In October 2018, Venezuelans queued outside Interpol offices in Lima for documents needed to apply for Peru's temporary residence permit. Reuters reporting and photographs showed the lines as a government deadline approached and more people crossed the border hoping to qualify.
The application required more than writing down a name. Applicants needed identity and criminal-record documentation before proceeding through the migration process. For people who had left Venezuela's economic crisis, the queue was an entrance to a more stable life, but also a place where missing a deadline could preserve insecurity.
VOA directly documented Venezuelans queueing at the Peruvian border before the 2018 residency deadline.