Official offers tips to tourists ahead of Lunar New Year travel season

Taipei, Jan. 25 (CNA) Taiwan's top diplomat in charge of consular affairs has reminded Taiwanese nationals of the services Taiwan's consular offices can offer them at home and abroad as the peak Lunar New Year travel season heats up.

Calvin Ho (何振寰), director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MOFA) Bureau of Consular Affairs (BOCA), issued the reminders in a recent interview with CNA, ahead of the peak Lunar New Year travel season from Saturday to Feb. 2.

Much of Ho's advice focused on what Taiwan's consular offices at home and abroad can and cannot do to help Taiwanese travelers in need of assistance, starting at Taiwanese airports.

One problem some travelers face is realizing only when they get to the airport that their passports do not have the six months of validity required by many countries for entry.

"You'd be surprised just how many emergency calls we receive from travelers who forget to check their passport's expiration date," Ho said.

The BOCA offers emergency passport renewal services at Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan's main international gateway.

A total of 1,194 passports were issued in 2024 after people applied for the emergency service at the airport, at considerable expense.

Renewing a Republic of China (Taiwan) passport normally costs NT$1,300 (US$39), but an emergency passport renewal at the airport costs NT$4,900 and requires two to three hours.

Taiwan's 111 overseas offices around the world also offer emergency services to Taiwanese nationals, Ho said, and there are 24/7 emergency hotlines available to all these overseas offices and for MOFA headquarters in Taipei.

Getting passports, loans

According to BOCA data, the most commonly used emergency service for Taiwanese overseas is also issuing a new passport on an emergency basis after the original was lost or stolen, the subject of nearly 40 percent of all emergency service requests made to MOFA in 2024.

The second highest number of requests were for government assistance in dealing with traffic accidents or health emergencies (9.15 percent), according to BOCA.

What most Taiwanese nationals do not know is that MOFA's foreign offices can even offer loans of up to US$800 (or the equivalent in the local currency) to Taiwanese in need to cover expenses abroad before returning home, Ho told CNA.

The service is available only to ROC nationals who have an emergency while traveling abroad and urgently need to return home but cannot immediately get financial help from their families and friends.

Those who get a loan must sign an emergency loan contract, stating that they will return the borrowed amount to MOFA within 60 days after the signing of the contract.

What MOFA cannot do

Ho also reminded nationals there are certain things Taiwan's overseas offices cannot do in terms of offering assistance to nationals, mostly involving situations where citizens allegedly broke laws or were involved in judicial processes overseas.

BOCA data showed that 5.71 percent of people asking for emergency assistance from MOFA in 2024 contacted the ministry for these reasons.

Based on the "Directions for Handling Emergencies Involving ROC Nationals Traveling Abroad," diplomatic missions cannot interfere in the judicial or administrative decisions of a foreign government, provide a legal opinion regarding a judicial case, or act as legal agent filing a suit or an appeal on someone's behalf, Ho said.

What Taiwanese diplomats can do for ROC nationals is to provide contact information for local organizations or professionals offering legal services, he noted.

Ho said it was important for Taiwanese to understand what kind of services Taiwan's overseas offices are able to offer when emergencies occur, given the growing number of "so-called influencers who make videos accusing Taiwan's government of providing little help."

It has nothing to do with whether Taiwan has diplomatic relations with a certain country or not, he said.

Ho urged Taiwanese traveling abroad to log onto a BOCA online registration system, which could help the government quickly locate them in a foreign country in case of emergency.

The system, first launched in August 2002, is a voluntary and free service provided to all Taiwanese who travel or reside overseas.

"The information you provide us will allow us to contact you in order to make sure that you are safe and, if need be, assist you should an emergency occur," Ho said.

Ho's reminder came as the 2025 Lunar New Year was about to begin, with Lunar New Year's Eve falling on Jan. 28.

Taoyuan International Airport has estimated that during the peak travel period from Friday to Feb. 3, the airport could serve a total of 1.55 million passengers, or a daily average of 140,000.

That is close to the pre-COVID average of 142,000 per day.

Online passport renewal

Ho has recently being named as Taiwan's new representative to Greece and is expected to take up the office in Athens soon.

Ho told CNA that one of his major achievements with the BOCA has been the launch of an online passport renewal application service.

The service, which began a trial run on Sept. 3, 2024, allows applicants to apply online and collect their new passport 14 days later at a designated BOCA office by showing their national identification card and online application receipt.

Before the trial run began, people in Taiwan had to personally visit BOCA offices around the country to apply to renew their passports.

The trial run had a daily maximum cap of 500 applicants, which was lifted on Jan. 1, 2025, but the service still is limited to Taiwanese nationals with a household registration in Taiwan whose personal records on their expired passport do not need to be changed.

Ho said he hoped the service will one day be open to all applicants.