Any individuals or companies found offering paid immigration services without authorization from the government will be subject to fines of up to NT$1 million (US$32,678), Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency (NIA) warned Tuesday.

In a press release, the NIA said it had recently discovered ads in a Facebook group for Vietnamese nationals in Taiwan offering “low-cost” services to guide them through the process of renouncing their citizenship and applying for citizenship in Taiwan.

The agency warned, however, that offering paid immigration services without a license and official registration constitutes a violation of the Immigration Act, punishable by fines of NT$200,000 to NT$1 million.

Foreign nationals in Taiwan who have questions about applying for residence or citizenship can call or visit their local NIA service station or call the NIA’s 1990 consultation hotline, the immigration agency said.

The toll-free 1990 hotline was launched last year and provides 24-hour services in Mandarin, English, and Japanese, and services in Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, and Cambodian during business hours.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel