Deluge of post-pandemic passport renewals hits Bureau of Consular Affairs

2022-07-26

A trickle of passport applications is growing into a deluge. As borders open, and it gets easier to travel abroad, more and more people want their passports renewed. There’’s a backlog of people who let their passport expire in the pandemic. In the first half of this year, the same number was renewed as in all of 2021.

The ultimate travel essential is a passport. In the last two years, almost 2.6 million Taiwanese passports expired. With borders closed, their owners didn’t bother to renew them. Now as the end of COVID looms on the horizon, the Bureau of Consular Affairs is getting a growing stream of renewal applications.

Member of public
I’m getting my mother-in-law’s passport renewed. I did my own in May or June. I think there are many more people here today.

Member of public
I wanted to get mine done in advance, to save trouble later. There’s still two years until it expires.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says 1.74 million people renewed their passport in 2019, before the pandemic began. In 2020, just 310,000 passports were renewed – in 2021, just 230,000. In the first seven months of this year, about the same number of people already got their passport renewed. This July, there were 180% more renewals than in July 2021.

Member of public
I couldn’t come back before, because of the pandemic. Then my passport expired. So now I’m back and getting my passport done again.

Member of public
I was preparing to buy plane tickets when I realized it had expired, so I came straight here to get an extension.

And getting a new passport requires supporting documents. Some photo studio owners say their business has mushroomed 20%, with many customers needing a rush service.

Chiang Yu-tsan
Photo studio
Some people are in a rush because they want to go on vacation this summer. Mostly it’s people going to Korea, or Thailand. Some have come back from Canada or the U.S. and need supporting documentation.

Many countries are opening their borders again and travel is booming. If you’re planning a getaway, make sure your passport won’t be a stumbling block.

2年達260萬人護照到期未換發近期辦理人數增

2022-07-26

暑假到來，加上各國邊境鬆綁，陸續有民眾要出國旅遊，開始安排行程才發現護照過期了。外交部領事局統計，這兩年有260萬人護照到期卻沒換發，直到近期才要辦理，7月截至22號就有4萬2千多人要換發護照，比去年同期多了180%，就連拍證件照的相館生意，這兩個月也變好兩成以上。

出國必備的護照，在過去兩年，有將近260萬人即便過期了，卻因為用不到遲遲沒有更換，直到近期，外交部領事局才陸續湧現換發潮。

[[民眾]]
"幫婆婆換。五六月我自己有來換，我覺得跟這次比，我覺得(今天)人多蠻多的。"

[[民眾]]
“我就是想說提早換，免得之後麻煩。(效期還有多久)還有兩年。”

根據外交部統計，疫情前2019年有174萬人要換發護照，2020年掉到剩31萬多，2021年則是23萬多件，不過今年截至7/22的申辦量就回升到23萬多件，單以7月來看，更比2021年同期成長約180%。

[[民眾]]
“因為我之前疫情回不來，然後我護照過期了，我就回來再重新辦護照。”

[[民眾]]
“已經準備要買機票，才發現過期了，所以馬上過來辦加期。”

至於辦護照要交的證件照，近期有業者單量就多出兩成以上，不少還是急件。

[[相館業者江有讚]]
“急著暑假就要出國玩的也有，主要是以要去韓國、要去泰國的為主，有一些是從加拿大、美國回來的，要補辦證件的也有。”

隨著各國邊境鬆綁，疫後出遊潮浮現，提醒民眾務必提早確認護照效期，免得耽誤行程。