Taiwan allows entry of foreign professors, scholars

Foreign professors, researchers and scholars recruited by universities in Taiwan and the government are now being allowed to enter, according to the Ministry of Education (MOE).

Taiwan opened its borders to those groups of foreign nationals on Tuesday, ahead of the start of the new school year in September, the MOE said in a statement Monday.

As part of Taiwan's COVID-19 control measures, its borders have been closed since January 2020 to non-nationals, except for those who have residency or special permission to enter.

In its statement Monday, the MOE said that with effect from Aug. 17, foreign professors and researchers hired by Taiwan universities, as well as recipients of the MOE's Yushan Scholar Program and the Ministry of Science and Technology's Einstein and Columbus programs, would be permitted to enter the country.

Foreign scholars and/or researchers recruited by other government units and those hired to help implement Taiwan's 2030 Bilingual Nation plan are also included, according to the MOE.

It said the employers and universities are responsible for arranging ground transportation and quarantine for their foreign recruits on arrival.

Like all other arrivals, the foreign nationals are required to present a negative PCR test that is no more than three days old, and they must quarantine for 14 days at a government facility or designated hotel then practice self-health management for another seven days, the ministry said.

Those who are coming from countries deemed as high-risk for COVID-19 can only be quarantined at a government center, the MOE said.

Currently, there are eight countries on Taiwan's high-risk list, namely Myanmar, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Peru, India, Bangladesh and Israel.

Meanwhile, a proposal to allow the entry of 13,000 international students enrolled in Taiwanese schools has been submitted to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) for approval, the MOE said.