§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the present procedures for the issuing of entry visas to citizens of Taiwan; for what reason a separate declaration of identity is required; and whether he has this system under review.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydVisas for citizens of Taiwan are issued on form GV3 "Declaration of Identity for Visa Purposes".
Declarations of identity are used because we do not recognise Taiwan as a state. We cannot therefore recognise passports issued by the "Republic of China", so the visa is stamped on a separate piece of paper rather than into the passport itself. This is inescapable for legal reasons. We have recently revised the format of the GV3 to make it as convenient as possible for the traveller.
The visa handling unit of the British Trade and Cultural Office in Taipei provides a quick and efficient 24-hour service. We do not believe that the visa- issuing process discourages travellers, of whom there were nearly 52,000 in 1993.