- Do I need a visa?
It depends on your Nationality, purpose of visit and duration of stay.
Citizens of Switzerland, Liechtenstein and many other countries can enter Taiwan without a visa for the purposes of Tourism as well as visiting friends and family, attending a conference and in some cases business trips.
Longer durations (over 3 months) need a visa, and if you plan to do anything that requires a permit (for example working, studying, learning Chinese at a language center, internship, religious work, etc.), you need a visa.
People’s Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kong and Macau passport holders cannot apply for a visa and need to apply for an Entry Permit instead. For information about Entry Permits, please check: https://www.roc-taiwan.org/ch/cat/13.html
Citizens of India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia and Lao can apply for a Travel Authorization Certificate. For information on Travel Authorization Certificates, please check: https://niaspeedy.immigration.gov.tw/nia_southeast
Citizens of Montenegro, Turkey and several other countries can file an eVisa application instead of a general visa application. For information about eVisa, please check: https://www.roc-taiwan.org/ch_en/post/1229.html
- How does visa-free entry work?
Citizens of Switzerland and Liechtenstein can enter Taiwan for up to 90 days without a visa for the purposes of tourism, visiting family and friends, attending conferences and depending on the case also business trips. Any other purpose of visit requires a visa.
Conditions for visa-free entry: 1.) You need a Swiss or Liechtenstein passport that has a remaining validity of at least 6 months on the date of entry. 2.) You need to have a confirmed return flight (or boat) ticket. Both these documents will be checked by border control. The maximum duration of stay is 90 days and cannot be extended.
Visa-free entry is available for other Nationalities besides Swiss and Liechtenstein, the conditions and the maximum duration of stay vary depending on the nationality. For a list of visa-free countries with their different requirements and different maximum durations of stay, please check: https://www.boca.gov.tw/cp-149-4486-7785a-2.html.
- What kind of visa do I need?
First, check if you need a visa or if you can enter visa-free, or via a Travel Authorization or have to apply for an Entry Permit. (See Questions 1 and 2)
If you need a visa and intend to stay for a short duration (up to six months), you need a Visitor Visa.
If you don’t plan on exiting Taiwan during your stay, you can apply for a Single Entry Visitor Visa.
If you need to exit and re-enter Taiwan during your stay, you can apply for a Multiple Entry Visitor Visa.
If you intend to stay for more than 6 months, you will need a Resident Visa.
- Do I have to come to your office in person or can I send my application by mail?
You can send us your visa application by mail. Our address is: Délégation culturelle et économique de Taipei, Kirchenfeldstrasse 14, 3005 Bern, Switzerland.
If it is more convenient for you to come by personally, our consular opening hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00-12:00 and 14:00-16:30. However, please keep in mind that visa can never be issued on the same day and usually take 3 to 4 working days to process, longer in the case of resident visa.
In some cases, additional documents beyond the ones listed on our website will be required. If this is the case, we will know at the earliest one or two days after you handed in your application. Coming to our office in person will not speed up this process.
- Is there an Online Application Form? Can I send my application by email?
We need your original passport. Copies or Scans of it don’t work. You will need to either send it in a recommended letter or hand it in personally.
We also need an application form. This form must be filled out online, filling it out by hand does not work. However, once the form is complete, you need to print it and sign on the second page and send it to us. Without your original signature, the application is not valid.
In all cases, your passport and the printed out application form with your signature need to be sent by recommended letter or handed in personally. While you theoretically can send all the other documents by email, it is easier for us if you hand in all the documents together.
- How long will it take to issue my visa?
For visitor visa, once all the necessary documents have arrived at our office, your application will usually be processed within 3 working days. However, at busy times during the year, applications can take longer. We do not guarantee that 3 working days will suffice.
Resident visa generally take longer. In special cases (for example in the case of visa for religious work) we have to send your application to Taipei for processing, which means the process can take several months. Please keep in mind that resident visas often require Legalizations, which add to the processing time.
Please also keep in mind that post delivery times are usually one or two working days.
If you absolutely need an express visa, please contact our office. Express service costs more and is only available upon previous consultation with our office. At busy times during the year, this service is not available. Under no circumstance can a visa be issued on the same day.
- Can I send you the visa fee by bank transfer?
Yes. If you pay bay bank transfer, please send us a copy of your payment order. Fees can also be paid in cash. Our account information is as follows:
Account Name: Délégation de Taiwan République d Bern
Account Number: 263243-41-3
IBAN: CH68 0483 5026 3243 4100 3
Bank: CREDIT SUISSE (Schweiz) AG
Clearing Number: 4835
BIC / SWIFT : CRESCHZZ80A
CREDIT SUISSE Postkonto: 80-500-4
- I have an emergency passport. Can I still enter visa-free?
Generally, no. However, depending on your Nationality you can land in Taiwan and apply for a landing visa at the border. Detailed information on landing visa can be found here: https://www.boca.gov.tw/cp-149-271-2fdc9-2.html
Please keep in mind that your emergency passport needs to be valid for more than 6 months on the date of your entry.
USA and Japan Nationals with emergency passports can still enter visa-free, please check: https://www.boca.gov.tw/cp-149-4486-7785a-2.html
- I have a refugee passport. Can I still apply for visa to visit Taiwan?
Please contact us by phone. Our number is +41 31 350 80 50
- I am an ROC citizen. How can I apply for a Swiss visa?
We only issue visa to enter Taiwan. Immigration into Switzerland is regulated by the Swiss government, therefore you need to contact a Swiss government office. The Swiss representative office in Taiwan is the Trade office of Swiss Industries (TOSI), see:
- Further questions?
You can contact us by phone at +41 31 350 80 50 or by email at taiwaninbern(at)mofa.gov.tw
Our consular opening hours are Mo-Fr, 9:00-12:00 and 14:00-16:30, public holidays exempted, see: https://www.roc-taiwan.org/ch/post/2879.html
