Macau and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) passport holders will be re-admitted by Taiwan for individual travel from Feb. 20, the island’s authorities announced yesterday.
In a statement, the Mainland Affairs Council of Taiwan disclosed that from 9 a.m. on Feb. 20, online applications for temporary stay permits to Taiwan will resume for SAR passports holders.
The travel permit is in fact a form of prior registration for concerned travelers, which is comparative to the electronic travel authorization (eTA) in some countries.
Those ineligible for the permit should apply for another type of entry-exit document with the island’s immigration office.
With the new arrangements arriving, the Council concluded that all travel measures concerning Macau and Hong Kong SAR passports holders will return to pre-Covid standards, except for disease-related requirements.
The resumption does not include mainland residents for the time being. Liang Wen-chieh, deputy minister at the Council, blames a lack of transparency in Covid-19 disclosures in mainland China as the reason.
Liang remarked, “We all hope cross-Strait relations will bloom in the spring.”
“To reopen travel, we must be certain of our ability to control and assess the Covid situation,” Liang added.
Following the announcement, Taiwanese airlines EVA Air and China Airlines also publicized that flights between Taiwan as well as Macau and Hong Kong will be added from March, according to Taiwanese media outlet Formosa TV News.
EVA Air reportedly will add one more flight between Macau and Taiwan from March 26. China Airlines does not operate flights between Macau and Taiwan.
The suspension of regular interactions between Macau and Taiwan has been in place for over 1,000 days, Liang recapped. Such limitations were implemented to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Taiwan currently imposes no centralized quarantine requirements on entrants. However, entrants are required to take a Covid-19 rapid antigen test on the day of entry. They will have partial freedoms to explore during the first seven days if they test negative and wear a mask. From the eighth day onwards, without symptoms or positive test results, they will be completely free to roam around.
