TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's National Immigration Agency (NIA) on Monday (Sept. 14) announced that it will provide another 30-day extension to foreigners who arrived on or before March 21, as the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage many of their home countries.

On Monday, the NIA on its official website announced that as the "state of the global pandemic is still grim," it will be giving its third 30-day extension to foreign nationals who entered Taiwan on or before March 21 of this year on the condition that they have overstayed their allowed duration prior to receiving extensions.

The NIA emphasized that in order to lessen the movement of people across borders and reduce the "burden of epidemic prevention on local neighborhoods," foreign citizens permitted to stay for 180 days or longer were given automatic 30-day extensions on July 17 and Aug. 14. This marks the third extension granted by the NIA.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also gave a 30-day extension on March 21, April 17, May 18, and June 15. All told, Taiwanese government agencies have issued a total of seven visa extensions for foreigners since the pandemic began.

Foreigners who have already exceeded the number of days they were allowed to stay under their initial entry visa must depart immediately. The NIA lists several scenarios on the Q&A section of its website explaining which foreign citizens are eligible for the latest extension and which are not.