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.