Do you want a visa to go to Taiwan?

Whether or not you favor climbing mountains, exploring temples or soaking in scorching springs, Taiwan is an island of limitless temptations.

Asia’s most vibrant democracy can be comparatively relaxed relating to immigration guidelines, in distinction to the extra onerous visa insurance policies of China throughout the strait. Typically talking, the visa necessities for coming into Taiwan will rely in your nationality together with any prevailing restrictions associated to the continued COVID-19 pandemic.

Right here’s our information to Taiwan’s entry necessities, with all the data you want on visa varieties and procedures.

COVID-19 and Taiwan visa necessities

Sturdy, strict and extremely organized within the face of the pandemic, Taiwan has remained largely closed to abroad vacationers because the outbreak started. In April 2022, the foundations have been relaxed barely to allow overseas enterprise vacationers, abroad college students, kinfolk of Taiwan nationals, foreigners with Alien Resident Certificates and blue-collar migrant staff from some neighboring nations to use for a visa. Nevertheless, leisure vacationers are nonetheless unable to go to, and as of July 2022 there isn’t any reopening date set. 

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Visa-free entry to Taiwan

Exterior of pandemic-control durations, vacationers from most European nations, Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, South Korea and Japan (together with a scattering of different nations) can take pleasure in visa-free entry to Taiwan for stays of as much as 90 days. Vacationers from plenty of different nations together with Singapore and Malaysia are permitted 30 days of visa-free journey.

Vacationers from most different nations might want to apply for a Visitor Visa. Residents of mainland China are required to use for a particular kind of journey allow.

All visa-exempt vacationers want a passport legitimate for at the least six months from the date of entry, and two clean pages for the entry and exit stamps. Upon arrival, additionally, you will want to point out a confirmed journey ticket along with your itinerary for departing Taiwan earlier than the tip of your visa-free journey interval. 

In non-COVID instances, vacationers from many European, North American and different nations can take pleasure in visa-free entry to Taiwan for stays of as much as 90 days © LMspencer / Shutterstock

Extending your visa-free keep

Previous to the COVID-19 outbreak, guests from Canada and the UK solely have been in a position to prolong their visa-free keep in-country by 90 days up (to a most of 180 days). Functions to increase visas may be made in Taiwan on the nearest National Immigration Agency Office.

Examine, work and customer visas for Taiwan

When you plan to go to Taiwan to work, research or go to kinfolk for an prolonged time frame, you may apply at an abroad mission of the ROC (Republic of China, Taiwan’s official title) in your house nation for both a Customer Visa (for a single entry, and for durations of lower than six months) or a Resident Visa for longer stays. Notice that there isn’t any devoted pupil visa class in Taiwan. 

Customer Visas value roughly US$50 (this varies from nation to nation), whereas Resident Visas value roughly US$100.

Alternatives additionally exist for residents of most of the similar nations lined by visa-free journey to use for a visa beneath Taiwan’s Working Holidays Scheme, focused at these between the ages of 18 and 30. For stints of as much as 12 months, the scheme permits the holder to work throughout their keep – topic to a couple restrictions, resembling not remaining with a single employer for greater than 3 months. 

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Go to the Taiwan Ministry of Overseas Affairs’ useful web site for the newest info on entry restrictions and visa necessities © Shawn.ccf / Shutterstock

A helpful useful resource for all it is advisable to learn about visas for Taiwan

Your first port of name when contemplating any type of journey to Taiwan ought to be the Consular Affairs part of the MOFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) website for Taiwan. Right here, yow will discover a list of Taiwan’s embassies and missions abroad, together with a devoted part on visas displaying the very newest necessities and rules (beneath “Information and Occasions”). You’ll additionally discover hyperlinks to the web visa-application varieties you’ll need to fill out and both put up to your nearest Taiwan abroad mission or current in individual, together with the listing crucial supporting paperwork relying on the visa kind.