A slew of new regulations and policies are to take effect next month.
Immigration officers are on Friday to begin using new stamps at border checks of passports of people leaving and entering Taiwan.
The Ministry of the Interior on Saturday said in a statement that the replacement of the current stamps, which have been in use for eight years, aims to prevent counterfeiting and highlight Taiwan’s image with a new design.
The main changes to the new design are the removal of a plum blossom and the addition of the image of Taiwan proper, on which the letters “TWN” are printed to form the Central Mountain Range, the ministry said.
While the Chinese characters written by calligrapher Tung Yang-tzu (董陽孜) would be kept, the image of Taiwan and the character 境 (jing, “border”) would cover part of the stamps’ frame in the new design, the ministry said.
The frame-breaking design symbolizes Taiwan’s efforts in making diplomatic breakthroughs, it said.
On the entry stamp, an extra dot would be added to the Chinese character to illustrate the government’s hope for “a few” more visitors once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, the ministry added.
New Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and Alien Permanent Resident Certificate (APRC) cards bearing a new number format are to be issued starting on Saturday.
The first digit of the number indicates the area where the cardholder applied for residency, while the second digit — either an 8 or a 9 — denotes whether the cardholder identifies as male or female respectively.
The National Immigration Agency urged ARC and APRC cardholders not to rush to obtain the new cards, and wait for their current cards to expire, or until there is a change in their personal information.
Current cards would be accepted until 2031 and the numbers on them would be used by all systems until then, it said.
Meanwhile, starting on Jan. 11, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to begin issuing passports with a new cover design that excludes the nation’s official name in English — the Republic of China.
Taiwanese can apply for the new passports at any of the ministry’s offices at home or abroad, it said.
They can apply for new passports regardless of the remaining period of validity left on their current passports, the ministry said, adding that they can also continue using their current passports until their date of expiry.
The cost of the passports would remain the same at NT$1,300 for adults and NT$900 for minors under the age of 14, it said, adding that the application process and requirements would also remain the same.
The Ministry of Justice is introducing new measures this week, including giving prisoners access to mobile devices, such as cellphones and tablet computers, to communicate with family members, it said.
Also, the maximum balance on overdue payments that can be made through convenience stores to the Ministry of Justice’s Administrative Enforcement Agency offices for National Health Insurance and other overdue fees is to be raised from NT$20,000 to NT$30,000.
Additional reporting by Lu Yi-hsuan, Lee Ya-wen and CNA
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