TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Straits Exchange Foundation is seeing a surge of requests for information from Chinese spouses about their household status, reports said Friday.

The National Immigration Agency required that Chinese spouses who had not submitted proof of renunciation of their household registration in China do so within three months or forfeit their Taiwanese household registration. The notarized proof needed to be certified by the Straits Exchange Foundation.

As an estimated 12,000 spouses still had to come up with the required documents, the foundation had been flooded by phone calls and visits, per CNA. Some spouses did not have their calls answered, so they decided to head for the foundation service center in person.

The law requiring spouses to give up their Chinese household registration came into effect in 2004, but some said they had never paid much attention to the rules as they had already been married and living in Taiwan for a decade before. They also voiced fears that it would be impossible for them to complete the necessary procedures within three months.

After the number of requests peaked following the four-day Tomb Sweeping holiday, the foundation increased the number of staff handling the applicants. The service had also prepared explanations of the procedures on its website.