TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Residents from Hong Kong and Macau can apply for visa to Taiwan for free via the Internet starting today, the National Immigration Agency said.

The new policy aims to attract Hong Kong and Macau citizens to visit Taiwan, especially in the upcoming events such as the 99th anniversary of the founding of the nation and the Taipei Flora Expo in November and the centenary celebration of the Republic of China next year.

After citizens from the two Chinese cities received approval on their online visa applications, they can print the approval statements and give them to Customs officers when entering Taiwan along with their mainland China issued passports for clearance. Upon receiving the Customs clearance stamp, a print approval statement is in effect a 30-day visa.

The NIA also said that since Taiwan last year issued 341,333 visas for Hong Kong and Macau residents via the web, a huge jump from the 153,703 in 2005, the year the NIA launched Internet visa application.