Required documents for Taiwan visa (printed):
Citizens of which countries do not need a tourist visa to Taiwan
We recommend checking the relevance of the information on the website of the Taiwanese consulate.
Preparing documents for a Taiwan visa
Step 1 - Buy tickets to Taiwan and back
When buying tickets, expect that a ready Taiwan visa in Hong Kong is issued either the next day after submitting documents, or the day after. Therefore, you will need to stay in Hong Kong for several nights.
We also recommend, just in case, buying return tickets.
Step 2 – Book Accommodation in Taiwan
For the visa, it doesn't matter whether you stay in a hotel or in an apartment - either option will do. But we recommend booking a returnable accommodation, just in case.
Step 3 - Complete the visa application form
It is better to fill out the visa application form after booking accommodation and tickets, as it requires you to indicate the specific dates of your visit to Taiwan and your address in the country.
Step 4 – Make an appointment at the Taiwan Consulate
Book a time slot a few weeks in advance to choose a convenient time for you (if there are two of you, book two slots). They say that if you sign up for the morning before 12:00, your visa will be ready the next day (that's what happened to us). You will receive a QR code by email, you don't need to print it out, just show it on your phone.
Step 5 – Make a travel plan
There are no strict requirements for the plan, it can be drawn up in any form. Below we attach a screenshot from our plan - you can draw it up similarly. In this way, we described all 12 days of our stay in Taiwan.
Step 6 – Buy Travel Insurance
Not everywhere they write about the need for insurance for a visa to Taiwan, but we bought it just in case. When accepting documents, they paid attention to it and noted its presence. We recommend buying it.
Step 7 - Collect documents on work activity
If you are officially employed, then everything is simple: you need a certificate from work indicating the place of work, position and monthly salary (in English).
If you are an individual entrepreneur or self-employed, then the package of documents will be larger: a certificate of registration and a certificate of income. We have attached them in two languages: the original + translation into English. If you have an agreement with the company you cooperate with, attach it too.
Step 8 - Collect bank statements
Ask your bank for a statement of your account balance for the last 3 months and a statement of your available balance, at a rate of $100 for each day you are in Taiwan (per person). Banks can issue these statements in English. Make sure the name on the statement matches your name on your passport.
Any banks will do. No one here has heard of sanctions against Russia. Therefore, the amount of funds in the Russian account will suit them.
Step 9 - Print all prepared documents
Be careful if you are going on a trip, for example, with two people. Common documents should be printed in two copies (for example, reservations, travel plan, etc.).
What we print:
- — Accommodation reservation
- — Ticket reservation
- — Visa application
- — Travel plan
- — Insurance
- — Employment documents
- — Bank statements
- — Copy of international passport — page with photo
Step 10 – Print 2 recent color visa photos
Step 11 - Withdraw cash to pay for your visa
To pay, you must bring HK$400 in cash. Payment is made on site when submitting documents.
Banks in Hong Kong have ATM machines that accept Visa/MasterCard/UnionPay.
Step 12 - Submit documents on the appointed day
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office is located in the southern part of the city, 10-15 minutes from two metro stations.
Address: Suite 4907, 49/F Central Plaza, 18 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
To get to the Taiwan representative office, you need to:
- — enter the Central Plaza building,
- — take the escalator to the 2nd floor,
- — take the elevator and go up to the 46th floor,
- — transfer to another elevator and go up to the 49th floor.
The process of applying for a visa to Taiwan in Hong Kong is very simple. They say that the representatives are very loyal and everyone who wants a tourist visa gets one.
By the way, they may ask why you decided to apply for a visa in Hong Kong and not in your home country - prepare an answer.
We were asked additional questions about our work.
One of us is a foreign sole proprietor. There were questions about why the business is not conducted in the home country, with which specific company the cooperation is conducted.
The other is a self-employed freelancer. Probably, it is not customary for them to work with different clients at the same time, so they insistently asked to indicate the position and place of work.
In the end, everything went well, just prepare answers to the questions so as not to get confused in the moment.