台灣人赴英 3/03 起免簽證
〔自由時報 2009/02/09 駐歐洲特派記者胡蕙寧 倫敦九日報導〕
原始新聞連結
英國內政部長在九日提交國會的書面聲明中說，決定給予台灣民眾自今年三月三日起前往英國不逾六個月之非工作性質免簽證待遇。台灣是英國此次內政檢討中唯一新增適用免簽證訪英的國家，國人未來赴英將因此節省數千至上萬元台幣的簽證申請費。
可省數千至萬元簽證費
該聲明為英國政府自二○○七年三月以來，針對歐洲經濟體以外國家與地區的國民訪英簽證所進行之「首次簽證制度全球檢討」的最終決定，結果顯示，台灣對英國之移民管制係低風險國家，訪英國停留不逾六個月且非赴英工作之台灣護照持有者，自今年三月三日起即可免除申請訪英簽證。
據統計，英方發給我國人的觀光簽證數量在二○○六年為一萬五千三百二十一件，二○○七年為一萬二千九百一十件；近年來我國人赴英觀光人數每年約四萬人。目前英國國民訪台可享有停留卅天的免簽證待遇。
目前全球共有超過一百個國家、約四分之三的人口，仍需申請觀光簽證方得訪英。至於目前給予台灣免簽證的國家則包括日本、南韓、新加坡等數十國。其中，日本是在二○○五年八月期間先後由眾院、參院通過永久免除台灣觀光客簽證的出入國暨難民法特例法案，並在同年九月廿六日生效實施。
英文版的 Taipei Times 還有一則更詳細的報導:
Taiwan wins inclusion in UK's visa-waiver program
Original News Link
By Jenny W. Hsu, STAFF REPORTER, Wednesday, Feb 11, 2009
“Lifting the visa requirement for stays of less than six months will help to build on that to the benefit of both British and Taiwanese people.”
— David Campbell, British Trade and Cultural Office director
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday welcomed Taiwan’s inclusion in the UK’s six-month visa-waiver program and said the government was considering reciprocating the offer.
The UK is the 31st county to grant Taiwanese visa-free privilege. Other countries include some of Taiwan’s allies and a few non-allies such as South Korea, Singapore and Japan.
The British Trade and Cultural Office (BTCO) said yesterday that starting on March 3, Republic of China (ROC) passport holders who wish to visit the UK for less than six months for business or tourism purposes, family visits or as students and who won’t be working there will no longer require a visa.
“Britain enjoys strong commercial and cultural ties with Taiwan,” BTCO’s new director David Campbell said. “Lifting the visa requirement for stays of less than six months will help to build on that to the benefit of both British and Taiwanese people.”
“We believe Taiwan’s inclusion in the visa-waiver program will encourage more Taiwanese tourists to visit Britain and help promote more exchanges among the two peoples,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) said.
The UK made the decision after it concluded that Taiwan had satisfied all the criteria required by the UK Border Agency based on a worldwide review of regime carried out in 2007 and last year.
In his farewell press conference last month, former BTCO director Michael Reilly said London’s “only real area of concern” on admitting Taiwan to the visa-waiver program was the massive migration of Chinese illegal aliens into the UK, saying such privilege could encourage the Chinese use to use ROC passports to smuggle people into the UK.
“The problem of fraudulent documentation or false documentation is a problem around the world. How we address that is to have very close links with migration authorities around the world and that certainly includes Taiwan,” Campbell said, adding that the UK enjoys close and regular contacts with Taiwanese authorities and that those ties would be further cemented in the future.
Asked if London is worried that ROC passports might become an attractive tool for smuggling rings, Campbell said: “I am aware that in recent months, Taiwan has undertaken a number of developments and it is certainly a shared interest around the world to try and combat misuse of documentation.”
“We are confident that with those expert contacts we have that risks such as that can be managed,” he said.
Bureau of Consular Affairs Chief Lo Yu-chung (羅由中) said the announcement showed that London appreciated Taiwan’s issuance of electronic passports. Lu urged other countries to follow the UK’s lead.
BTCO said Taiwanese visiting the UK under the visa-waiver program still had to satisfy authorities at their port of entry that they meet the UK’s admission requirements and must have with them supporting documents such as return flight tickets, evidence of funding, letters from sponsors or the businesses they are visiting, or the school they plan to study at.
The BTCO received more than 28,000 visa applications last year.
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