My mom was denied entry into Taiwan today due to her US passport expiring in less than 6 months (literally 5 months and 2 weeks.) She was leaving from Honolulu on China Airlines, and the manager claimed that they got fined repeatedly by the Taiwanese government and refused to let her on. I was wondering if anyone was able to enter Taiwan with a US passport that was less than 6 months, and if so, how would one go about doing that? It seemed the manager of CI was being extremely strict, but it doesn't seem like that big of a deal since on the same trip she got a visa from the Mainland Chinese embassy which also requires a 6 month expiration as well. When she got the visa for China, they let her slide.

Thanks in advance for any prior experiences dealing with entry into Taiwan.

According to the State Department, "U.S. passport holders will be allowed to enter Taiwan without a visa for up to thirty days (no extensions allowed) if their passport is valid for at least six months from the date of entry into Taiwan and the traveler has a confirmed return or onward air ticket."

I guess the moral here is always check the entry requirements before departing for a foreign destination. If the rules say 6 months of validity required, then I wouldn't count on getting admitted with a passport expiring in less than that time frame.

But you know on that same website, it states that if your visa is less than 6 months from expiring, that you can apply for a landing visa upon landing for a fee of $124. My beef is that the China Airlines manager gave the incorrect information. She should've been allowed to fly, and pay the fee upon landing in Taiwan. Oh well, I wish I read that before I bought the ticket from Hawaii back to the mainland. Worse case, I could've had my mom go to the consulate (or Economic affairs office) to go get a visa from Taiwan. Too late for that now.

Yup, that's definitely the moral of the story. Although I had assumed that Taiwan required a visa and that my parents took care of the details. But I guess Taiwan changed to this 'auto' entry system for US Citizens. When did this happen? The last time I went there was way back in '92 when a visa was required. What also stunk was the fact that they were headed to China as well, but the consulate in China granted an exemption since it was close to 6 months. I guess that's our luck that a consular agent decided to be nice!

So your mom was not denied entry by Taiwan, she was denied boarding by an airline. Airlines are paranoid about these things because they get fined and have to pay the trip back if they bring in people with improper documentation, but for things like borderline passport expiration you can usually get away it by signing a waiver (yes, I've done this). But if you get a really recalcitrant check-in agent about all you can do is try to reach their supervisor and/or get the destination country's embassy on the phone.

Several, maybe 5 years ago, I had the same situation when landing in Taipei from US. Immigration said I could not enter the country because my passport had less than 6 months left. But as was expected there was a solution....pay money. Paid them a small amount...maybe USD10....got a special visa with remarks "NE"....had a photo taken by them. No Problem!

This happened to me a couple of years ago. Flew UA from SEA into NRT, and then was to switch to CX for the hop into TPE.

Got to the CX counter to get my boarding pass, and they would not let me fly because my passport only had five months on it. I had completely overlooked this.

I missed the CX flight, so I went back over to the UA Red Carpet Club, and the helpful CSR in the club called ahead to TPE (I am not sure who she called, maybe immigration?) and got permission for me to fly into TPE (no extra fee), AND rebooked me onto UA metal. Now that's what I call customer service! ^

A colleague of mine was once denied entry into South Africa because his passport did not have a "clean" page in it for the entry stamp. His passport had just a single tiny stamp on several pages - but one of them had to be completely clean. Bizarre.

The problem was solved by a KLM agent who took the issue to an immigration supervisor - otherwise he would have to take him back on the return flight and no doubt pay a fine...

The South African entry stamp turned out to be a tiny sticker that easily fit in his passport - on any number of "non-clean" page...

Back on topic: I feel your frustration re. CAL.

Wow, that's really great service. Was this a UA ticket in addition to a CX ticket? I didn't know CX flew direct from NRT to TPE? Did you mean CI?
Either way, I've always had great service on UA, and you provided a shining example of that. Unfortunately, my dad bought the tickets and since they have no status, they bought the lowest priced ticket against my recommendations. I wouldn't have minded to pay more for UA.

If you had meant CI, then they are really terrible, because by the rules you should be able to get a landing visa in TPE for a fee of $124. The fact that they so easily refuse boarding is asinine.

Well that's your new fact learned for today then. Ignorance is no defence

NOPE - CX. They have a flight that leaves NRT at 16:00 for TPE.

UA took the CX ticket and gave me a UA ticket. I might have had to pay a $25 fee, but honestly I don't remember. Either way, it was GREAT customer service. Way to go United! ^