The Bureau of Consular Affairs (BOCA) yesterday said that scribbling or deleting any official markings from Republic of China (ROC) passports would be considered tampering with official documents and passport holders who did so would be requested to apply for new ones.
ROC passports are official documents and any non-official markings that are added to them are strictly prohibited, BOCA Director-General Lo Yu-chung (羅由中) said.
Adding any extra markings or deleting official seals inside the passport could invalidate the travel document, he said.
EXAMPLE
Citing an example, Lo said there was a case in which an ROC passport holder was unable to get a visa from a foreign embassy because his passport contained a sticker inside the pages. The immigration official refused to issue the visa even after the sticker was peeled off because it left a mark on the page. The man had to apply for a new passport, Lo said.
In recent years, some Taiwanese travelers have developed the habit of collecting stamps from different tourist destinations in their passports as souvenirs. Others use their passports to collect autographs from celebrities. This would invalidate the passport, Lo said.
TRAVEL PROBLEMS
He said people who have defaced their passports might still be using them to travel, but he warned that this was not the norm, adding that the only reason they could still use them to travel was because customs officials had not yet discovered the defaced pages.
If a customs agent in Taiwan or a foreign country discovers that a passport has been tampered with, the passport will most likely be rejected and Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel will not be able to help, Lo said.
Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said Saturday that she would not be intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), following reports that Chinese agents planned to ram her car during a visit to the Czech Republic last year. "I had a great visit to Prague & thank the Czech authorities for their hospitality & ensuring my safety," Hsiao said on social media platform X. "The CCP's unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan's interests in the international community," she wrote. Hsiao visited the Czech Republic on March 18 last year as vice president-elect and met with Czech Senate leadership, including
There have been clear signs of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempts to interfere in the nationwide recall vote on July 26 in support of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators facing recall, an unnamed government official said, warning about possible further actions. The CCP is actively involved in Taiwanese politics, and interference in the recall vote is to be expected, with multiple Chinese state media and TAO attempts to discredit the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and undermine public support of their recall movement, the official said. This interference includes a smear campaign initiated this month by a pro-Beijing Hong Kong news outlet against
A week-long exhibition on modern Tibetan history and the Dalai Lama’s global advocacy opened yesterday in Taipei, featuring quotes and artworks highlighting human rights and China’s ongoing repression of Tibetans, Hong Kongers and Uighurs. The exhibition, the first organized by the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan (HRNTT), is titled “From the Snowy Ridges to the Ocean of Wisdom.” “It would be impossible for Tibetans inside Tibet to hold an exhibition like this — we can do it. because we live in a free and democratic country,” HRNTT secretary-general Tashi Tsering said. Tashi Tsering, a Taiwan-based Tibetan who has never
A first shipment of five tons of Taiwan tilapia was sent from Tainan to Singapore on Wednesday, following an order valued at NT$600,000 (US$20,500) placed with a company in the city. The products, including frozen whole fish and pre- cooked fish belly, were dispatched from Jiangjun Fishing Harbor, where a new aquatic processing and logistics center is under construction. At the launch, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) called the move a “breakthrough,” marking Taiwan’s expansion into the Singaporean tilapia market. Taiwan’s tilapia exports have traditionally focused on the United States, Canada, and the Middle East, Huang said, adding that the new foothold in
RSS