To further promote the New Southbound Policy and fine-tune the visa policy for citizens of NSP partner countries and Russia traveling to the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) convened a meeting with other related government agencies on April 12. Attendees considered and conducted a full review of the implementation of visa measures for Thailand, Brunei, the Philippines, and Russia; the Project for Simplifying Visa Regulations for High-end Group Tourists from Southeast Asian Countries; and the Online Application for R.O.C. (Taiwan) Travel Authorization Certificate for nationals from Southeast Asian countries (the latter also referred to as conditional visa-free entry).

Having evaluated past years’ outcomes of these convenience measures, and considering the need to revive mutual bilateral exchanges and tourism in the postpandemic era, participating agencies decided to implement, from August 1, a one-year extension of the trial visa-free entry for nationals of Thailand, Brunei, the Philippines, and Russia through July 31, 2022, and to continue the Project for Simplifying Visa Regulations for High-end Group Tourists from Southeast Asian countries for a further year through December 31, 2022.

In line with antipandemic policies set forth by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), MOFA announced on March 19, 2020, that Taiwan was barring foreign nationals from entering the country for tourism purposes. The aforementioned adjustments to and extensions of visa measures for nationals from NSP partner countries and Russia are based on previously existing policies and do not indicate an opening-up of Taiwan to foreign tourists amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether restrictions on foreign nationals coming to Taiwan for tourism purposes will be relaxed depends on the CECC’s assessment of the worldwide development of the COVID-19 pandemic.

MOFA will continue to review and fine-tune visa policy, seeking to strengthen bilateral exchanges and attract more visitors while still ensuring border and public security. MOFA will also continue to communicate with the governments of related countries to enhance visa treatment for Taiwan nationals and make their overseas travel more convenient. (E)