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How to get a phone number in Taiwan: prepaid SIM, eSIM or monthly plan, and the ID you need

Just arrived in Taiwan and need a phone number? We explain how tourist SIMs, regular prepaid SIMs and monthly plans differ, which IDs the three carriers ask for, what you can get without an ARC and what to check before choosing an eSIM. We also look at why banks and mobile payment apps need a number that can receive texts and is registered in your own name.

Seal Co-living team Updated 13 min read Translated from Chinese · 中文原文

A Taipei café with wooden tables and blue chairs
Photo: Thomas Tang / Unsplash
On this page
  1. How do tourist SIMs, prepaid SIMs and monthly plans differ?
  2. What ID do you need to get a SIM card?
  3. What can you get without an ARC?
  4. Should you get it at the airport or in the city?
  5. What should you check before getting an eSIM?
  6. Why do you need a Taiwanese number that can receive texts?
  7. Why did my prepaid SIM stop working after a trip abroad?
  8. Will you need lots of mobile data once you move in?
  9. FAQ
  10. Sources

Here for just a few days? A tourist SIM from the airport will do. If you're staying a month or longer, get a regular prepaid SIM instead and top it up before it expires. That way the number stays yours, and it's the one your bank and mobile payment apps will be tied to later. Whichever you pick, you'll need two forms of ID, and they have to be originals.

Before you head out, check that you have:

  • Your original passport, ideally valid for at least another six months
  • An original second ID, such as your visa, ARC (Alien Resident Certificate) or National Health Insurance (NHI) card (each carrier accepts different ones, listed below)
  • A phone that isn't locked to a carrier, and one that supports eSIM if that's what you want
  • Your address in Chinese, which the carrier needs when it registers your details

How do tourist SIMs, prepaid SIMs and monthly plans differ?

Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile and FarEasTone all sell these three kinds. Before you compare rates, work out whether you want to keep the number.

Tourist SIM (旅客卡 / 觀光卡) Regular prepaid SIM Monthly plan (postpaid)
How long the number lasts As many days as you paid for, then it expires automatically About six months, counted again from each top-up For as long as your contract runs
Can you extend it? No Yes, by topping up before it expires No need; you pay a bill every month
How you pay Once, for a fixed number of days Top up first, then add more when it runs out Monthly fee
Who it suits Short visits, or getting online as soon as you land New arrivals still waiting for their ARC ARC holders planning to stay long term

Most tourist SIMs come with unlimited data. Chunghwa Telecom's 4G tourist SIM runs from 3 to 30 days, and the 5G version also comes in 60 and 90 days. Taiwan Mobile has 3-, 5- and 7-day plans, among others. You can use one the moment you buy it. The trouble comes later. However many days you choose, the number is taken back when they run out, and every bank app, mobile wallet and membership you signed up for with it has to be moved to a new number, one at a time. Anyone planning to link a bank account should start with a regular prepaid SIM.

With a regular prepaid SIM, topping up is what keeps the number alive. Chunghwa Telecom's standard prepaid SIM (如意卡) is valid for 180 days, Taiwan Mobile says 6 months, and FarEasTone puts it as "a top-up keeps it going for another half year". The clock restarts with every top-up. Forget to top up before the deadline and the number expires automatically, just the same.

What ID do you need to get a SIM card?

Every phone number in Taiwan is registered to a real name, prepaid SIMs included. Article 15 of the Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act says anyone applying for telecom services must show their own ID. The Regulations for Administration of Mobile Broadband Businesses, overseen by the National Communications Commission (NCC), go into more detail in Article 77. Carriers have to record your name, your address and the numbers of two identity documents, and only after that can they switch the line on. So the counter will always ask for two IDs, and for the originals.

Your first ID is the easy part, because all three carriers accept a passport or a valid ARC. The second ID depends on the carrier:

  • Chunghwa Telecom (prepaid SIMs): ARC, NHI card, visa (entry permit), driver's license, visa-exempt entry stamp, boarding pass and others. For a short-term tourist SIM, it will also take an ID issued by your own government as the second document, as long as it shows your photo, name and date of birth.
  • Taiwan Mobile: a valid ARC, a Taiwanese driver's license, NHI card, visa or entry and exit permit, among others.
  • FarEasTone: ARC, Taiwan work permit, Taiwanese driver's license, ID issued by a foreign government, visa, NHI card and others. FarEasTone also states that documents must be valid for at least 6 months beyond the date you apply. The first time you sign up for a FarEasTone number, staff take your photo on the spot for their records, whatever type of number it is.

