Taiwan Visitor Visa: How to Apply for a Tourist Entry Permit

Do you need a visitor visa, or are you visa-free?

Before applying, check whether your passport is on Taiwan’s visa-free entry list. Many nationalities enter Taiwan for short stays without a visa, under conditions set by the Bureau of Consular Affairs (BOCA). If you are visa-free, no visitor visa is needed for a short trip.

A visitor visa is the application route when you are not visa-free, or when you want a longer or a specific purpose stay. Taiwan issues visitor visas for different purposes — tourism, visiting relatives, and business — and each has its own document list. This article covers the tourism purpose visa. The entry decision is made at the port of entry, so a granted visa does not by itself guarantee entry.

The documents BOCA lists for a tourism visa

The Bureau of Consular Affairs publishes the following requirements for a visitor visa for tourism purpose (as of August 2026):

• Completed and signed application form — filled in online at the BOCA visa application website (visawebapp.boca.gov.tw) and printed out.
• Two passport-size photos — 45 mm high and 35 mm wide, in colour, taken within the last six months, with a white background.
• Passport, original and photocopy — valid for at least six months with blank pages.
• Proof of stable financial resources — for example a bank statement.
• Travel itinerary.
• Return ticket — a ticket, electronic ticket or proof from a travel agency.

Additional documents may be requested during processing. The mission handling your case decides what is sufficient for your nationality and situation, so the list above is the baseline, not a guarantee that nothing else will be asked.

Where and how to apply

Applications are lodged at an overseas mission of the Republic of China (Taiwan) — a Taipei Economic and Cultural Office or representative office in your country — together with the documents and the statutory fee.

The process, as BOCA describes it, is a review rather than a box-ticking exercise:

1. Submit the application to the overseas mission.
2. The consular office examines it and may request an interview.
3. Cases needing further review may be referred to the Bureau of Consular Affairs, and a guarantor in Taiwan may be asked to submit a letter of guarantee.
4. The mission notifies the outcome and issues the visa if approved.

Visas are issued at the discretion of the Republic of China as a sovereign act. Taiwan may refuse an application without giving a reason, and the application fee is not refundable even if the visa is not issued. If you have doubts about your own situation, contact the mission before paying the fee.

After entry: stays and extensions

A visitor visa grants a stay period set at issue. A 60-day stay visa that does not carry a ‘No Extension’ stamp can be extended — up to two 60-day extensions — at local service centers of the National Immigration Agency (NIA). A visa bearing ‘No Extension’ may not be extended, unless the Bureau of Consular Affairs approves changing it to an extendable visa, which takes at least three working days.

This makes a practical difference when you plan your trip: if you think you may stay longer, pay attention to whether the visa carries the ‘No Extension’ stamp at issue. For the extension procedure itself, see our guide to extending a visa in Taiwan.

For passport holders who can travel visa-free, note that visa-free stays are shorter and may not be extendable in the same way — see our visa-free entry article for Philippine passport holders for how that works.