文/境外生權益小組
近日，境外生權益小組收到兩位來自西非國家境外生的求助。他們都曾嘗試前往西非地區唯一的台灣駐外館處——「駐奈及利亞聯邦共和國臺北貿易辦事處」申請簽證。但無奈的是，因為疫情，2020年大部分時間該辦事處都處於關閉狀態。而在今年2月辦事處重新開放後，他們仍然無法預約簽證申請，眼看就要錯過學校規定的來台日期。
在境外生權益小組與其所屬國家外交人員的幫助下，其中一位同學花了數週時間才獲得奈及利亞台灣辦事處的回應。而另一位來自迦納的同學Lucy Adowah（影片為當事人）則至今都無法申請簽證。她在去年11月特地前往奈及利亞，在當地旅館節衣縮食苦等卻得不到有效的回覆，只好延後到今年春季（影片中口誤為秋季）入學。今年她又再次寫信、打電話詢問奈及利亞的台灣辦事處，卻依然無法收到回覆。一封封信石沈大海，不知來台唸書的希望究竟能否實現。
疫情下，大部分國家都封鎖邊界，拒絕短期訪客入境，但是因為台灣在非洲、亞西等地區僅有少數國家設有台灣辦事處，許多境外生都必須前往第三國申請簽證。申請的過程，對於許多本國沒有台灣外館的境外生來說是一種耗費時間、精力與金錢，卻又不一定獲得回覆的辛苦經歷。除了兩位非洲國家境外生外，境外生權益小組還瞭解到，不少巴基斯坦學生因為周邊國家都禁止短期訪客入境，到現在都無法找到合適的第三國申請簽證。Lucy Adowah和很多其他類似處境的同學，恐怕將因此延誤入學時間，一再延後入學時程。這不僅耽誤境外生的人生安排，對於台灣高等教育（尤其是研究領域）來說也是巨大的損失。因為大部分遭遇此困境的學生都是來台攻讀碩博士班，他們原本現在應投身於學術研究中，卻只能無奈地在本國苦等簽證申請，被未來的不確定性所折磨。
我們認為，考慮到疫情下邊境移動的困難和境外生經由教育部專案來台的特殊性。外交部領事局及相關駐外館處應提供境外生線上申請簽證或准許學生委託當地朋友代為遞交材料申請簽證，因應疫情改善整個申請流程，提供必要的便利。此外，對於奈及利亞辦事處拖延、不回應境外生簽證申請一事，我們也感到非常困惑與不解。希望外交部和奈及利亞辦事處可以給出一個合理的解釋，並按照正常流程回覆學生的簽證申請預約。
疫情之下，許多原本可行的流程開始出現問題，在境外生的簽證申請中，是學生單方面承受這些問題所造成的損失和傷害，我們認為學生的困境也應該被顧及。而修改相應行政流程對於外交部來說應該不是難事，我們希望教育部國際及兩岸教育司和外交部能夠設身處地考慮境外生處境，協助改善本國無台灣辦事處境外生的簽證申請流程。
International Students From Ghana have been unable to apply for visas after six months of continuous communication; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should improve the visa application process under the epidemic
Recently, Taiwan International Students Movement received requests for help from two international students from West African countries. They both tried to apply for visas at the only Taiwanese embassy in West Africa, the Taipei Trade Office in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Unfortunately, due to the epidemic, the office was closed for most of 2020. When the office reopened in February of this year, they were still unable to make an appointment to apply for a visa, and were about to miss their school’s scheduled arrival date.
It took several weeks for one of the students to get a response from the Taiwan office in Nigeria, with the help of TISM and diplomats from home country. Another student from Cana, Lucy Adowah (video), has been unable to apply for a visa. She traveled to Nigeria last November and waited in a hotel starving, but not got an effective response, so she deferred her admission time to this spring. This year, she wrote and called the Taiwan office in Nigeria again, but still could not receive a reply. The letters have gone unanswered, and she don’t know if her hope of coming to Taiwan to study will ever come true.
Under the epidemic, most countries have closed their borders to short-term visitors, but because Taiwan has offices in only a few countries in Africa and Western Asia, many foreign students must travel to a third country to apply for a visa. The application process is a time-consuming, expensive, and costly experience for many international students who do not have a Taiwan embassy in their home country, but do not always receive a response. Lucy Adowah and many other students in similar situations are afraid that this will delay their enrollment in school and delay their entry. This not only delays the life of foreign students, but also represents a huge loss to Taiwan’s higher education (especially in the field of research). Most of the students in this predicament came to Taiwan to pursue their master’s and doctoral programs, and they should be engaged in academic research now, but they have to wait helplessly in their home countries for their visa applications, tormented by the uncertainty of future.
We believe that, considering the difficulties of border movement under the epidemic and the special nature of international students coming to Taiwan through the Ministry of Education’s program, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Bureau of Consular Affairs and the relevant agencies should be aware of the difficulties. The Consular Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the relevant embassies abroad should provide online visa applications for foreign students or allow students to ask their local friends to submit their visa applications on their behalf, and improve the entire application process to provide the necessary convenience in light of the epidemic. In addition, we are very confused and puzzled by the delay and lack of response from the Nigeria Office to the visa applications of international students. We hope that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nigeria Office will provide a reasonable explanation and respond to students’ visa appointments according to the normal process.
In the case of visa applications for foreign students, it is the students who unilaterally suffer the losses and harm caused by these problems, and we believe that the students’ plight should be taken into account. We hope that the Department of International Education of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will put themselves in the shoes of foreign students and help improve the visa application process for foreign students who do not have a Taiwan office in their home country.