Photocopies are never accepted. If your passport is close to expiring, renew it before you travel so you aren't turned away at the counter.

Hong Kong and Macao residents need different documents. For the first ID, Chunghwa Telecom accepts the Exit and Entry Permit for the Taiwan Area (中華民國臺灣地區入出境許可證), the Taiwan Area Resident Certificate (it must show the words 出入境證 and a permit number) or an entry permit applied for online (網簽). For the second, it lists documents issued by the Taiwan government, a student ID, or a letter of admission or acceptance. Taiwan Mobile also takes the entry and exit permit as a first ID. The list is far shorter than for foreign nationals, so check each carrier's website before you leave. Once you've landed, their free customer service lines can answer any questions: Chunghwa Telecom on 0800-080-123, Taiwan Mobile on 0809-000-852 and FarEasTone on 0800-058-885. From a number on the same network, you can also just dial 123, 188 or 888 respectively.

What can you get without an ARC?

Usually a prepaid SIM, depending on which second IDs the carrier accepts. If you entered visa-free, Chunghwa Telecom will take your visa-exempt entry stamp or boarding pass as the second ID. FarEasTone won't. Neither appears on its list, and it wants documents valid for at least 6 months beyond the date you apply. If you came in visa-free or have less than half a year left on your visa, going straight to Chunghwa Telecom is the simpler route.

Monthly plans set the bar higher. Chunghwa Telecom's ID rules say a foreigner's ARC must be valid for at least 6 months, or at least 1 year if the plan comes with a phone. While your ARC application is still being processed (ARC (Alien Resident Certificate) application and address change: what to bring and how long you have covers the documents and deadlines), a regular prepaid SIM is the practical choice. Once the ARC arrives, ask at a store whether you can switch to a monthly plan and keep your number.

Should you get it at the airport or in the city?

Taoyuan International Airport's website lists counters for all three carriers under its mobile and telecom services. They're in the public areas on 1F of Terminal 1 and 1F of Terminal 2, and in the arrivals area on 3F of Terminal 1. Chunghwa Telecom has one more on 3F of Terminal 2. Prepaid SIMs and international roaming are both handled here.

The Terminal 1 arrivals area on 3F is the passport control hall itself, so the counters come before the immigration queue. Taiwan Mobile also has a desk in the passport control hall at Terminal 2. Buy before you join the queue. Once you've cleared immigration you can't walk back, and you'll have to look again in the 1F arrivals hall.

None of the airport's telecom counters is open 24 hours. Taiwan Mobile starts earliest. Its tourist SIM page lists desks in the arrival passport control halls of Terminals 1 and 2 and in the 1F arrivals hall of Terminal 2 that open at half past four in the morning, and the two at Terminal 2 stay open until 11 at night. The other counters open at 8 in the morning at the earliest, and none stays open past half past nine in the evening. Land late at night and you'll probably find them all shut.

If that happens to you, connect to the airport Wi-Fi, head into the city by one of the routes in How to get from Taoyuan Airport to Taipei: Airport MRT, buses, taxis and late-night arrivals, and sort out the number the next day.

The city has far more places to sign up. Try Chunghwa Telecom's service counters and Senao (神腦) authorized service centers, Taiwan Mobile's myfone stores, or any FarEasTone store. Taiwan Mobile even lets you book its tourist SIM online and collect it in store. If the airport counter only sells tourist SIMs, buy the shortest one to tide you over and get a regular prepaid SIM once you're in town.

Payment methods vary by carrier. Taiwan Mobile's tourist SIM, for example, can be paid for in Taiwan dollars, by credit card, with UnionPay or with Alipay. Keeping some Taiwan dollars in cash is the safest bet.

What should you check before getting an eSIM?

Taiwan Mobile and FarEasTone both sell their tourist SIMs either as a physical SIM card or as an eSIM. Check your phone yourself before you go to the counter.

  1. Your phone supports eSIM and isn't locked to a carrier. On an iPhone, Taiwan Mobile says to go to Settings → General → About, where Carrier Lock should read "No SIM restrictions".
  2. When you set up an eSIM at a Taiwan Mobile store, staff will scan your phone's EID. You can bring it up by typing *#06# on the dial pad.

Some travel eSIMs sold online are data only. They come without a Taiwanese number, so texts sent to a Taiwanese number never reach you. That's fine for maps, but no use for linking a bank account.

