I just got back several days ago from a quick trip to HK and back for 30-day visa-exempt entry to Taiwan (being a UK citizen). It was cheap, it was easy, it was effortless. Got to HK, hung around in departures for an hour or two (as said, no need to go through immigration), got back on the plane and back to Taipei. It is, indeed, a rubber stamp process.
Many people have noted they are rarely, if ever, asked for proof of an ongoing ticket; I certainly wasn’t. However, there is a little form you fill in on the plane in which you have to enter your flight into the country - and the number of your flight back out. This is clipped into your passport by immigration.
Although you aren’t necessarily asked for proof of your ongoing ticket, you presumably are required to fill in the details of your ongoing flight on the form concerned, as I did, presumably in order to streamline the process in order that the officer concerned doesn’t need to ask every single individual passing by him for tickets or printouts of details, especially given the latter are what many people now have in the age of e-tickets. I would therefore be inclined to always have - as you should, really - an ongoing ticket corresponding with the details filled in on the ‘visitor’s form’ or whatever it’s called.
The other option for those who want to play it safe is to just buy a refundable ticket. These tickets usually cost a bit more, but hey, they are fully refundable. Easy peezy.
Every two months for fifteen years I did the HK visa run. And I always made it into a mini 3 day get away. Even though its a forced holiday, at least its better then doing a turn-around in the airport. I thought anyway. At least if you are doing this long term
And for your info, Air Macau could still be offering (thru travel agents) really cheap getaways from Taiwan to/from Macau with ticket and hotels for something like 200bucks a head (two share). Those were worth it.
CX offers nice getaways too for reasonable rates.
Overnighters in Okinawa were cool too. Tickets were full fare economy (means fully refundable if your plans change) and only something like 6000nt roundtrip (a few years ago these prices). And hotels in Naha were very reasonable.
I did some trips to Seoul too and the tickets were bout 7000nt roundtrip and hotels could be had cheaply in seoul.
Once I did a Kaohsiung/Laoag 3 day thingy for only 5000nt, including charter flight there and back and 2 nites at a hotel there in Laoag. Now Laoag is no place to write home about. The good news, you are staying at the best hotel there, the bad news, it aint much. Even the beach there is no good, but the swimming pool is nice. And its a cheap visa run. And the 5000nt was for myself only, no need to bring a friend to get that price.
Make a mini getaway out of those pesky visa trips and its more fun (provided you have the time and means to do so of course).
If you are coming in for 30 days (at most) surely you’ll have an onward ticket anyway?
It’s usually the air carrier that checks the onward ticket.
If you don’t have an onward ticket the airline can demand you purchase one before they check you in.
Because if any problems arise at immigration, they would have to fly you out (if I remember correctly).
A friend of mine does the 30 day thing to Bangkok every month and lives like a white house politician for a few days with a string of ladies (men if you at the white house) at his hotel…
[quote=“pulpwriter”]Many people have noted they are rarely, if ever, asked for proof of an ongoing ticket; I certainly wasn’t. However, there is a little form you fill in on the plane in which you have to enter your flight into the country - and the number of your flight back out. This is clipped into your passport by immigration.
Although you aren’t necessarily asked for proof of your ongoing ticket, you presumably are required to fill in the details of your ongoing flight on the form concerned, as I did, presumably in order to streamline the process in order that the officer concerned doesn’t need to ask every single individual passing by him for tickets or printouts of details, especially given the latter are what many people now have in the age of e-tickets. I would therefore be inclined to always have - as you should, really - an ongoing ticket corresponding with the details filled in on the ‘visitor’s form’ or whatever it’s called.[/quote]
I never filled in the outbound flight section and never was asked for a ticket by immigration in the dozen-or-so times I have come in to the country on 30-day visa-free entry.
I did always have a ticket to show in case they asked, but the only people who ever did were airline check-in staff.
