At the end of March 1996, about 16,000 people lined up outside Hong Kong's immigration office. A final deadline was approaching for completing the status needed to obtain British travel documents before the 1997 handover. Immigration officials called in extra staff and extended weekend opening to handle the crowd.
What distinguishes this queue is that a passport application represented more than ordinary travel paperwork. It preserved a possible route of movement after a transfer of sovereignty. A single deadline brought together the end of colonial rule and thousands of personal decisions about an uncertain future.