Exiled Chinese democracy activist Wang Dan (王丹) yesterday said that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has granted his request to speed up the processing of his re-entry permit to the US out of humanitarian concern.
Wang announced the development on Facebook yesterday. He made the appeal to the US authorities after his application to return to Taiwan for a health check using his “green card” rather than a re-entry permit was rejected by the National Immigration Agency.
“I appealed to the USCIS to expedite the processing of my application for the re-entry permit out of humanitarian concern [on Monday]. The request was approved in the shortest possible time [yesterday]. I will return to Taiwan for a health check as soon as possible after the document arrives,” he wrote from California.
He thanked his supporters and the “humanitarian stance” of the US immigration services.
Wang, who suspects that the persistent vertigo he is suffering is a symptom of a brain tumor, asked for the government’s help to let him to enter the nation without the required permit, the issuance of which can take months.
He lacks health insurance in the US, but is covered by the National Health Insurance system.
The National Immigration Agency rejected his plea for an exception on Tuesday and said Wang would need to follow due procedure to re-enter Taiwan.
The agency repeated yesterday that Wang is welcome in the nation as long as he presents his US re-entry permit and a Taiwanese landing visa before boarding a plane.
According to the Regulations Governing the Entry Permission to Taiwan Area for the People from Mainland China (大陸大區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法) Chinese nationals living overseas are not allowed to enter the nation unless they have both a residency certificate and a re-entry permit for their place of residence that guarantees their ability to return.
Wang is a visiting professor at Hsinchu City’s National Tsing Hua University, as well as an adjunct assistant professor at Taipei’s Soochow University. He previously taught at National Chengchi University in Taipei and National Cheng Kung University in Greater Tainan.
Additional reporting by CNA and Shih Hsiu-chuan
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