Taipei, Dec. 19 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Monday it had expressed concern with officials in Vietnam after the country raised visa fees for Taiwanese applicants from NT$1,500 (US$48.76) to between NT$4,000 and NT$5,000.
MOFA spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told CNA that the Vietnamese government attached great importance to the issue and was seeking to address it.
Ou was responding to a social media post Sunday from Legislator Chiu Chen-yuan (邱臣遠) of the opposition Taiwan People's Party (TPP) highlighting the fact that visa fees for people in Taiwan going to Vietnam had been significantly increased compared with before the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the MOFA spokeswoman, Taiwan's representative office in Vietnam has received complaints that the visa application process for a visa has become more tedious and time-consuming.
MOFA will continue asking the Vietnamese government to provide favorable visa treatment of visa applications for Taiwanese nationals based on the principle of reciprocity, Ou said.
According to Chiu, Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had told him the price hike was because Taiwanese applicants had to first receive a Vietnam visa approval letter to apply for a visa.
Chiu said that the ministry had told him it would make improvements and moderately reduce visa fees for people in Taiwan.
Chiu said in his post that Taiwan was Vietnam's fourth largest source of tourists before the COVID-19 outbreak.
