Foreign visitors who entered Taiwan before today would be granted automatic 30-day visa extensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
The new measure is in response to tightened border control measures and flight bans implemented worldwide to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said.
“All travelers who entered Taiwan on or before March 21, 2020, on a visitor visa, a landing visa, or through a visa-waiver program and who have not overstayed their legal stay period will be granted an automatic 30-day extension,” the ministry said in a statement on its Web site.
Photo: Su Chin-feng, Taipei Times
No application is required, although the total period of stay cannot exceed 180 days, it said, but added that the conditions are subject to change.
The Central Epidemic Command Center on Wednesday banned the entry of foreign nationals, except those with special permission, and required all returning tourists to undergo 14 days of home quarantine.
The bureau also referred to the Expanded Overstayers Voluntary Departure Program launched by the National Immigration Agency (NIA) on Friday.
Foreign nationals who have overstayed their authorized period of stay and turn themselves in before June 30 would be eligible for penalty relief measures, meaning that they would receive only the minimum fine of NT$2,000 without being detained or facing an entry ban, the NIA said.
After an Indonesian woman working illegally as a caregiver was confirmed as the nation’s 32nd COVID-19 case, there has been extensive discussion about whether migrant workers who leave their original workplace would create gaps in disease prevention efforts, it said.
The program is aimed at encouraging overstayers, including migrant workers, to turn themselves in, it added.
The NIA said that after the program ends, it would amend the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法) to raise the penalty for overstaying visas, and that after the outbreak abates, it would crack down on illegal immigrants.
Separately yesterday, the ministry said that it did not export masks to Paraguay, following an online uproar after Paraguayan media reported that Taiwan had donated 1 million masks.
The masks for the South American ally were purchased by Taiwan’s representative office, not exported from Taiwan, it said.
The ministry did promise to give the South American ally 1 million masks, but they are being purchased by its representative office in Paraguay and from neighboring countries, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said.
The first 100,000 masks have been purchased, while the rest would be delivered in batches, she said, adding that funding was sourced from existing bilateral collaboration projects.
Foreign aid would only be provided after Taiwan meets its own needs for medical supplies amid the virus crisis, the ministry said, adding that it has asked judicial authorities to investigate the source of the misinformation.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2