The number of foreign men who married Taiwanese women last year totaled 4,521, the highest number since 2003, the latest Ministry of the Interior （MOI） statistics showed.

In its regular report on marriage registrations nationwide, the ministry said 15,181 foreign women married Taiwanese men.

The report showed that 55.8 percent of all the foreign spouses who married last year were from China, Hong Kong or Macau; 27.7 percent were from Southeast Asian nations and 16.5 percent from elsewhere.

In total, 149,287 marriages were registered last year, 86.8 percent of which were between Taiwanese, the report released on Saturday said.

In 2003, the nation saw a spike in the number of transnational marriages to 31.86 percent of the total number registered nationwide.

More than 60 percent of transnational weddings that year involved Chinese spouses, which led authorities to suspect that marriage was being used as a means for foreigners to enter the nation and obtain residency, the ministry said in its latest report.

As a result, the ministry introduced an interview process for Chinese and other foreign nationals seeking to marry Taiwanese.

The percentage of transnational marriages dropped to 13.2 percent of the total in 2013 and last year, the ministry said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES

不用抽 不用搶 現在用APP看新聞 保證天天中獎　 點我下載APP　 按我看活動辦法