The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday advised people planning a trip to more than one Schengen country to apply for a visa for the first country they will visit or the country where they will stay the longest.
A Schengen visa is valid in 15 European countries.
MOFA officials released the statement after several cases of Taiwanese citizens holding valid Schengen visas being refused entry to certain Schengen countries.
Separately, some Taiwanese citizens holding entry permits issued by the Spanish government were refused entry into other Schengen countries.
Department of European Affairs Director-General Anne Hung (洪慧珠) said this was because the permits applied only to Spain.
Those planning trips to more than one Schengen country must be sure to apply for a Schengen visa.
Hung also said travelers flying with Lufthansa Airlines have had problems entering Switzerland.
Staff at the airline are not aware of a Swiss regulation allowing Taiwanese citizens with the visas to enter the country even though the Schengen Treaty does not include Switzerland, she said.
“The foreign ministry has requested that the Taipei-based Trade Office of Swiss Industries and Taiwan’s representative office in Switzerland consult with Lufthansa Airlines,” Hung said.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
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