《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》Ban will not affect visa waiver program for Taiwan

/ Staff writer, with CNA

US President Donald Trump’s executive order banning people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US for the next 90 days will not affect its visa-free treatment of Republic of China （ROC） passport holders, American Institute in Taiwan （AIT） spokesperson Sonia Urbom said on Sunday.

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The ban on seven countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — has thrown airports in the US into chaos and sparked protests in many cities.

Trump’s order also suspended the “visa interview waiver program.”

Asked if the executive order would affect its visa free program （VWP） for the ROC, Urbom said no, for the moment.

The “visa interview waiver program” is not the same as the “visa waiver program,” Urbom said, adding that conditions relating to the VWP overseen by the US Department of Homeland Security have not changed.

The visa waiver program still applies to Taiwanese visitors traveling to the US, she said.

Taiwanese can visit the US government’s official Web site for the VWP if they want to know more about the program, she said.

Taiwan is one of 38 countries whose citizens are eligible to travel to the US under the VWP, excluding those who are also nationals of Iraq, Iran, Syria or Sudan, according to the US Bureau of Consular Affairs Web site.

The VWP enables most citizens of eligible countries to travel to the US for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without a visa.

Local immigration officials and the Border Affairs Team of the National Immigration Agency at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport could not be reached for comment on whether Trump’s order had affected operating procedures at the nation’s main gateway.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES