Entering Taiwan in 2026: the online arrival card (TWAC), visa-free stays, e-Gate and the customs rules with real fines

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Taiwan stopped handing out paper arrival cards on 1 October 2025. Every visitor now files a free online form, the Taiwan Arrival Card (TWAC), before reaching the immigration counter, and the officer sees it the moment your passport is scanned. Miss it and you are sent aside to fill it in on your phone before anyone will process you. Below, in order: before the flight, the counter or e-Gate, customs, and the first minutes after the doors, checked in September 2026 against the National Immigration Agency (NIA), BOCA, Taipei Customs and the quarantine agency APHIA.

Before you fly: visa-free days and the Taiwan Arrival Card

Most visitors need no visa. BOCA's visa-exempt list gives 90 days to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, every EU member state, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and others; 30 days to Singapore and Malaysia; and 14 days to Thailand, the Philippines and Brunei under a trial listed to 31 July 2027. Two conditions apply: a passport valid for at least six months on the day you enter (a Japanese passport only needs to be valid for the stay), and a confirmed return or onward ticket, which airlines check at boarding.

TWAC is mandatory for foreign nationals entering visa-free or on a visitor visa; residents with an ARC are not on the list. The official TWAC site now says to file within 7 days before arrival, counting the day you land; the NIA's 2025 launch notice said 3 days. It is free, the only official site is twac.immigration.gov.tw (any site that charges is not the government), and the form runs in English, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Chinese. Have your passport, flight number, first-night address and an email ready; photograph the passport page and the fields fill themselves, and one person can register a group of up to 16 travellers, children included. Nothing is printed: the officer's screen pulls it up from the passport scan. One form covers one entry, so a side trip to Okinawa or Hong Kong means filing again. Do it the night before.

At the airport: staffed counters or e-Gate

At Taoyuan Airport (桃園機場), tourists use the staffed counters for foreign passports: passport, camera, a question or two. e-Gate, the automated lane, is open to foreign residents with an ARC, APRC or Employment Gold Card and, under the reciprocal agreements on the NIA's e-Gate page, to holders of electronic passports from the United States (Global Entry members only), South Korea, Australia, Italy, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand. They enrol once, in person, at an NIA counter in the arrival hall of Taoyuan Terminals 1 and 2, Songshan, Taichung or Kaohsiung airports, and non-residents must have a current arrival card on file before each use. Japanese and most European passports take the staffed line. Forgot TWAC and already in the queue? Step out, file it on your phone, rejoin; the NIA says inspection cannot start until it is on file.

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四個步驟，2026 年 9 月依移民署、領事事務局、台北關務署、防檢署官網查證。一、行前：免簽停留 90 天（美、加、英、歐盟、澳、紐、日、韓），30 天（新加坡、馬來西亞），14 天（泰國、菲律賓、汶萊，試辦至 2027 年 7 月 31 日）；護照效期 6 個月以上（日本護照涵蓋停留期間即可）並持回程機票；大陸、港澳居民另辦入境許可；抵達前 7 天內（含抵達當天）免費填 TWAC 線上入境登記，一人可代填 16 人，只認 twac.immigration.gov.tw。二、落地查驗：觀光客走外國護照人工櫃檯；自動通關 e-Gate 限居留證、永久居留證、就業金卡持有人與互惠國電子護照（美國限 Global Entry、韓國、澳洲、義大利、德國、新加坡、馬來西亞、紐西蘭），先在移民署櫃檯註冊一次；日本與多數歐洲護照走人工櫃檯；沒填 TWAC 不能查驗，要離開隊伍用手機補填。三、海關：綠線無申報、紅線要申報；新臺幣超過 NT$100,000、外幣超過 US$10,000、人民幣超過 RMB 20,000、黃金超過 US$20,000、有價證券面額超過 US$10,000 要申報；免稅捲菸 200 支或雪茄 25 支（20 歲以上）、酒 1.5 公升、其他物品 NT$35,000；新鮮水果禁止，成藥每種 12 盒；非洲豬瘟國家豬肉製品首次罰 NT$200,000、第二次起 NT$1,000,000，付不出罰款拒絕入境；電子菸禁止。四、出關：中華電信、台灣大哥大、遠傳櫃檯辦 SIM 卡或 eSIM，銀行換匯，再搭桃園機場捷運、客運巴士或計程車。紙本入境卡已於 2025 年 10 月 1 日停用。Four steps, checked in September 2026 against the National Immigration Agency, BOCA, Taipei Customs and APHIA. 1 Before you fly: visa-free 90 days for the US, Canada, UK, EU, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea, 30 days for Singapore and Malaysia, 14 days for Thailand, the Philippines and Brunei on a trial to 31 July 2027; passport valid six months (Japanese passports: valid for the stay) and an onward ticket; mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau residents need entry permits; file the free TWAC arrival card within 7 days before landing, up to 16 people per form, only at twac.immigration.gov.tw. 2 Landing and immigration: tourists use staffed counters; e-Gate is for ARC, APRC and Gold Card holders and e-passports from the US (Global Entry only), South Korea, Australia, Italy, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand after enrolling once; Japan and most of Europe use staffed lines; no TWAC means no inspection until you file it on your phone. 3 Customs: green channel for nothing to declare, red to declare; declare over NT$100,000, US$10,000 in foreign cash, RMB 20,000, US$20,000 in gold or US$10,000 in securities; duty-free 200 cigarettes or 25 cigars for adults 20 and over, 1.5 litres of alcohol and NT$35,000 of other goods; fresh fruit banned, medicine capped at 12 packs; pork from African swine fever countries fined NT$200,000 the first time and NT$1,000,000 after, with refused entry if unpaid; e-cigarettes banned. 4 Leaving the airport: Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone counters for SIM cards and eSIMs, bank exchange counters, then the Taoyuan Airport MRT, buses or taxis. Paper arrival cards ended on 1 October 2025.

Customs: what to declare, what is duty-free, what gets fined

After the belts there are two channels. Green is a legal statement that you have nothing to declare, and anything found later is treated as smuggling. Red is for anything over the limits or restricted. Taipei Customs' thresholds, updated September 2026: more than NT$100,000 in Taiwan dollars, more than US$10,000 in foreign currency (Hong Kong and Macau money included), more than RMB 20,000, gold over US$20,000 or securities over US$10,000 face value. Foreign cash left undeclared (Hong Kong and Macau money included) is confiscated above the limit, and undeclared gold or securities draw a fine equal to the excess. Duty-free for adults: 200 cigarettes or 25 cigars or 1 pound of tobacco (age 20 and over), 1.5 litres of alcohol (age 18 and over), and other personal goods up to NT$35,000. Fresh fruit is banned outright, and over-the-counter medicine is capped at 12 packs per kind.

After customs: the first ten minutes

Both Taoyuan arrival halls have the three telecom counters (Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile, Far EasTone) for tourist SIMs and eSIMs, bank counters for changing money, and bilingual signs to the Taoyuan Airport MRT (桃園機場捷運), the bus bays and the taxi rank. Sort the SIM first: the MRT ticket machines and bus counters are easier with a working phone.

Taipei: plan your first days with our destination guide

Kaohsiung: the southern gateway if you fly into KHH instead

• Entry rules