Visa on arrival: How long can you stay?

My family is coming to visit me (all U.S. citizens). If they just show up in Taipei, how long can they stay. Is it 2 weeks (14 days) or one month (30 days)?

I am assuming that they will have an onward ticket as they really are just visiting. Any sources I can quote so they don’t think I’m pulling the info out of my ass?

They should get a 30 day stay.

Yes, 30 days. Its actually “visa exempt” entry (rather than visa on arrival). They just queue up with their passport and landing card.

Best to equip them with your address so they know what to write on the landing card and make sure they’ve got 6 months left on their passports.

They would likely need a return or onward ticket - immigration never seem to worry, but the airline might deny them boarding without one.

As for sources, why not Forumosa? Or this one… boca.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=144 … e=116&mp=2

Thanks for the replies. 30 days seems to be correct, but a couple of people had told me differently

Forumosa is a great resource, but there are plenty of misinformed people out there who are convinced they are right. I enjoy being able to see that the information came from a reliable source and not from someone’s friend’s brother’s cousin’s girlfriend.

Here is the info from TECO in Washington
http://www.roc-taiwan.org/us/ct.asp?xItem=13610&ctNode=2315&mp=12

[quote]Visa Exemptions
A valid passport and visa are usually required for entering the ROC (Taiwan). However, citizens of the United States, and 29 other countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom) may enter Taiwan without a visa for a stay of up to 30 days so long as they present a passport valid for at least six months, a confirmed return air (steamer) ticket or an air (steamer) ticket, and a visa (if required) for the next destination. People who have overstayed an ROC visa in the previous year are not eligible for such visa exemptions.[/quote]

Here are the details I found from the TECO office in L.A.
http://www.tecola.org/visa-exempt.html

[quote]Visa Exempt Entry

* Eligible countries for application:
  Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands (Holland), New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K., and the U.S.A.
* Requirements:
      o A passport valid for at least six months
      o A confirmed return air/steamer ticket or an air/steamer ticket and a visa for the next destination, and a confirmed air/steamer seat reservation for his/her departure
      o No criminal record as verified by the airport or seaport police 
* Application Fee:
  Gratis
* Duration of stay:
  30 days, starting from the day of arrival (no extension is permitted)
* Disembarkation ports:
  C.K.S. International Airport, Kaohsiung International Airport, Keelung Harbor, Hualien Harbor, Taichung Harbor, and Kaohsiung Harbor. [/quote]

Yes, welcome to Taiwan. Getting a straight answer while dealing with the government is futile. Basically, an the airlines are the ones who tend to cry about return or onward tickets. I have always had one, yet when they asked I simply said “e-ticket.” Once you are off the plane, if you don’t have a visa, the man in the booth will give you a 30 day visa-exempt stamp oh you embarktion/DE card. This cannot be changed into any type of visa, but it is fine for a visit or vacation.

PS 14 days was the “old” limit. Some years ago now… but I did see it quoted somewhere recently - a guide book or website perhaps. LHR EVA check-in staff were under the impression it was 14 days long after it had been raised to 30.

Yup, people’s relatives or friends are not the best way to get info perhaps, but its a HELL of a lot more reliable than anything you’re likely to get from official sources in Taiwan.
The law states 30 day visa exempt stays. True. My sister and her kids were here just a few weeks ago and were given 14 days. In her case it was enough, but when she questioned the immigration guy (she knew it should be 30 days from the Free Taiwan office (or whatever the hell its called in London) he just said “No. 14 days only. Is law.”
So there you go.
Of course my wife called to complain and was told no problem, just an unfortunate mistake. Bring their passports to such and such an address, leave them there and come back again a day or two later and it’ll all be sorted out. Needless to say, they did not wish to spend two days of their holiday fucking around with brain-dead Taiwanese “officials.”
Arseholes.

Absolutely incredible! Since the rule change I must have made at least 30 or 40 visa exempt entries - and have always been given the 30 day stamp in my UK passport.

The stamps just have the date of entry and “duration of stay 30 days”. The old visa-exempt stamps used to show both the dates - date of arrival and deadline for departure.

Was there any other factor? (Not much time left on their passport, or British (but non-UK) passports, etc?)

Apart from what London says, there are signs clearly posted at the airport itself… I suppose the guy just picked up the wrong stamp and then couldn’t just say sorry…

I do always check my passport after they’ve stamped it, just in case. I’ll be even more careful in future!