Dummy Ticket for Taiwan Visa: What the TECC and BOCA Ask For

Taiwan is one of the few places in Asia where the paperwork for Indian travellers is written down plainly, and the flight rules are stricter than most people expect. There are two doors in. The first is the online Travel Authorization Certificate, open to Indians who already hold certain foreign visas or residence permits. The second is a regular visitor visa through the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) in India. Each door has its own flight wording, and they are not the same. This guide quotes both, explains what happens at check-in and at Taoyuan, and tells you honestly where a held reservation helps and where it falls short.

Taiwan entry for Indian passport holders: key facts

Do Indians need a visa for Taiwan?

Yes, in one form or another. India is not on Taiwan's visa-exempt list, which is mostly made up of countries such as Japan, the UK, Canada and the Schengen states.^[3] So an Indian passport holder chooses between the Travel Authorization Certificate and a full visitor visa.

The certificate is the quicker route if you qualify. The Bureau of Consular Affairs (BOCA) runs it online through the National Immigration Agency's portal. You qualify if you hold a valid visa or resident card from one of the listed countries. A visa from those countries that expired less than 10 years before your arrival can also count, as can an earlier Taiwan visa or resident certificate under the conditions BOCA sets out. Stamps reading VOID or CANCELLED disqualify a visa. And anyone who has worked in Taiwan as a blue-collar worker is not eligible.^[1]

Say you have a US B1/B2 visa valid until 2029. You are a textbook case for the certificate. If your only foreign visa is an old Thai one, you are not, and you apply for a visitor visa instead.

BOCA also runs an eVisa, but for Indians it is limited to specific cases, such as group tours run by travel agencies the Taiwan tourism authority has designated, and some business visits recommended by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council.^[4] An independent tourist from Mumbai will normally not fit either.

What documents does the TECC visitor visa checklist ask for?

The TECC page for Indian passport holders lists the tourism documents one by one. You fill in the online application at the BOCA visa website, print and sign it, then hand it in with:^[2]

• Your current passport, plus old passports, with at least six months' validity from the intended date of entry.
• Two passport-size photos on a white background.
• A covering letter giving the purpose, your designation and the intended length of stay, plus a tentative travel itinerary.
• A confirmed hotel booking in Taiwan.
• A personal bank letter covering the last three months, sealed and signed by the bank.
• "Confirmed round-trip air tickets".

The same page warns that further documents or an interview may be requested case by case.^[2] On fees, the Chennai office's published schedule (announced November 2023) lists a single-entry visitor visa at USD 50, charged in rupees, with a surcharge for express service.^[5] Fees are revised from time to time, so check the current schedule of the office that covers your state before you prepare payment.

What exactly do the official pages say about flights?

This is where Taiwan differs from a Schengen file. Read the two wordings side by side:

• Travel Authorization Certificate (BOCA): "The applicant must possess an onward/return air or boat ticket." It adds that you must present the certificate and the required documents on entry, and that "Entry will be denied if the required documents are not produced."^[1]
• Visitor visa (TECC India): "Confirmed round-trip air tickets".^[2]
• Visa-exempt nationals (BOCA, for comparison): "A confirmed return air/sea ticket or air/sea ticket and a visa for the next destination, and a confirmed seat reservation for departure flight."^[3]

Notice the word "confirmed". None of these pages says "reservation is fine" or "do not buy before the visa", the way some Schengen consulates do. We would read the TECC line as asking for a ticket that is booked and confirmed, not merely held.

Will anyone check your return ticket at check-in or at Taoyuan?

Expect two checks. The first is at the airline counter in India or at your transit hub. Airlines look up entry rules in IATA's Timatic database before boarding a passenger, because carrying someone who is refused entry costs them money.^[8] If you are on the certificate, the agent will usually want to see the printed certificate and your way out of Taiwan.

The second check is at immigration in Taiwan. BOCA states plainly that certificate holders must show the required documents when they arrive, and entry is denied without them.^[1] In practice that means your qualifying foreign visa or resident card, your passport, and a return or onward ticket. Bring the qualifying visa itself, in the passport where it sits. If it is an e-visa, BOCA says it must be printed.^[1]

Fill in the online Taiwan Arrival Card before you land. The National Immigration Agency moved fully to the online TWAC on 1 October 2025, and you can submit it within three days before arrival at twac.immigration.gov.tw.^[6]

Certificate or visitor visa: which route fits you?

When does a flight reservation make sense for Taiwan?

