Mexicans seeking one-year multiple-entry visas to Taiwan will be forced to go without, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday.
Taipei has stopped issuing the visas after Mexico put Taiwan on a blacklist of countries it considers to back terrorism.
Unless Mexico explains in writing why Taiwan was blacklisted and changes its policy, Mexicans will continue to go without one-year multiple-entry visas, said foreign affairs spokeswoman Katharine Chang (張小月).
"Before we receive that written reply, we will not change our current measures, which have already gone into effect," Chang said.
Mexican nationals must now wait at least 30 days before having their visas approved, Chang said.
According to some reports, the terrorism designation will mean trouble and red tape for Republic of China passport holders when they apply for Mexican visas.
But visa applicants from Taiwan won't necessarily have to wait more than 30 days while Mexican immigration authorities check their backgrounds, as was originally reported.
Some reports say the wait is just two to three days longer than the original three days under the old application process.
"We have asked our representative in Mexico, Liu Chia-feng (
Mireya Olivas, foreign press director at the Mexican foreign ministry, declined to answer any questions related to the matter and referred inquiries to officials at Mexico's National Migration Institute.
As of yesterday evening, no reply was offered by the Mexican migration officials.
Before the creation of the blacklist, Taiwan nationals had to wait just three days before having their visas approved. On Sept. 13, two days after terrorist attacks the US, Mexico ordered its embassies abroad to restrict issuing visas to nationals from 63 counties.
The blacklisted states include China, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Vietnam, Bosnia and a number of Middle Eastern countries.
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