ROC (Taiwan) nationals can apply for Russia’s electronic visa under the business and tourism categories, granting access to all regions of the world’s largest country, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jan. 5.
During a news conference in Taipei City, Ali Yang, director-general of the MOFA’s Department of West Asian and African Affairs, said the new procedure eliminates the need for applicants to provide supporting documents such as invitations and hotel booking confirmations.
With a validity of 60 days, the e-visa allows holders to visit Russia for a maximum stay of 16 days, he said, adding the document can be applied for online from any part of the world.
The MOFA expects the streamlined application process to promote people-to-people exchanges between the two sides, continuing the trend set when Taiwan’s government granted visa waiver status to Russian citizens in September 2018.
Yang said under the visa-waiver program, the duration of stay for Russian visitors was first set at 14 days before being extended to 21 days in August 2019. As a result, 14,927 Russians traveled to Taiwan in 2019, a surge of 407.55 percent compared to 2018, he added. (SFC-E)
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