Taipei, May 5 (CNA) There was no miscommunication between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) over the timing of a news release on lower U.S. visa application fees, a MOFA official said Thursday.
It was reported in the local media that the AIT, the United States representative office in Taipei in the absence diplomatic ties, was displeased with the MOFA for unilaterally announcing Wednesday an upcoming reduction in U.S. visa application processing fees.
MOFA spokesman James Chang said in a press briefing that the incident was not a "blunder" as described by the media.
The MOFA received a written notice from the AIT on May 2 and released the news Wednesday for two reasons, he said.
"First of all, we saw the announcement as great news for people and secondly, we wanted to get it out as soon as possible because Taiwan was planning to simultaneously lower its visa fees for U.S. passport holders, " Chang said.
The news release by the MOFA's Bureau of Consular Affairs (BOCA) stated that the cost of a general non-immigrant U.S. visa will be lowered from NT$4,340 (US$140) to NT$4,200 with effect from May 9. However, the announcement was removed from the bureau's website Wednesday night after the AIT expressed concerns.
Chang declined to comment on whether the BOCA's had mishandled the matter, but he denied that the bureau had intentionally sent out the press release before the AIT to "take credit" for the change.
In a telephone interview with Central New Agency Thursday morning, AIT spokesman Christopher Kavanagh said that the "AIT is the sole, definitive source of information about consular fees."
"At this time, the current fee for a general non-immigrant visa remains NT$4,340," he said.
The spokesman did not elaborate on whether there had been any miscommunication between the two sides, neither did he say when his office planned to issue an official release on the fees.
He said the AIT usually adjusts the exchange rate for calculating visa fees in accordance with regulations.
The AIT will inform the Taiwan Post Office of the change, and the post office will implement it within a practicable period of time, he said.
He said that when the change goes into effect, AIT will post the new visa fees on its website and they will be implemented "immediately."
The AIT usually adjusts its visa fees when the average appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar in any particular month exceeds 5 percent.
The MOFA recently urged the AIT to reduce its visa fees in light of the appreciation of the Taiwan dollar. (By Chris Wang) enditem /pc