This undated photo shows the Immigration Tower in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. (PHOTO / IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT, HKSAR)

Hong Kong’s Immigration Department said it is adding 2,000 online booking slots per day for applications for passports and other travel documents from Thursday as the department’s counters have been packed with applicants since anti-COVID restrictions were lifted.

The department’s service hours over the coming two Saturdays will also be extended from 2 pm to 9 pm at all eight offices for collection of passports, re-entry permits and other travel documents. It estimated that about 10,000 more travel documents could be collected during the extra service hours.

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The 2,000 daily online booking quota replaces the 2,000 daily same-day tickets that were previously distributed at Wan Chai’s Immigration Tower and seven branch offices across the city to help people who had been unable to get a slot online. 

Although same-day tickets have been canceled, people who are in emergency situations, or those who do not understand how to use the online booking system, can still visit the application offices, and the department will help them deal with their applications

As the demand for travel documents has surged, some residents were unable to get an online slot and queued up at the application offices from early in the morning in the hope of obtaining a same-day ticket. 

Now that the 2,000 slots have been reallocated to the online system, the all-online reservation mode will help make the application process more orderly and efficient, said Yeung Suk-yee, a principal immigration officer for the Immigration Department on Tuesday at a media briefing. 

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Over 90 percent of Hong Kong residents use electronic methods to apply for passports, according to the Immigration Department. Yeung added that the new arrangement could also protect applicants from scalpers.

Although same-day tickets have been canceled, people who are in emergency situations, or those who do not understand how to use the online booking system, can still visit the application offices, and the department will help them deal with their applications.

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Yeung noted the department received over 900,000 applications in the first half of this year, which exceeded the annual number of applications received in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

The department also reminds people that, apart from first-time applicants and those who have lost their documents, they need to hand in their old travel documents when collecting their new ones.

Intern Mike Wong contributed to the story.