- Taiwan is addressing visa processing delays for Vietnamese students caused by new diploma requirements for the Fall 2026 semester.
- A rule change now requires official graduation diplomas instead of temporary certificates, clashing with Vietnamese issuance timelines.
- Taiwanese universities will meet with the Ministry of Education next week to find solutions before enrollment deadlines pass.
Taiwan moved Tuesday to address visa delays hitting Vietnamese students before the upcoming Fall 2026 semester, after a new rule began requiring official graduation diplomas instead of the temporary certificates that had worked before. The paperwork change collided with Vietnamese issuance timelines and early August enrollment deadlines at many Taiwanese universities. The clock is tight.
Lam Wei-Chih, who heads the education division at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Ho Chi Minh City, said Tuesday, August 4, that the problem had been formally reported to Taiwan’s central authorities. He said the office had already taken the issue up the chain.
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"The authority of foreign affairs has decided to accept only official graduation diplomas. The education agency will invite the foreign affairs authority to discuss possible solutions,"
Lam tied the delays to a rule from the foreign affairs authority that now accepts only official diplomas. Under Vietnamese law, those papers often do not come out until 30 days after the graduation decision. That gap can swallow the admission window. No school can wait forever.
He also said Vietnamese authorities could speed up the list of students who need the documents, a step that would help the process move faster. The education agency will invite the foreign affairs authority to discuss possible solutions, he said. The next talks are close.
Enrollment clocks are outrunning the paperwork
Vietnam is currently Taiwan’s largest source of international students, with 52,974 enrolled as of late 2025, nearly 34% more than the year before. Those students account for 30% of Taiwan’s international student body. The scale is hard to miss.
That makes the current bottleneck larger than a routine consular delay. A rule that shifts the paperwork line by even a few weeks can reach a huge share of the foreign-student pipeline. The university calendar leaves little slack.
Several Taiwanese universities are scheduled to meet with the Taiwan Ministry of Education next week, in mid-August 2026, to raise their concerns. The schools want the ministry to hear how the new document rule collides with admissions deadlines. Time is running out.
The pressure is highest for students trying to enter for the fall term. If the required diploma does not arrive in time, enrollment can slip. Some students may have to defer their studies.
The ministry meeting comes next week
The next checkpoint comes when the universities sit down with the ministry in mid-August 2026. That meeting will show whether Taiwan can produce a fix before the fall intake closes. The calendar does not wait.
If officials find a way forward, the problem may ease before classes begin. If not, the same document rule will keep slowing files as the semester starts. The bottleneck is still there.