Reservations are our trade, yet for Taiwan they often fall short, and we'd rather you heard that from us than from a check-in agent. Here is where a reservation can still be useful:

• Drafting your itinerary. While you are still shaping the covering letter and the day plan, a reservation fixes dates and flight numbers so every document lines up.
• Another embassy wants to see Taiwan on paper. If you are applying for, say, a Japan or Schengen visa and Taipei is one stop on a longer trip, that consulate may be happy with a reservation for the Taiwan leg.
• The TECC office tells you a reservation is enough. Offices sometimes clarify their own lists. If yours does, in writing, follow its answer.

And here is where it does not fit: arriving in Taiwan on the certificate. Immigration can ask for your way out, and the airline can too. A reservation that has quietly lapsed by the time you fly is no help. Buy the real return ticket once your certificate is approved.

If you do use a reservation, describe it honestly as a flight reservation in your covering letter. Never call it a ticket.

Routes, transit hubs and the visas you need on the way

Most Indian travellers reach Taipei Taoyuan with one connection, through hubs such as Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong or Kuala Lumpur. Schedules change by season, so check the airlines directly rather than relying on any list. The point that catches people is the transit country. Staying airside on a through ticket is one thing; collecting bags, changing terminals on separate bookings or staying overnight can mean you need permission to enter that country.

Take a simple example. You book Chennai to Bangkok on one airline and Bangkok to Taipei on another, on separate tickets. You will probably have to pass Thai immigration to collect your bag and check in again, which makes Thailand's own entry rules relevant. One through booking avoids that. Our guides on transit and layover rules and the transit visa explain how to spot this in advance.

If Taiwan is one leg of a wider Asia trip, look at the neighbouring guides too: Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Thailand.

How to apply for the Taiwan visitor visa, step by step

1. Check the certificate first. If you hold a qualifying foreign visa or resident card, apply for the Travel Authorization Certificate online and skip the TECC visit.^[1]
2. Fill in the online application at the BOCA visa website, then print and sign it.^[2][7]
3. Book your stay. The checklist asks for a confirmed hotel booking in Taiwan.
4. Sort the flights. The wording is "confirmed round-trip air tickets". Buy a refundable or changeable fare, or check with the TECC office before relying on anything less.
5. Get the bank letter for the last three months with the bank's seal and signature.
6. Write the covering letter with purpose, designation, length of stay and a tentative itinerary.
7. Submit at the TECC office that covers your area, with the fee in the form that office asks for.
8. Before flying, fill in the online Taiwan Arrival Card within three days of arrival.^[6]

Small errors that sink Taiwan applications

• Assuming any foreign visa qualifies. Only the listed countries count for the certificate, and VOID or CANCELLED stamps do not.
• Leaving the qualifying visa at home. It is checked on arrival, so it travels with you.
• Dates out of step. Hotel nights, flight dates and the covering letter should tell the same story.
• A stay over 30 days on the certificate. The limit counts from the day after you land.
• Calling a reservation a ticket. Describe documents for what they are.
• Forgetting the arrival card. The online TWAC replaced paper cards in October 2025.

If you do need a reservation, what it costs and how it works

Where a reservation really is the right paper, ours carries a working airline PNR under your passport name. Type that six-character code and your surname into the carrier's own booking lookup and the itinerary appears. No fare is paid, so it is not a boarding document.

Pricing is flat per traveller: a single leg and a there-and-back trip cost the same, while a route with several stops is charged for every two segments. Most orders reach your inbox inside ten minutes or so. Razorpay handles payment, whether by UPI, card or netbanking. Holds last up to a fortnight, but each carrier sets its own limit, so order a day or two before the appointment. Progress shows on order tracking, and currencies are listed under dummy ticket price.

Before you submit anything, run the checks in how to verify a dummy ticket. Weighing a hold against a refundable fare? Read flight reservation for visa. Hotels can be arranged too through hotel booking for visa, though for the TECC visa you will want a confirmed stay.

Taiwan visa and flight ticket FAQ

Sources

All sources last checked: October 2026.

1. Bureau of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Taiwan), Online Application for R.O.C. (Taiwan) Travel Authorization Certificate.
2. Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in Chennai, Visa application and document authentication requirements for Indian passport holders.
3. Bureau of Consular Affairs (Taiwan), Visa-exempt entry: eligible countries and requirements (updated 17 July 2026).
4. Bureau of Consular Affairs (Taiwan), Who is eligible for an eVisa?
5. Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in Chennai, Consular fees schedule (announced 7 November 2023).
6. National Immigration Agency (Taiwan), Complete the Taiwan Arrival Card (TWAC) online from 1 October 2025.
7. Bureau of Consular Affairs (Taiwan), Online visa application system.
8. IATA, Timatic: travel document requirements used by airlines.