Several parents in Ho Chi Minh City told Read their children had been refused visas despite holding admission letters and enrollment notices from Taiwanese universities.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City said in a recent notice that from the 2026 academic year it will accept applications only from candidates holding an official diploma.

It cited instructions from Taiwan’s foreign affairs authority and its own education division, and Vietnam’s decision to stop issuing the provisional graduation certificate applicants previously used while waiting for their diplomas.

Applicants could previously submit either an official diploma or the provisional certificate.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training made that change in Circular 13/2026, signed March 9 and effective April 24. It merged the provisional certificate and the separate exam results certificate into one document, the certificate of exam results, issued by the school where the student sat the exam.

Schools must now issue the diploma within 30 days of the student receiving that certificate.

“They have less than a month before they need to be there to enroll. I hope all sides resolve this soon, because it is not the students’ fault,” one parent said.

Lam Vi Chi, head of the education division and education counselor at TECO in Ho Chi Minh City, confirmed to Read that many Vietnamese students were struggling with the visa process, without giving a figure.

Visa policy falls to Taiwan’s foreign affairs authority, which set the requirement and then informed the education authority, he said. If Vietnamese schools are still issuing provisional certificates, he added, the education ministry would need to tell both TECO offices in writing.

He said some universities in Taiwan would discuss with the education ministry regarding the matter, helping students to get admitted.

An official at the Ho Chi Minh City education department said it had sped up its process and issued diplomas early to about 280 students bound for Taiwan. Others are due to receive theirs from next week.

Taiwanese universities generally start on Sept. 7, though some ask students to arrive between Aug. 29 and 31 for registration, health checks, orientation and residency paperwork.

Taiwanese rules let a student enroll for a term if they arrive before a third of the semester has passed, but universities set their own deadlines.

Taiwan’s education authority recorded 52,974 Vietnamese students at its colleges and universities in 2025, up 13,364 from 2024 and past 50,000 for the first time, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.

Vietnam has been Taiwan’s largest source of international students for several years and supplies roughly 30% of the total.