菲免簽來台1年 泰汶延至明年7月
蔡政府推動「新南向政策」，從觀光著手！就在政院預告大陸「曾擔任」黨政官員也要列管、收緊大陸來客之際，外交部昨宣布，6月1日起實施多項簽證放寬措施，除了既有泰國及汶萊國民免簽證延長至明年7月底，菲律賓國民也因在台期間違常情況少，列入免簽證試辦國之一。
泰國及汶萊國民去年8月試辦免簽證，兩國來台旅客大幅成長。去年度泰、汶來台旅客分別成長57.26％及52％，而今年1月至2月，泰國來台旅客成長率更高達91.83％，顯見免簽措施對吸引觀光頗具功效，且逾期停留、非法打工及犯罪率均在可控範圍內。
外交部指出，這次除泰國及汶萊國民來台免簽證措施試辦期延長至明年7月31日，也將試辦一年菲律賓國民來台免簽證。
外交部領事事務局長陳華玉指出，國安與移民單位對放寬簽證最在意的問題，就是停留、居留期間的違常，相對其他國家而言，菲律賓違常情況減少很多，因此也列入免簽證試辦國家。交通部觀光局局長周永暉說，菲律賓距台灣非常近，僅5小時飛行旅遊範圍內，是台灣觀光主要的客群之一，相當值得開放。
印度、印尼、越南、緬甸、柬埔寨與寮國國民則開放「條件式免簽」，凡持有我國過去10年內核發之簽證（不含勞工簽證）且無違常紀錄者，在內政部移民署網頁填寫申請表後，可獲發多次入境憑證。
此外，斯里蘭卡與不丹原屬我駐外館處從嚴審核簽證的「高風險國」，無法申請來台觀光簽證，這次申請簽證也獲待遇提升，開放申請觀光簽證來台。
至於印度、斯里蘭卡、孟加拉、尼泊爾、不丹及巴基斯坦等國商務人士，經外貿協會駐當地機構之推薦者，可適用申請電子簽證（eVisa）。
據知，目前印尼對我有免簽，泰國對我免簽延長到8月底，其餘國家我國人民前往仍須辦簽證。
The deadlock in cross-Strait relations has greatly impacted Taiwan's tourism industry, as the number of Chinese tourists continue to decrease. To save the tourism industry, the Tourism Bureau decided to launch a second visa-free measure to attract more visitors from Southeast Asia. The measure is estimated to bring in over $800 million NTD.
Taiwan's tourism industry has been facing tough times as the number of Chinese visitors decreases. However, after relaxing visa rules for visitors from ASEAN member states, tourists from Thailand and Brunei have seen a dramatic increase. According to the Tourism Bureau, in 2015, the number of Thai visitors was 124,409. In 2016, it grew by 57.25 percent to around 200,000. Taiwan also saw over a fifty percent growth in Bruneian visitors. Seeing a tourism potential from Southeast Asian countries, the Tourism Bureau decided to launch a second visa-free measure to attract more visitors.
==CHOU YUNG-HUI Director-general of Tourism Bureau, MOTC==
By conservative estimates, the new measure will bring in over NT$800 million. Visa-free entry for Thai visitors will be prolonged for another year. Adding up to the visa-free measure for the Philippine visitors, we are pretty optimistic about the result.
Visa-free entry for Thai and Bruneian visitors will be prolonged for another year to July 31, 2018. The Philippines will be added to the visa-free entry trial program for a year. Passport holders from India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam who hold a visa expired within 10 years from the date of expected arrival in Taiwan, will now be eligible to use the online application to receive multiple-entry visas. Visitors from Sri Lanka and Bhutan can now visit Taiwan once they receive a valid tourist visa.
==CHEN HUA-YU Director-general of Bureau of Consular Affairs, MOFA==
Those who have applied for ROC visas for the past ten years, around 1.35 million people, are eligible to a conditional visa-free entry.
==HSU KAO-CHING Secretary-general of Taiwan Association of Travel Agents==
The visa-free entry measure only gives limited help to boost the tourism industry. What the industry needs is tour guides speaking Southeast Asian languages.
Although relaxation on visa rules have helped to increase the number of visitors from Southeast Asian countries, the tourism industry is still worried that this may only be a temporal trend. Lacking enough tour guides speaking Southeast Asian languages is the most serious problem that the industry is facing. A superficial tourist experience decreases revisit rates of tourists. The tourism industry thinks that the government should solve the problem as soon as possible, or else the boost in the Southeast Asian market will be relatively short-lived.
TRANSLATED BY：ARIEL HSIEH
The deadlock in cross-Strait relations has greatly impacted Taiwan's tourism industry, as the number of Chinese tourists continue to decrease. To save the tourism industry, the Tourism Bureau decided to launch a second visa-free measure to attract more visitors from Southeast Asia. The measure is estimated to bring in over $800 million NTD.
Taiwan's tourism industry has been facing tough times as the number of Chinese visitors decreases. However, after relaxing visa rules for visitors from ASEAN member states, tourists from Thailand and Brunei have seen a dramatic increase. According to the Tourism Bureau, in 2015, the number of Thai visitors was 124,409. In 2016, it grew by 57.25 percent to around 200,000. Taiwan also saw over a fifty percent growth in Bruneian visitors. Seeing a tourism potential from Southeast Asian countries, the Tourism Bureau decided to launch a second visa-free measure to attract more visitors.
==CHOU YUNG-HUI Director-general of Tourism Bureau, MOTC==
By conservative estimates, the new measure will bring in over NT$800 million. Visa-free entry for Thai visitors will be prolonged for another year. Adding up to the visa-free measure for the Philippine visitors, we are pretty optimistic about the result.
Visa-free entry for Thai and Bruneian visitors will be prolonged for another year to July 31, 2018. The Philippines will be added to the visa-free entry trial program for a year. Passport holders from India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam who hold a visa expired within 10 years from the date of expected arrival in Taiwan, will now be eligible to use the online application to receive multiple-entry visas. Visitors from Sri Lanka and Bhutan can now visit Taiwan once they receive a valid tourist visa.
==CHEN HUA-YU Director-general of Bureau of Consular Affairs, MOFA==
Those who have applied for ROC visas for the past ten years, around 1.35 million people, are eligible to a conditional visa-free entry.
==HSU KAO-CHING Secretary-general of Taiwan Association of Travel Agents==
The visa-free entry measure only gives limited help to boost the tourism industry. What the industry needs is tour guides speaking Southeast Asian languages.
Although relaxation on visa rules have helped to increase the number of visitors from Southeast Asian countries, the tourism industry is still worried that this may only be a temporal trend. Lacking enough tour guides speaking Southeast Asian languages is the most serious problem that the industry is facing. A superficial tourist experience decreases revisit rates of tourists. The tourism industry thinks that the government should solve the problem as soon as possible, or else the boost in the Southeast Asian market will be relatively short-lived.
TRANSLATED BY：ARIEL HSIEH
留言