nothing said about residency and I haven’t looked much further.
Dear Officer
I have been hiking around Taiwan for the last 4 years, 5 months and 23 days. Your glorious country, Taiwan No 1 , is known throughout the civilised world as a true mountain paradise and I have not been disappointed. However… due to my passion for tramping around this wonderful island every three months I must exit to buy a new pair of hiking boots, as my feet are a size 14 and I have an excellent cobbler in Manila. Also, as you well know foreigners sweat rather a lot and to be Frank with you no local shoe is designed for that kind of damage. And the smell !
Please please please let me back in I need to cover Yushan from the SSW face as I have only completed the route from the NSW, EWE, NSN, and WEE to date.
Yours,
Whataloadofcobblers
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Fair enough, but they have been letting Whataloadofcobblers back into the country for a long time. I’m not suggesting what Whataloadofcobblers has been doing is saintly, but the multiple blind eyes turned his direction raise some questions.
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never heard of that. Can anyone else confirm?
It’s an occasional question. Used to not be super common. But these are not normal times…
1 Like
So yesterday I let my phone die. They are on top of things as it was dead for about 40 minutes and the cops came to my place. They came 3x as they kept forgetting to check things (first time they just talked to me and forgot to even verify my ID, then they left again and came back realizing they had forgotten to check the actual quarantine questionaire).
It was congenial, they just said don’t let my phone die anymore if possible and to stay healthy. They also asked if I had enough food/water for the quarantine. I did not receive a call or visit today though, that was a bit odd. Maybe they’re taking the weekends off, or the load is starting to overwhelm them.
I was planning on returning to the US after this for awhile as my work is shut down anyway, but I don’t know if that will be possible as the US seems to be locking the borders imminently. We shall see.
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They won’t refuse you entry if you are a citizen. But prepare for a another two week no expenses paid trip to Quarantinoland.
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I don’t know, the first paragraph of this email sounds a bit scary:
|### TaipeiACS@state.gov|Fri, Mar 20, 10:03 PM (2 days ago)||
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The Department of State advises U.S. citizens to avoid all international travel due to the global impact of COVID-19. Where commercial departure options remain available, U.S. citizens who live abroad should arrange for immediate return to the United States, unless they are prepared to remain abroad for an indefinite period. U.S. citizens who live abroad should avoid all international travel.
Some direct flights between the United States and Taiwan have been cancelled. Your travel plans may be severely disrupted, and you may be forced to remain outside of the United States for an indefinite timeframe.
Taiwan has barred admission to all foreign travelers except for those who hold Alien Resident Certificate (ARCs) or documents proving they are in Taiwan for diplomatic or other official purpose or to fulfill business contacts, and those who have received speical permits. For the lastest update on condition in Taiwan, including entry restrictions and visa policy, please monitor the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) website and the Tiawan Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bureau of Consular Affairs website .
Effective March 20, 2020, AIT Taipei has suspended routine visa services. For emergency American Citizens Services, including emergency passports, please visit our website for additiaonl information.
Actions to Take : Consult the CDC website for the most up-to date information. Consult the Taiwan CDC website for conditions in Taiwan.
· Visit our AIT [webpage](https://www.ait.org.tw/covid-19-information/) on COVID-19 for additional information.
· For the most recent information on what you can do to reduced your risk of contracting COVID-19, please
see the [CDC’s latest recommendations](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/summary.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fsummary.html).
· Visit the [COVID-19 crisis page on travel.state.gov](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/ea/novel-coronavirus-hubei-province--china.html) for the latest information.
· Check with your airlines, curise lines, or travel operators regarding any updated inforamtion about your
trave plans and/or restrictions.
· Visit the Department of Homeland Security’s website on the latest travel restrictions to the United States.
1 Like
Right. It may be difficult due to lack of flights. But if you can get yourself in front of a US Customs and Border Protection officer, he/she cannot legally say no to you. The border is and always will be open to you. It’s your right.
Me? I’m not American. I’m not afforded such rights (in the US) and at this time of border shutdowns, I would need a REAL good reason.
I am, however afforded entry rights in Italy and Canada, where I’m from.
…I don’t wanna go to Italy right now anyways…
Visa runners are like that friend that you gave an open invitation to stay at your house if they’re ever in town. So that friend decides to take you up on your offer one day. And he find that he likes staying at your house so much that he figures out a way to exploit your invitation. So every week or so, he says he’s heading out. He only ever goes so far, lurking in the neighborhood. And then he comes back to your house like “Hey buddy! I’m back! Thanks for letting me stay here!” Over time, you find that this friend has established a pattern and it seems like he will never actually really leave. And you say to yourself “ Oh shit…what have I done… If I call off the open invitation it will look bad on me. I will lose face because people may think I’m stingy cause this friend also happens to be an expert in kvetching and is really active on social media. I want people to know that I am not stingy but hospitable with my prosperity. At the same time, even though I am friends with this guy, I’m starting to get annoyed by this guy clearly exploiting my goodwill. Conundrums …FUCK!”
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And right now options are limited as many airports are in non-transit state.
Here’s another guy who was quarantined and his cell phone ran out of battery and the police showed up to check on him.
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He does not understand technology used to track him.
There are no satellites involved. His phone has not been tapped. The technique used is decades old and has been used all over the world to keep track of persons of interest (e.g. criminals).
In Taiwan they use geofencing using the cell towers the mobile is connected to. If the mobile phone is disconnected or leaves the designated area, an alarm is triggered. This triggers a response from the authorities.
IMHO the use of tracking quarantined people is justified and the least invasive method available.
It is not fool prove by any means, as the person can just go outside leaving the phone and forward calls/messages to another mobile to answer when someone calls the tracked sim card.
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Question: If a Taiwanese comes from abroad without symptoms of covid-19 and decides to go under 14 days quarantine in their own home, what happens with the rest of the family that leaves there? Do they need to self-quarantine themselves too?
It would seem logical.
In theory, they should stay away from him like, well, the plague.
Separate room, no shared bathroom/meals, no interactions. Only allowed to place meals in front of door, knock and run like hell. Home must be disinfected every 4 hours, etc.
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Some home quarantine description.
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