Taiwan Compatriot Entry Permit

The Entry Permit of Taiwan Residents to the Mainland (Traditional Chinese: 台灣居民來往大陸通行證, Simplified Chinese:台湾居民来往大陆通行证 "Táiwān jūmín láiwǎng dàlù tōngxíngzhèng"; abbreviated: 台胞證 or 台胞证 "Táibāo zhèng", literally "Taiwan Compatriot Pass") is the specific travel document issued by People's Republic of China (PRC)'s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) to citizens of the Republic of China (ROC, or commonly Taiwan) with household registration in the Taiwan Area for entry into mainland China. The Republic of China passport is not considered as a valid travel document by the People's Republic of China.

Background and usage

Due to the special political status of Taiwan, neither PRC nor ROC admits the passports issued by the other and neither of the 2 parties considers travel between mainland China and Taiwan as formal international travel. The Taiwan Compatriot Pass is therefore issued as the travel document for Taiwan residents to enter PRC since 1987, when then ROC President Chiang Ching-Kuo decided to lift the mutual travel ban across the Taiwan Strait. Its counterpart is Entry Permit of Mainland Residents to the Taiwan Area.

The design of the document takes the form of a regular machine-readable passport, but did not have PRC's National Emblem printed on its cover as other regular passport will have. This document is valid for 5 years and has 32 pages.

The Taiwan Compatriot Pass is practically the only valid identity document for Taiwan residents inside PRC. As a result this travel document is also regarded and widely used as an identity document inside PRC, and can be accepted in cases of real estate purchasing, banking, taking medical treatment, insurance, employing, employment, etc. Due to this document's such identity-proving usage and the increasing instances of ROC citizens' long-time stay and settlement inside PRC, on September 7, 2008 the Taiwan Affairs Office announced that effective September 25, 2008, the Taiwan Compatriot Pass' issue number for an individual ROC citizen will remain the same for his or her life time. The Taiwan Affairs Office also opened 6 more airports eligible for entry-permit-on-arrival [ [http://www.worldjournal.com/wj-tw-news.php?nt_seq_id=1770654 台胞證一人一號 終身不變 ] ] .

Application and entry permit

Taiwan residents can apply Taiwan Compatriot Pass in MPS's Hong Kong or Macau branch. For each entry into PRC, Taiwan Compatriot Pass holders need to apply for a permit (an immigration stamp which shows the document bearer's allowed duration of stay inside PRC). Permits can be acquired in MPS's Hong Kong or Macau branch, Hong Kong International Airport or Macau International Airport, and can be extended in MPS's branches across mainland China. Permits are further classified as:

*Single entry for 3 months(HKD 150)
*Multi entry within 1, 2 or 3 years

Certain employing, employment, studying or investment certification is required for applying 2- or 3-year multi-entry permit. In practice most Taiwanese travel agencies will take over all the jobs and have the documents with valid entry permits sent to Taiwan by air. Around 1% of the applications is rejected, mainly to sensitive identities such as pro-Taiwan independence/Tibet independence figures, Falun Gong members and the like. This document's bearer can also apply for 3-month entry-permit-on-arrival in the following PRC cities' international airports or harbors, so long as this document remains valid:

*Airport: Shenyang, Qingdao, Dalian, Shanghai, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Wuhan, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Haikou, Sanya, (effective Sep 25, 2008) Beijing, Nanjing, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Guilin, Shenzhen.
*Harbor: Fuzhou, Xiamen, Quanzhou

Entering Hong Kong and Macau with Taiwan Compatriot Pass

If with valid entry permit, Taiwan residents can also use this document to enter Hong Kong or Macau for 7 days. The Hong Kong or Macau authorities will stamp on the Taiwan Compatriot Pass; instead, Hong Kong or Macau authorities will not stamp on ROC passports if a Taiwan residents uses it for entry. Hong Kong officials will stamp on the visa while Macau officials will stamp on the embarkation card, both are separate sheets from the ROC passport.

See also

*Home Return Permit
*Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport
*Macau Special Administrative Region passport
*Entry Permit of HK and Macau Residents to the Taiwan Area
*Hong Kong Re-entry Permit

References

External links

* [http://www.fmcoprc.gov.hk/chn/lsfw/zgrzj/t54794.htm How to apply Taiwan Compatriot Pass in the Commissioner's Office of China's Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong SAR]
* [http://www.ctshk.com/zhengjian/taiwan.htm How to apply Taiwan Compatriot Pass in the China Travel Service (Hong Kong) Limited]