Visa On Arrival

Wikimania 2007 Taipei :: a Globe in Accord

I am TzuChiang, a member of Wikimania 2007 administration office. I am also working for the Institute of Information Science, Academia Sinica, a governmental institute in Taiwan. We understand that some participants have come across difficulties when applying for Visa to Taiwan. To solve this issue, we at the Academia Sinica, are under negotiation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to treat Wikimania 2007 as a special case, so a special "Visa on Arrival" can be implemented to resolve this. We've sent the application letter to MOFA for their final approval.

If it is approved, most of the participants who have had trouble getting a visa should be able to obtain one with the following procedure.

Before you start

  • You have to submit your documents to secretary Ms.Babemaco before July 10 (the final deadline)
  • You have to complete the whole registration process (including payment) before you can proceed to the next step! Please include your registration number when you mail to Ms.Babemaco.
  • You can only use this procedure to get a "Visa on Arrival" if due to real difficulties, for example:
  1. There is no ROC embassy/consulate or Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in your country, and therefore you would need to travel to another country to get a visa.
  2. Even though there is a ROC embassy/consulate or Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in your country, they have no visa issuing authority. Therefore you would need to travel to another country to get a visa.
  3. Citizen of your country is required to have a sponsor, a guarantor who lives in Taiwan.

Procedure

  • To start, you have to provide Ms. Babemaco, the conference secretary, with the following required information regarding your schedule no later than July 10 (the hard deadline). The email address is babemaco[at]gmail.com.
  1. A copy of your passport information page to show your photo and other information clearly together. You can send it by fax or scans through email. Your passport must be valid for more than six months.
  2. Flight details (booking record, arrival and departure date and flight numbers). If you plan to travel to a third country after the conference, or you need to go to a third country before arriving Taiwan, please include the Visa information of the third country as well.
  3. Citizens of the following countries need a sponsor to obtain Taiwan Visa: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bhutan, Cambodia, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Somalia, Syria, Bangladesh, Ghana, Burma/Myanmar, Nigeria, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Cameroon, Senegal and Democratic People's Republic of Korea. If you are from one of aforementioned countries, please attach additional information as listed below:
    1. A copy of your passport information page(with photo etc, passport number etc.) by fax or email. Your passport must be valid for more than six months.
    2. Completed application form
    3. Staying date period
    4. Have you ever enter Taiwan before
    5. Date of birth
    6. Nationality
    7. Chinese name (if any)
    8. Full Name
  • Note: make sure to bring enough US currency to pay for visa fee upon arrival.
  1. MOFA will notify the National Immigration Agency the list of attendees who need help.
  2. When you "check in" at airport, you can tell the airline staff that you will be issued a "Visa on Arrival" and ask them to verify with the National Immigration Agency in Taiwan. (We'll give you the contact information) http://www.immigration.gov.tw/immig_eng/aspcode/maina.asp
  3. After they confirm you will be granted Visa on Arrival, then you can board your flight to Taiwan.
  4. When you arrive, go to the Visa Office of the National Immigration Agency at the Airport to get the visa.
  5. Items you have to bring with you:
    1. Two passport photos
    2. A visa issuance fee of NTD $1,200 plus a service charge of $800 (approximately USD $60 in total).

As I have mentioned earlier, we're still working on this right now and it will take some time to finalize. We will update with the latest news. In the mean time, please start sending your information that Ms. Babemaco needs, so that we could accelerate the process.

Thank you very much for your cooperation.