The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminded travelers yesterday that certain travel documents were still necessary for visa-free entry into the UK after some Taiwanese tourists were refused entry.
“Though Taiwan citizens enjoy visa-free entry to the UK, they still need to follow related requirements when entering the country, such as bringing necessary documents related to the purpose of their visits,” said Anne Hung (洪慧珠), director-general of the ministry’s Department of European Affairs, at a regular press briefing.
The Foreign Ministry has informed the Tourism Bureau of the recent incidents so that it can remind travel agents and individual travelers, she added.
The British government began including Taiwan in its visa-waiver program on March 3, which allows travel to Britain for tourism, business, study or family visits for up to six months.
Hung said the ministry and its representative office in the UK had heard of several cases in which Taiwanese were refused entry into the UK, mainly because they did not understand the visa-free program’s conditions or could not provide required documents.
A student surnamed Wu had been refused entry on April 12, for example, because the letter of acceptance issued by a language school he was to attend was for one year, while the visa-free program only allowed him a maximum stay of six months, Hung said.
Hung advised travelers to bring other forms of identification, such as a driver’s license, in case of an identity check.
She said British authorities had instructed embassies and overseas representative offices to stay alert for Chinese human trafficking syndicates using Taiwanese passports.
More than 40,000 Taiwanese visited the UK last year, and around 15,000 Taiwanese students study there.
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