Can foreigners donate blood in Taiwan?
Yes. Foreigners can donate blood in Taiwan: the national Donor Health Standards set rules on health, age and weight, not nationality, and the Taiwan Blood Services Foundation (TBSF) has an English registration form that takes a passport or residence permit number.
All blood in Taiwan is collected by TBSF through four regional blood centers in Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung and Kaohsiung. The main requirements, from the standards the Ministry of Health and Welfare revised on July 2, 2025:
Age: 16 to 65. Donors aged 16 and 17 also need a consent form from a parent or guardian. Donors over 65 need a donation record within the past two years.
Weight: at least 45 kg for whole blood. You need 60 kg or more to give 500 mL; first-time donors give 250 mL.
On-the-spot checks: blood pressure between 90 and 160 (systolic) and 50 and 95 (diastolic), oral or ear temperature no higher than 37.5°C, and hemoglobin of at least 13 g/dL for men or 12 g/dL for women.
Time between donations: 2 months after a 250 mL donation, 3 months after 500 mL.
Not sure whether you qualify? Our eligibility quiz (in Chinese, but it translates well in the browser) walks through the common cases: www.bloodtw.com/eligibility
What ID do I need to bring to donate blood?
Bring the original of a photo ID that shows your ID number and date of birth. For most foreigners that means your passport or your Resident Certificate (ARC or APRC). Photos of your ID on your phone and photocopies are not accepted.
The first step at every donation site is an ID check, and the English registration form asks for your "ID No./residential No./Passport No.", a mailing address, a phone number and an email address. It also lets you choose whether TBSF sends your blood test results by email, by post, or not at all, so it helps to know your Taiwan address.
Before you go, eat a normal meal and drink plenty of water. The form asks whether you slept badly or drank alcohol in the past 8 hours, so donating the morning after a late night out is not a good idea.
It also helps to read the English form before you go (it is linked in the sources below). The staff interview covers the same health questions, and not every donation bus will have someone comfortable in English. If your Mandarin is limited, bringing a Chinese-speaking friend makes the interview easier.
Our Chinese guide to what to bring covers the same ground for local donors: www.bloodtw.com/news/2026-07-02-what-to-bring-blood-donation
Will travel or living in a malaria area stop me from donating?
It can delay you, but usually not forever. Taiwan defers donors for a set time after leaving areas with malaria, dengue, Zika or West Nile virus, and the wait is longest for people who lived in a malaria area for years. These are the rules in Article 3 of the Donor Health Standards:
Visited a malaria area: wait 3 months after leaving.
Had malaria: wait 3 years.
Lived in a malaria area for more than 5 years in a row: wait 3 years after leaving. If you go back during those 3 years, the clock restarts when you leave again.
Dengue or Zika area: wait 1 month after leaving, or 1 month after recovering if you were infected.
West Nile virus area: wait 1 month after leaving, or 4 months after recovering.
The 5-year rule matters most if you grew up somewhere malaria is present and moved to Taiwan recently. The registration form asks about every trip outside Taiwan in the past 12 months and any stay abroad longer than a year, so have your countries and dates ready.
Which places count as risk areas follows Taiwan's communicable disease rules and changes with outbreaks, so we do not list countries here. Check TBSF's deferral lookup (the "感染危險區" tab, meaning infection risk areas) or call your blood center.
Two other deferrals that often surprise people: a new tattoo means a 1-year wait, and dental work such as an extraction, scaling, root canal or implant means 7 days. Our deferral calculator works out the date you can donate again: www.bloodtw.com/deferral
Where can I find a blood donation bus or center near me?
Taiwan has fixed donation rooms in every major city and mobile blood donation buses that park outside stations, temples, shopping malls and campuses almost every day. Our site, www.bloodtw.com, collects the four blood centers' official schedules every day and shows today's sites on a map, along with the small thank-you gifts many drives give donors, such as convenience store vouchers: www.bloodtw.com/gift/convenience-store
The site is in Chinese, but your browser's translate button handles it well. Useful pages:
By city: Taipei www.bloodtw.com/city/taipei, New Taipei www.bloodtw.com/city/new-taipei, Taichung www.bloodtw.com/city/taichung, Kaohsiung www.bloodtw.com/city/kaohsiung
Fixed donation rooms with regular opening hours: www.bloodtw.com/blood-center
If you would rather ask a person, call the blood center that covers your area:
Taipei Blood Center: 02-2897-1600 (Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung, Yilan, Hualien, Kinmen, Matsu)
Hsinchu Blood Center: 03-555-6111 (Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli)
Taichung Blood Center: 04-2461-2345 (Taichung, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin)
Kaohsiung Blood Center: 07-366-0999 (Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Taitung, Penghu)
What happens when I donate blood in Taiwan?
A whole blood donation follows the same five steps at every TBSF site, and the needle part takes about 10 minutes.
1. ID check and registration. Show your passport or ARC.
2. Registration form. Fill in the form, usually on a tablet at the site. This is where you answer the health and travel questions.
3. Interview and health check. Staff go over your answers with you and measure your weight, temperature, blood pressure, pulse and hemoglobin.
4. Donation. Whole blood takes about 10 minutes. Apheresis donations (platelets or plasma) take 1 to 2 hours and are mostly done at fixed donation rooms.
5. Rest. Stay at least 10 to 15 minutes afterwards, drink about 500 mL of water and have a snack. Leave only when you feel fine.
Every donation is screened for infections, and if you chose email or post on the form, TBSF sends you the results.
