The spouses and minor children of some foreign residents would be able to apply for a special entry permit, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said in a statement on Friday.
The dependents of resident certificate holders, excluding migrant workers and students, would be able to apply for the special visa at Taiwan’s overseas missions, the agency said.
The move comes after criticism from foreign residents who have been unable to reunite with their families due to COVID-19-related border restrictions.
Taiwan began imposing stricter border controls in January last year, following early reports of COVID-19 cases, and the rules have since been adjusted based on the domestic and international spread of the disease.
After an unprecedented surge in domestic COVID-19 cases that started in the middle of May, Taiwan on May 19 banned all foreign arrivals except for those with residence certificates.
It has since relaxed the rules, allowing foreign students, Indonesian migrant workers and spouses and minor children of Taiwanese to enter the nation.
Taiwan A Home for All — an initiative originally comprising six Taiwan-based workers and five students, from Colombia, Indonesia, Canada, Malaysia, South Africa, Lithuania, Belgium, Turkey and the US — last month petitioned for the exception to be extended to dependents of foreign residents.
Five students from those countries and Burkina Faso later joined the group’s appeal.
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) at the time responded to them by saying that the representative offices that are responsible for those nations might accept individual applications for special entry permits, which would be considered by the CECC before Dec. 14.
However, only some agencies would forward the applications to the CECC, it said.
The group then submitted petitions to the Ministry of Economic Affairs for the professionals and the Ministry of Education (MOE) for the students.
An American member of the group identified only as Alvin, who is enrolled in a fellowship program at a reconstructive surgery center in New Taipei City, and is therefore considered a student, has since continued to appeal to the government to let his wife enter Taiwan.
He is happy for the dependents of Taiwanese who can enter the country, and his family understands that managing the COVID-19 pandemic is Taiwan’s priority, but they are disappointed that they are still unable to reunite, Alvin said.
A Malaysian surnamed Yeong (楊) who last year came to Taiwan to pursue a doctoral degree would also still be unable to bring her two young children to Taiwan under the relaxed requirements.
Yeong has put her studies on hold and is staying in Malaysia with her children.
She flew to her home country on July 2, when one of her children needed to have 12 teeth extracted due to poor dental care while being separated from their mother for 11 months, Yeong said.
“I hope the MOE can consider students with family. My supervisor is worried about my situation,” Yeong said, adding that she needs to return “soon” for committee meetings and seminars.
University staff have also notified her that if she does not return to Taiwan, it might delay her graduation, she said.
In response, the education ministry said that it on Aug. 23 allowed the entry of international students, but entry permit applications from their dependents would still not be considered due to concerns over new SARS-CoV-2 variants, as well as limited quarantine hotel rooms, and testing and medical resources.
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