Taiwan is adding new features to its passport application Web site to allow the upload of digital photographs from next month, in an effort to streamline the process, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said yesterday.
The new upload feature, to be added on Wednesday next week, will detail the specifications of the passport photographs, which can be uploaded by applicants before they take their applications to a passport office, bureau deputy head Hsueh Shu-mei (薛秀媚) told a news conference in Taipei.
“This will help prevent applicant’s paperwork being rejected due to problems with the photograph,” Hsueh said.
If the uploaded photograph is accepted on the Web site, there would be no need for an applicant to take two physical photographs when they submit an application, which would save time and cost, she said.
Currently, all passport applications must be submitted in person at a bureau office, either by the applicant or someone designated to act on their behalf, but the application form can be completed online and printed.
Supporting documents include two photographs and a national identification card, or a household registration certificate for applicants under the age of 14.
While the new feature would allow the upload of digital photographs, applicants would still need to submit the application form and national identification card at a consular affairs office, Hsueh said.
People can use the Web site to download the application form and make an appointment to submit the application, which would save time, instead of completing the form at the office and lining up to submit it, Hsueh said.
The bureau’s goal is to expedite the passport application process in anticipation of a spike in overseas travel if the nation’s border controls are eased in the second half of the year, she added.
At a legislative hearing on May 9, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said that Taiwan’s border controls could be eased starting in July, when the number of domestic COVID-19 infections is expected to be declining.
Currently, all travelers arriving in Taiwan, with few exceptions, are required to quarantine for seven days, after which they must observe self-health management for another seven days.
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