The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday denied accusations by a group of students from Africa, who said that officials discriminated against them in processing their visa applications.
In an online news conference yesterday, the students accused the Taipei Trade Office in Nigeria of blocking their visa applications.
One student went to the office in August to schedule an appointment, but was told that an appointment was only available in December, the students said.
Photo: screen grab from the Internet
Many of the students had applied for visas at other foreign embassies, but what they experienced at the Taiwan office was terrible, they said.
Some students who had been granted government scholarships obtained visas more quickly, but this was unfair, because other students might have been granted full-tuition scholarships by their host schools, they said.
The students have sought help from the Taiwan International Student Movement, an advocacy group for the rights of international students, which also called on the ministry to stop discriminating against African students.
At a separate news conference yesterday, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said that governments in some countries report more forged documents than others, so Taiwan’s overseas representative offices in such places are required to verify the authenticity of applications with local government agencies to help prevent illegal activity.
The time that it takes to verify documents varies from country to country, depending on the response time of local agencies, Ou said, adding that no discrimination is tolerated at its offices.
When the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, the government implemented strict border controls, she said.
However, since Aug. 23, overseas students have been allowed to enter Taiwan and overseas offices have been accepting applications for student visas, Ou said.
Of the 40 applications for student visas at its Nigeria office from Sept. 1 to Monday, 18 did not submit their documents on time, five failed a review due to fabricated documents or false accounts during visa interviews, eight passed a review and the rest are to be reviewed, she said.
Given that the Ministry of Education has required overseas students for this semester to enter Taiwan by Dec. 15, the ministry has asked the office in Nigeria to move up its appointments, she said, adding that it moved all of its appointments to before Nov. 22.
Over the past three years, the Nigerian office has approved more than 800 visas, mostly for applicants from Nigeria, the Gambia, Ghana and Cameroon, Ou said.
There are many factors to consider when reviewing visa applications, including screening of applicant identities, assessing their motives for wanting to immigrate, the possibility that they will overstay or work illegally and the risk of disease transmission — processes that are in place in every country, she said.
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