Taiwan’s plan to join the US’ Global Entry program, which would allow Taiwanese travelers easier entry to the US, will not be affected by US President Donald Trump’s immigration ban, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Representatives of the US and Taiwan signed a joint statement in April last year regarding Taiwan’s participation in the Global Entry program, a US Customs and Border Protection program that allows expedited clearance of preapproved, low-risk travelers on arrival in the US.
Citizens of participating nations may clear US immigration by using automated kiosks at 47 US airports and 13 other preclearance locations.
The program is currently available to citizens of seven countries — the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Panama, South Korea, Mexico and Canada — and more than 4.1 million people have used it to date.
In addition to Taiwan, eight other nations are in discussions with the US to join the program.
Following the signing of the joint statement with the US last year, Taiwan could become the second Asian nation and the eighth worldwide to formally join the program, the ministry said.
Taiwan hoped to be admitted to the program six to eight months after signing the statement, but it has taken longer because preparatory work is still ongoing and a Taiwan application Web site that links into the US system is still being developed, ministry Department of North American Affairs Director-General Christine Hsueh (薛美瑜) said.
Taiwan’s efforts to join the program will not be affected by Trump’s executive order that banned citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations from entering the US, since the two systems are unrelated, Hsueh said.
The executive order was aimed at protecting the US from foreign terrorists trying to enter the country, she said.
On Jan. 27, Trump signed an executive order that indefinitely suspended the Syrian refugee program and banned entry for 90 days for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
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