Why do you need a Taiwanese number that can receive texts?

In Taiwan, a lot of financial services use your phone number to confirm that you really are you. That's why, in Banking in Taiwan as a foreigner: what to bring to open an account, how to pay rent by transfer, and whether mobile payments work, we also suggest getting a number before you go to the bank. These are the rules behind that advice.

Take mobile payments first. Under the regulations on identity verification for electronic payment institutions, a provider opening any category of account for an individual has to confirm the mobile number you give and that you can actually receive messages on it. To send money to another institution (a small-value remittance), the provider has to check one more thing, and one way of doing that is confirming that the holder of the number is you. On the online banking side, the Bankers Association of the Republic of China lists a one-time password sent by text (SMS OTP) as one of the verification methods in its security control standards for electronic banking at financial institutions.

The same standards also describe "telecom authentication". It checks your phone number and ID details against the subscriber the carrier has on record, and if they don't match, you don't get through.

So get the number in your own name, not a friend's. Article 16 of the Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act adds that when a phone service is passed on to someone else, the user has to go back to the carrier and have their identity verified again (unless it's for everyday family use). If that isn't done, the service is restricted or cut off.

Why did my prepaid SIM stop working after a trip abroad?

Blame the anti-fraud rules introduced in 2024. Article 22 of the Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act requires carriers to check regularly whether prepaid users who aren't Taiwanese nationals have left the country or overstayed their visa or residence permit. The NCC's regulations on checking user identity against designated databases set this as a monthly check, done in batches. When a check shows you've left, the carrier will tell you to come back to a store within two weeks to have your identity verified again, and some functions may be restricted in the meantime. Miss that deadline and the prepaid SIM is restricted or suspended.

The awkward part is that the notice can reach you while you're still abroad, and the two weeks can run out before you're back. If the SIM is still within its validity period when you return, take your passport to a store and have your identity verified again. The carrier may then restore your original service, though the Act doesn't say it has to. After more than two weeks away, make a store your first stop back in Taiwan.

Sometimes the reason is simpler: you forgot to top up. All three carriers let you top up online, and Taiwan Mobile also lists its app, myfone stores and convenience stores. On the day you get your SIM, put the expiry date in your phone's calendar.

Will you need lots of mobile data once you move in?

All 7 Seal Co-living houses have Wi-Fi. Internet is included in the monthly utilities fee of NT$1,000, so there's no home broadband to sign up for. Stay on Wi-Fi at home, switch to mobile data when you're out, and you'll use far less data.

Wi-Fi can't stand in for a phone number, though. Banks and payment apps send verification codes to your number and nowhere else. If you're wondering what to sort out first, the number, the ARC, the bank account or health insurance, Your first month in Taipei: the order and deadlines for your ARC, phone, bank account and health insurance sets out the order and the deadlines.

FAQ

Can I get a Taiwanese number with just my passport?

No. Real-name registration means two IDs, so besides your passport you need a second one, such as a visa, ARC or NHI card. For a prepaid SIM at Chunghwa Telecom, a visa-exempt entry stamp or boarding pass also counts.

Can I top up a tourist SIM to make it last longer?

You can't. Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile and FarEasTone all state that a tourist SIM can't be extended, and the number expires automatically at the end. If you plan to stay long term, get a regular prepaid SIM from the start.

Can I still buy a SIM card if I land at Taoyuan in the middle of the night?

Probably not. The latest we found were Taiwan Mobile's desks at Terminal 2, open until 11 at night. Connect to the airport Wi-Fi, get into the city and visit a store the next day.

How often do I need to top up a regular prepaid SIM?

Once before each validity period ends. That's 180 days for Chunghwa Telecom's 如意卡, 6 months at Taiwan Mobile and half a year at FarEasTone, with the count starting over after every top-up.

Someone called to say my number is linked to fraud. What should I do?

Hang up. The NCC states on its homepage that it never contacts people to say their number is involved in fraud, and never phones to ask for personal details. To check, call the 165 anti-fraud hotline yourself.

Can I use a friend's number to receive verification codes?

Better not. Opening an electronic payment account means confirming you receive messages on that number, and transfers to other institutions may also check whether the holder of the number is you. A bank's telecom authentication is more direct still, because it checks that the subscriber is you in person. And by law, passing a number on to someone else means having the identity verified again.

Sources

(All accessed on 9 October 2026)

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