep, as they had been waiting in the line since the previous night.
An, 19, said he'd been waiting since midnight in front of the department.
"At 6 p.m. yesterday, I saw that there were many people already, so I returned at midnight to take a spot in the line. I will study abroad in South Korea, so I came here to file my documents," he said.
Lan Anh from Hai Duong Province near Hanoi said: "My sister has married a South Korean man, and her son must have legal papers recognized by Vietnam in order to live with them. Yesterday morning, I traveled 80 km to get here at 8 a.m., but there were too many people. This morning, I traveled here once more to complete procedures for my nephew."
The consular department has pasted notices on the wall recommending people to register online to finish procedures faster.
At 7:45 a.m., the gates of the consular department were opened to let people in. Some people who tried to cut the line were asked by department employees to get back in line.
The department said the number of documents filed for residents traveling abroad increased by three to four times in August, compared to June. The sheer amount of documents meant many people could file them within the day and had to return the next day.
The department said it has prepared equipment systems and employees to meet people's demand. It has also recommended that people file documents at the post office or other relevant offices. If people still want to file documents at the consular department, it is recommended that they register online.
Around 50 m away from the consular department, there was a crowd of people waiting in front of the immigration office on Tran Phu Street.
"I heard the office only handles 100 documents a day on the extension of immigration documents , so I have been in line since 4 a.m.," said Lan from Hai Ba Trung District.
