The Cabinet’s tourism development task force has decided to put new visa rules in place in an effort to attract more visitors from Southeast Asia and India.
Singaporean and Malaysian passport holders are already able to enter Taiwan without a visa while citizens of Brunei are eligible to apply for an e-visa or a visa on arrival. The Cabinet says that it will work to add more countries in the region to Taiwan’s visa waiver program.
In the meantime, it will be expanding access to group visas for high-end tour packages, increasing the number of travel agencies licensed to handle high-end tours, and simplifying visa procedures. These measures are set to take effect before September.
At the same time, it will be adding Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar to the list of countries who nationals can use Taiwan’s online visa approval system. Currently, the system is open to nationals of India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministry says it will begin issuing ten-year e-visas to Southeast Asian travelers who have valid visas for certain countries or regions in their passports. These will include the US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the Schengen Zone in Europe.