Vietnamese students bound for Taiwan risk missing their enrollment dates after Taipei’s representative offices began requiring full high school diplomas for student visas.
Several parents in Ho Chi Minh City told VnExpress their children had been refused visas despite holding admission letters and enrollment notices from Taiwanese universities.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City said in a recent notice that from the 2026 academic year it will accept applications only from candidates holding an official diploma.
It cited instructions from Taiwan’s foreign affairs authority and its own education division, and Vietnam’s decision to stop issuing the provisional graduation certificate applicants previously used while waiting for their diplomas.
Applicants could previously submit either an official diploma or the provisional certificate.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training made that change in Circular 13/2026, signed March 9 and effective April 24. It merged the provisional certificate and the separate exam results certificate into one document, the certificate of exam results, issued by the school where the student sat the exam.
Schools must now issue the diploma within 30 days of the student receiving that certificate.
“They have less than a month before they need to be there to enroll. I hope all sides resolve this soon, because it is not the students’ fault,” one parent said.
Lam Vi Chi, head of the education division and education counselor at TECO in Ho Chi Minh City, confirmed to VnExpress that many Vietnamese students were struggling with the visa process, without giving a figure.
Visa policy falls to Taiwan’s foreign affairs authority, which set the requirement and then informed the education authority, he said. If Vietnamese schools are still issuing provisional certificates, he added, the education ministry would need to tell both TECO offices in writing.
Source: VN Express