Same-sex Taiwanese-Chinese couples can now legally register their marriages in Taiwan, the Ministry of the Interior and the Mainland Affairs Council announced yesterday.
Taiwan has long been at the forefront of Asia’s burgeoning LGBTQ+ rights movement, becoming in 2019 the first place in the region to legalize same-sex marriage.
Heterosexual couples consisting of a Chinese and Taiwanese spouse face a more complicated process than other international couples, needing to first marry abroad and then pass an interview in Taiwan before registering their marriage.
Photo: Chien Jung-feng, Taipei Times
“Same-sex couples can now be subject to the regulations of heterosexual couples,” council spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a regular briefing.
They would have to be legally wedded in one of the 35 countries that recognize same-sex marriage. After submitting their marriage certificate and other documents, “relevant agencies will conduct interviews with the couple,” he said.
“Only after passing the interview at the border [airport and ports] can they enter the country to register their marriages. This is our current principle for cross-strait marriages,” Liang said.
The rules governing heterosexual cross-strait marriages have long been in place “to prevent cross-border fake marriages and avoid problems of national security and social order,” he added.
With the announcement, “the government upholds the principle of treating same-sex marriage and heterosexual marriage equally,” Liang said.
Because of the distinctive nature of cross-strait affairs, the government has for more than 30 years used the same standards to manage Chinese nationals entering Taiwan, so any changes must consider national security, social stability and social support, the ministry said in a statement.
There are currently about 360,000 Chinese spouses of Taiwanese citizens in Taiwan. They have to wait six years to apply for Taiwanese citizenship.
Additional reporting by Lee Wen-hsin
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