I will be starting a job next month in Tainan and I’ve been looking at flights. I know the official line is that an onward ticket is required to board the flight to Taiwan, but based on other forums it seems many people ignore this detail - with varying results.
Has anyone dealt with this issue recently?
More than likely I won’t want to chance it, in which case I’m open to suggestions as far as cheapest onward ticket (Hong Kong?).
check Air Asia, Scoot, or Cebu Pacific. One of them will have flights to somewhere nearby for less than US$50. However, if you have a valid work permit you shouldn’t need this. If you don’t, your employer might be screwing you around. It happens.
I’m not very sure, but is it not a visa, but a work permit that allows entering taiwan with a one way flight?
Sure, but what I meant was, if you’re entering for the purposes of (legal) employment, then presumably you have the appropriate visa? An outward flight is only needed if you’re entering as a tourist.
Personally I arrived as a tourist and then got my ARC; as far as I recall, nobody asked to see an outbound ticket, but that was a long time ago.
If they insist on an onward ticket at the airport check-in, you can always book one online if you have a laptop or tablet with you. I’ve done that before (different country, unaware of requirements!).
As already said, if you have the correct visa, then you should be able to book a one-way. If you don’t yet have the visa, then technically you need an outbound ticket. But I think the chances are good that you won’t ever be asked to produce them. However, even with the right visa, it’s the check-in staff that would be most likely to raise the one-way thing and ultimately it’s at their discretion.
Before coming here to work I read a lot of anecdotal reports of others in the same situation. Most were never asked about the outbound flight. I recently had two experiences of one-way entry (myself, then my family separately) where we were never asked about an outbound flight either. However, I did have a ticket in hand in the event that they did ask me.
If I had to do it again, I’d probably not bother with the one way and if the check-in staff had issues, I’d just purchase one on the spot. The ticket cancellation fees seem to be pretty standard (approx 1000 NT), so the actual ticket price doesn’t matter much (assuming you have enough in your account to cover it).
They always ask me for a onward ticket when checking in.
If you are lazy I recommend using a service like flyonward.com, for a small fee (10$) they’ll book a ticket for you, email it to you and then cancel it after 24 hours.
For every dumbass rule the bureaucrats invent, somebody, somewhere finds a way to make some money from it 
You really don’t provide enough information to answer your question.
You don’t say if you have a work or some type of visa or not, and you don’t say from which country you have a passport.
Airlines will not issue a boarding pass or allow you to board without an onward ticket under standard circumstances. If you have a visa, an onward ticket is normally not required.
The cheapest “throwaway” ticket you can buy to depart Taiwan is to the Philippines on Cebu Pacific it could be as little as US$50.
No need if you have a resident visa or tourist visa. However, if you do have a tourist visa and plan to change to a resident visa here in Taiwan so that you can qualify for an ARC, there’s talk that this route isn’t always successful.
Or OP could just buy a one-way ticket from Taiwan to somewhere and check the refund fee before completing the purchase. I thought Eva Air had a 1000 NTD fee ($33) to cancel a ticket and get a refund. I don’t know if any other airlines refund fees are cheaper.
I usually buy a ticket with Air China - no refund fee. Sometimes I’ve even made a profit on the currency exchange between buying and refunding!
The last 2 arrivals I have had here in Taiwan I haven’t been asked. Both have been landing visas.
Do you mean visa-exempt?
That’s not the concern. Without an onward ticket, you will not be allowed to board an airplane inbound to Taiwan unless you have a visa, resident card, etc.
Wasn’t an issue for me. In fact, it might have been 4 flights. Coming from China and Canada. EVA in China mentioned that I may need an onward ticket but didn’t ask to see any ticket.
I’ve never given it much thought until it was mentioned to me in China but it takes less than 2 minutes to buy a ticket with my phone so it wasn’t something I was concerned about.
I let my arc expire in January so I have been without any Taiwan VISA since then.
That’s up to the airline. They may offer to let you board in exchange for your credit card number (smells like a scam). I say don’t give them anything but offer to sign a waiver absolving them of responsibility if Taiwan refuses to let you in.
I went to Hong Kong yesterday and was given a hard time by the EVA staff there due to not having an onward ticket from Taiwan. I had my boarding pass already, but I made the mistake of asking the staff how long the flight was going to be delayed.
They let me continue after I signed a waiver.
Arrived in Taoyuan and the foreign in front of me was asked to produce proof of an onward ticket. I get to the counter and was not. This is the 2nd time I have seen someone else asked but I have not. I suspect it’s due to looking like a trustworthy grandpa.
Please do tell what the foreigner in front of you looked like? Caucasian? Dreadlocked? Wearing dodgy fashions?
Didn’t think of the profiling until after … young, clean cut, smart dressed and perhaps from Latin America. I was panicking and had my cathay app open and ready to purchase a flight.
I flew from Amsterdam to Taipei this September. I had a JFRV in my assport and just a oneway ticket in my hand. Nobody at either Airportt bothered to ask me whether or not i had a retourn ticket.