A misunderstanding recently caused several Taiwanese tourists in UK to be barred from boarding a flight to Ireland, a country that Taiwanese visitors now enjoy visa-free access to. The problem arose because the travelers were holding an older version of passport, which does not bear the word "Taiwan" on the cover, thus confusing airport workers. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that they have already stepped up the efforts to prevent such confusions from repeating.

England and Ireland granted visa-free treatment to Taiwan passport holders last year, but a group of tourists with older passports that don't bear the word "Taiwan" were recently prevented from boarding an Ireland-bound flight by airline personnel.

According to travel agencies, there are currently three versions of Taiwan passports in use.

Apart from the newest IC chip passports, there are an estimated three million of the oldest version, which don't have the word "Taiwan" on them, and seven million of the older ones with "Taiwan" on them, in circulation.

The last of the three million oldest-version passports won't expire until 2013. Some nations are unaware that the Republic of China is Taiwan, and misunder

As Taiwan currently has visa-free agreements with 63 nations and is expected to receive Schengen visa waiver privileges next year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is calling on the public to apply for new passports as soon as possible.