People hoping to apply for a permit, including those in Cobram-Barooga, had to wait until 7.30 pm — just hours before the midnight bridge closure — to submit an application.
Within minutes the system buckled under the pressure of thousands of border town residents, essential workers and returning NSW residents who needed to cross the border the next morning.
“Sorry, we were unable to process your request,” the message said.
By 9 pm some people were successfully receiving permits, but it wasn’t until the next day, on Wednesday, that the site started running smoothly despite the demand.
"The permit application system is experiencing high levels of demand. You may experience delays in securing a permit," the website said.
"You can still demonstrate your eligibility to cross the border to police by carrying relevant documentation based on your exemption category."
A spokesperson for Service NSW said the system is working as of midday Wednesday.
"The Service NSW permit application system is live and experiencing high levels of demand," the spokesperson said.
"We are aware some people have experienced delays in securing a permit and we apologise for the delay. In the interim, travellers will be able to demonstrate their eligibility to cross the border to police by carrying relevant documentation based on a category of exemption."
On the first day of the border closure Katamatite Post Office was offering their printers up for any locals who needed to print off their border permits.
Post office manager Julie Glance said in general people were doing a good job being across the new border measures, but it felt like the rules kept changing.
“A lot of people haven’t got printers at home… and it seems like you need to print the permit off to show it,” Ms Glance said.
“A lot of the young people, believe it or not, don’t have printers at home, because they keep everything on their phone.”
Ms Glance said she’d applied for her permit last night and received it via email by morning.
“It does seem to be quite an easy process and it is getting easier for people,” she said.
Down the river in Echuca-Moama the Riverine Herald Facebook post which announced when the permit site when live was flooded with comments from people saying it had crashed.
Up the river in Corowa during the first day of border closures a 34-year-old Victorian man was arrested after police alleged he tried to drive into NSW at 11am without a permit or valid exemption.
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