| Verified against primary record | |
| Entry route | Visitor visa for medical treatment purposes[1] |
|---|---|
| Central requirement | A diagnosis and treatment recommendation letter from a Taiwanese medical institution, naming the patient and tentative stay[1] |
| Financial requirement | Bank statement over USD 30,000, or a payment plan approved by the Taiwanese institution[1] |
| Accompanying persons | Up to two relatives within the third degree, plus up to two medical personnel if necessary[1] |
| Urgent cases | Taiwanese institutions may themselves initiate applications with the consular bureau[1] |
| Pandemic-period rule, from 1 August 2020 | A health ministry treatment permit was required, and non-urgent needs such as examinations and aesthetic medicine were excluded[2] |
| Independently reported | |
| Taiwan residents among foreign patients in South Korea (2025) | 9.2 per cent of 2.01 million[3] |
| Bands apply only to the rows beneath them. The requirement sheet consulted was issued by a Taiwanese representative office serving applicants in the Philippines, so several listed documents are specific to that country and the sheet should not be read as the universal document list. The August 2020 rule was a pandemic control measure and is not the standing regime. No official Taiwanese count of foreign patients was located. No typical cost range is given because no official Taiwanese source publishes prices paid by foreign patients. | |
Medical tourism in Taiwan operates through a visitor visa granted for medical treatment, and the distinguishing feature of the Taiwanese route is that the treating hospital, not the patient, supplies the document on which the application turns. A Taiwanese medical institution must issue a diagnosis and treatment recommendation letter naming the patient and the expected length of stay, and institutions can initiate applications directly in urgent cases. No official Taiwanese count of foreign patients was located for this article.
The medical treatment visa
Taiwan issues a visitor visa for medical treatment purposes. On a requirement sheet updated on 7 March 2025, the application calls for a printed and signed online application form with a readable barcode, two passport-size photographs, a passport valid for at least six months beyond entry with blank pages, a diagnosis statement from a medical institution in the applicant’s own country, a diagnosis and treatment recommendation letter from a Taiwanese hospital or medical institution stating the patient’s name and tentative stay period, and evidence of funds.[1]
The financial test is specific: either a bank statement showing more than 30,000 United States dollars, or a payment plan approved by the Taiwanese medical institution. The alternative of an approved payment plan is notable, because it allows the treating institution rather than the applicant’s bank balance to satisfy the requirement.[1]
Accompanying persons are permitted and defined by relationship: family dependents, a spouse, or relatives within the third degree, up to two people, together with up to two accompanying medical personnel from the applicant’s country of residence where necessary. A relationship certificate and, for accompanying clinical staff, a medical staff assignment certificate are required.[1]
The sheet records no fixed maximum stay. The only stated limit is the tentative staying period given in the Taiwanese institution’s letter, which again places the hospital at the centre of the process. For urgent cases, Taiwanese medical institutions can initiate applications with the Bureau of Consular Affairs rather than waiting for the patient to apply.[1]
The sheet consulted was published by a Taiwanese representative office serving applicants holding Philippine passports, and several of its listed documents, including civil registry birth and marriage certificates, are specific to that jurisdiction. The structural requirements described above, and in particular the Taiwanese institution’s letter and the financial test, are the general features; the precise document list varies by country of application.[1]
The pandemic regime and what it revealed
From 1 August 2020 Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center allowed foreign nationals to enter for medical treatment under tighter conditions. A patient first required a medical treatment permit, applied for through a Taiwanese medical institution to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, before a medical visa could be sought.[2]
The scope was narrowed to what the announcement called special medical patients, such as those needing transplant operations, cancer treatment or reproductive drugs, or those with diseases approved by the central authority. It expressly did not apply to non-urgent medical needs such as medical examinations and aesthetic medicine. Hospitals had to submit a quarantine plan and a medical plan to the ministry, and arrange treatment in a special or isolation ward in emergencies.[2]
Applicants had to show health insurance worth over 30,000 United States dollars or financial documents, and sign a statement agreeing to follow quarantine rules and to cover quarantine, inspection and medical costs. A fourteen-day quarantine applied on arrival with a further test at its end, alongside a negative pre-departure test. Up to two assistants were permitted, limited to a defined list of relatives, with one medical staff member or nurse added if needed.[2]
This was a temporary control measure rather than the standing rule, and it should not be cited as current practice. It is informative for a different reason: by distinguishing transplant, cancer and fertility treatment from examinations and aesthetic medicine, and admitting only the former, it shows which parts of Taiwan’s inbound medical activity the government treated as essential and which it was prepared to suspend.[2]
Taiwanese patients abroad
Taiwan’s outbound flow is recorded by at least one destination. On figures the South Korean health ministry released in April 2026, Taiwan accounted for 9.2 per cent of the 2.01 million foreign patients treated in Korea in 2025, the third largest nationality after China and Japan. More than 62 per cent of that Korean caseload was dermatology.[3]
That is a share of a Korean total and reflects one destination only. It is not a measure of Taiwanese outbound medical travel overall.
Limits of the evidence
This entry documents an entry route, not a market. No Taiwanese statistic on the number of foreign patients treated in Taiwan, their nationalities, their treatments or their spending was located, and none has been estimated. The visa requirements are taken from a single country-specific requirement sheet, so the document list should be checked against the office handling a given application. The pandemic-period rules are included as a historical measure and are labelled as such. Any figure circulating as Taiwan’s medical tourism volume should be traced to a named Taiwanese official source before it is relied on.
See also
- Medical tourism in South Korea, whose statutory count records the Taiwanese outbound flow
- Clinical referral, the function the Taiwanese institution’s letter performs
- Companions in medical travel, limited here to relatives within the third degree
- Transplant tourism, among the categories admitted under the pandemic rules
- Health screening abroad, among the categories excluded under those rules
References
- Taipei Economic and Cultural Office. Visitor Visa for Medical Treatment Purpose. Updated 7 March 2025. Verified against primary record: the requirement sheet was opened and the document list, the requirement for a diagnosis and treatment recommendation letter from a Taiwanese institution stating the tentative stay, the financial test of a bank statement over 30,000 United States dollars or an institution-approved payment plan, the limits on accompanying relatives and medical personnel, the absence of a stated maximum stay, and the provision for institutions to initiate urgent applications were read directly. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
- Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, reproducing the Central Epidemic Command Center announcement. Starting from August 1, Taiwan to conditionally allow foreign nationals to receive medical treatment in Taiwan. Effective 1 August 2020. Verified against primary record: the announcement was opened and the requirement for a Ministry of Health and Welfare treatment permit applied for through a Taiwanese institution, the categories of special medical patients admitted, the express exclusion of non-urgent needs including examinations and aesthetic medicine, the hospital quarantine and medical plan duties, the insurance and financial conditions, the quarantine and testing requirements and the limits on accompanying persons were read directly. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
- Korea JoongAng Daily. Number of foreign patients top 2 million for first time in 2025. Reporting figures released by the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare on 24 April 2026. Independently reported: the article was opened and the Taiwanese share of the Korean total and the specialty breakdown were read. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
Sourcing note: no Taiwanese count of foreign patients was located, so this entry describes the legal entry route rather than a volume of activity, and no figure has been estimated. The visa requirements come from one country-specific sheet and are labelled as such, with the country-specific documents distinguished from the general requirements. The 2020 pandemic rules are reported as a historical control measure, not as current practice. The only quantity given is a Korean government measurement of activity in Korea.