Taiwanese passport holders will be able to visit New Zealand visa-free starting on Nov. 30, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced yesterday, making it the second Asia-Pacific non-ally after Japan to include the nation in its visa-waiver program.
New Zealand is the third Western country to grant Taiwan visa-free access this year after the UK and Ireland.
“We welcome this new development and hope the policy will provide more convenience for our citizens traveling to New Zealand. We believe the policy will also substantially increase the number of Taiwanese tourists traveling to New Zealand,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) said, adding that this development was evidence of the success of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) “flexible diplomacy” strategy.
Starting on Nov. 30, Republic of China passport holders will be allowed to stay in New Zealand visa-free for non-work purposes for three months. As a reciprocal gesture, Taiwan agreed to extend its visa-waiver program for New Zealand citizens from 30 to 90 days, the ministry said.
Trade volume between Taiwan and New Zealand last year was US$1.27 billion, the ministry said. Wellington is Taiwan’s 10th-largest trading partner — its eighth-largest export destination and 12th largest source of imports.
New Zealand is also a popular study destination for Taiwanese. As of the end of last month, about 11,000 Taiwanese were studying in New Zealand, the ministry said.
New Zealand is one of the three countries, in addition to Australia and Japan, that offers a summer working-holiday program for Taiwanese aged under 30.
“Lobbying for visa-waiver privileges is one of the ministry’s major tasks. So far, 33 countries have given Taiwan such a courtesy and we will continue to work hard to make it safer and more convenient for our citizens to travel,” Yang said.
Ministry spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) did not give a timetable for the US and EU visa-waiver programs, but said matters were heading in the right direction for the EU while the US remained concerned about what it calls “lax” passport issuance practices in Taiwan.
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