2020年1月武漢肺炎疫情爆發以來,許多國家對入境嚴格審查,為避免中華民國護照遭誤認為來自中國,影響持照人旅外權益與便利性,外交部爰於2021年1月11日發行新版晶片護照,調整護照封面設計。新版晶片護照封面,將英文國名「REPUBLIC OF CHINA」環繞於國徽外圍,並放大「TAIWAN」字樣,進一步提升護照封面的「台灣」辨識度,至護照內頁及防偽設計則維持不變(圖一)。
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020, countries around the world have tightened border controls. To prevent holders of Republic of China (Taiwan) passports from being mistaken for citizens of the People’s Republic of China, and to protect their rights and minimize inconvenience during overseas travel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is scheduled to issue a newly designed R.O.C. (Taiwan) e-passport from January 11, 2021. As part of the new passport design, the official English name of “REPUBLIC OF CHINA” encircles the national emblem and the font size of “TAIWAN” is enlarged, making the “Taiwan passport” further identifiable. The interior pages and the security features remain the same (Image 1).
Previous versions of e-passports issued by MOFA (Image 2) and chipless, machine-readable short-term emergency passports issued by R.O.C. overseas missions (Image 3) will remain valid until their expiry dates.