Taiwan Compatriot Entry Permit

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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, Hanyu Pinyin: Táiwān jūmín láiwǎng dàlù tōngxíngzhèng; abbreviated: 台胞證 or 台胞证 Táibāo zhèng, literally "Taiwan Compatriot Permit") 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.

[edit] Background and usage

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

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

The Taiwan Compatriot Entry Permit is practically the only valid identity document for Taiwan residents in mainland China. As a result this travel document is also regarded and widely used as an identity document in mainland China, and can be accepted in cases of real estate purchasing, banking, taking medical treatment, insurance, employment, etc. Due to this document's such identity-proving usage and the increasing instances of Taiwan residents' long-time stay and settlement in mainland China, on September 7, 2008, the Taiwan Affairs Office announced that effective September 25, 2008, the issue number of the Taiwan Compatriot Entry Permit of any Taiwan residents 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^[1]. Since October 20, 2008, Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing and Zhejiang can issue the 5-year permit. Together with Shanghai, Jiangsu and Fujian, there are, as of October 2008, 7 provinces and municipalities are authorized to issue the permit to Taiwan residents.^[2].

[edit] Application and entry permit

ROC residents can apply for a Taiwan Compatriot Entry Permit in MPS's Hong Kong or Macau branches. For each entry into PRC, Taiwan Compatriot Entry Permit holders need to apply for a permit (an immigration stamp which shows the document bearer's allowed duration of stay inside PRC). In Hong Kong, Taiwanese residents can apply for it at Hong Kong International Airport, doing the same in Macau (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

[edit] Entering Hong Kong and Macau with Taiwan Compatriot Entry Permit

Hong Kong authorities accept either ROC passport or Taiwan Compatriot Entry Permit for ROC nationals to enter Hong Kong. For ROC passport holders, pre-arrival visa which is separated from the passport is required and will be stamped, while the ROC passport is not stamped. For Taiwan Compatriot Entry Permit holders, valid entry permit used to be required for entry but on April 15, 2009 Hong Kong authorities announced that effective April 27, 2009 Hong Kong will grant 7-day visa-free access to Taiwan Compatriot Entry Permit holders without entry permit^[3].

If with valid entry permit, the Macau authorities also grant 30-day visa-free access to Taiwan Compatriot Entry Permit holders although Macau authorities also grant 30-day visa-free access to ROC passport holders. The Taiwan Compatriot Entry Permit is stamped while the ROC passport is not stamped(stamp is on the Arrival/Departure card which shall eventually be recalled upon visitor's departure from the territory)^{[citation needed]}.