According to previous information from the Taiwan Tourism Administration, a group of 153 Vietnamese tourists went missing after entering Kaohsiung on December 21 and 23 under tourist visas.
On December 25, representatives of the Taiwan National Immigration Agency (NIA) mobilized a task force to search for the Vietnamese tourists who were on the run. Once found, the tourists will be deported for violating the Immigration Law and will not be able to enter Taiwan for a certain period of time, according to the NIA.
The 152 tourists were part of a group of 153 people who traveled to Taiwan in four groups. The itinerary was arranged by a Vietnamese travel agency. The Taiwanese diplomatic agency has canceled the visas of the 152 people and canceled the visa applications of 182 other Vietnamese tourists who were scheduled to travel to Taiwan.
This incident has caused the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to decide to stop issuing visas to delegations from Vietnam, even though this has always been the place they aim to establish close relations and want to attract more tourists.
This visa project has been implemented since 2015, allowing groups of at least 5 people to apply for a visa without having to prove their financial situation.
In the past three years, before the incident, the Taiwan Immigration Bureau said that about 150 tourists had been reported missing upon entering the country. The recent case of 152 missing people is the largest number of tourists reported missing since the visa program began in 2015.
