Taiwan offers help to Pinoys who booked trips ahead of visa-free postponement

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the Philippines will offer assistance to those who booked tickets to Taiwan before it decided to postpone its visa-free entry privileges for Filipinos.

before the ahead of the suspension of the country's visa-free ruling for Filipinos.

"We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the postponement of the visa-free entry to Taiwan because of all the administrative procedures and inter-agency consultation not completed," Taiwan Rep. Dr. Gary Song-Huann Lin said in a press briefing on Friday.

Assistance will be offered to Filipinos who booked their tickets ahead of Taiwan's suspension of their visa-free ruling for Filipinos. pic.twitter.com/uRkatB5RNM

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"For those Filipino who have already made booking in Taiwan or those who cannot really make it, they can come to my office with all the documents they have including the booking. I think my colleagues will try to facilitate the visa issue and they will give special assistance to that," Lin added.

Taiwan postponed the implementation of visa-free entry to Filipinos "in order to complete relevant administrative procedures and inter-agency coordination."

It was initially seen take effect on June 1 but was tentatively moved to September.

With the visa-free privilege, Taiwan's government hopes to fulfill its "New Southbound Policy" of forging closer trade and economic ties with countries in South and Southeast Asia.

"The visa-free entry to Taiwan for all Filipinos is part of Taiwan government's effort to relax the access of Filipino citizens to Taiwan. By doing so, we are hoping that our two country's people-to-people, exchanges and travel will be more often and we can enhance our future understanding," Lin said.

Had it pushed through, Filipinos who have never worked in Taiwan as a blue collar worker, and those who hold valid visas or permanent resident cards of USA, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, Schengen, Australia and New Zealand would have been able to enjoy visa-free access to Taiwan for up to 30 days.

While Taiwan will lose P400 million due to the loss of visa fees, Lin said the country's priority is to create better relations with the Philippines.

"From our perspective, money is not very that important because we can always make money in the future. But most importantly, the friendship between our two people, and also the friendly sentiment, mutual understanding, and the bonding of our two people," he said.

Taiwan aims to increase the number of Filipino tourist entries to their country from 200,000 last year to match the more than 700,000 Filipinos who visited Hong Kong in the same period.

"We have more variety to offer. So I believe Taiwan should be discovered because Taiwan has been overlooked for so long so maybe it is time for the Filipino to consider Taiwan as one of the tourist destinations," Lin said.

In the meantime, Filipinos are advised to apply for either free Travel Authorization Certification (TAC), a single entry e-visa worth NTD1,632, or a visa stamped in the passport — P2,400 for a single entry and P4,800 for multiple entries.

Filipinos issued Taiwanese visas, except for those issued with labor visas with remarks "FL" or "X," over the last 10 years may apply for TAC, which would allow multiple entries to Taiwan, for free.

The present setup started in September last year. —NB, GMA News