TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Due to the significant increase in Taiwanese passport applications, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) will add a second production line capable of producing up to 4,000 extra passports per day.

Bureau of Consular Affairs Director-General Calvin Chen-Huan Ho (何震寰) said on Monday (April 10) that the Taipei office currently receives an average of 9,000-10,000 new passport applications per day, but staff can only process about 6,000 of them, per CNA. Ho said that the workload can be managed in the short term, but the second production line will keep up with future demand.

The new production line is expected to be operational by mid-April, fully making up for the current lack of capacity. Due to the equipment’s highly specialized nature, there have been long wait times for the new machines, Ho added.