Taiwan Compatriot Pass
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The Taiwan Compatriot Pass(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, abbr.:台胞證 or 台胞证) is the specific travel document issued by People's Republic of China(PRC)'s Ministry of Public Security(MPS) to Republic of China(ROC, or colloquially Taiwan) nationals as an alternative for ROC nationals to enter PRC, instead of the ROC passport which is rejected by PRC officials.
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[edit] Background
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 ROC nationals 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.
[edit] Application and entry permit
ROC nationals 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.
- Harbor: Fuzhou, Xiamen, Quanzhou
[edit] Entering Hong Kong and Macau with Taiwan Compatriot Pass
If with valid entry permit, ROC nationals 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 ROC national 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.
[edit] Other usage
The Taiwan Compatriot Pass is practically the only valid identity document for ROC nationals 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 case of real estate purchasing, banking, taking medical treatment, insurance, employing, employment, etc.
[edit] 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
