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Currently I'm living in Singapore as a permanent resident and I hold a South Korean passport.

My passport is expiring in the mid of August 2019 but I'm traveling to Taipei at the end of February 2019 for 3 days only.

I have called Taiwan representative office in Singapore and inquired about my situation. Their response was that it's OK as long as I apply for a visa at their office and I can do so if my passport validity is more than 3 months.

So I did and now I have a visitor visa that's valid for 14 days starting the next day of my arrival.

My concern is, no matter how much I Google it, they all say that a minimum of 6 months of passport validity is required to enter Taiwan.

The airline not allowing me to board is another issue, but will I be able to enter Taiwan?

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  • The visa will override the validity of passport (AFAIK). The main problem it is the airline: they will not risk, so we need to know what it written IATA. I just checked, and it allows you, conditionally (but the site misses the details). Go to iata.org/publications/Pages/travel-documentation.aspx
    – Giacomo Catenazzi
    Commented Feb 20, 2019 at 14:00
  • @ChrisH: I really saw the "conditionally" (and with the documents as listed below), but without anything below. I think the OP should do it for his case (it seems that it depends on some conditions we assumed differently). For the first part: what the consulate told to OP.
    – Giacomo Catenazzi
    Commented Feb 21, 2019 at 9:11
  • I actually flew today without any issue. Even the lady at the ticketing counter say that visa overrides 6 months validity. (but please do take note that it depends on the airlines and the ground staff you talk tk)
    – joki
    Commented Feb 21, 2019 at 12:06

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Here's the information from Timatic, the database which airlines use to verify travelers' documents.

Passport required.

  • Passports and other documents accepted for entry must be valid for a minimum of 6 months from the arrival date.

You will probably be denied boarding based on this information.

Visa required, except for Nationals of Korea (Rep.) for a maximum stay of 90 days.

Strangely, it says that you didn't need the visa anyway.

Nothing is mentioned about the 6-month validity requirement being waived for visa holders.

It is possible for Timatic to have incorrect or incomplete information. You would have to convince the check-in agent to verify with the Taiwan immigration authorities, and they will not want to do that because it may take hours, or not even be possible at all.

It's also possible that the check-in agent will not notice that it is slightly less than 6 months to expiry, and board you anyway. But it is a risk that you take.

If it were me, I would renew the passport urgently, if possible.

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