I am working from May 2011 in Taiwanese company, here in Taipei (I studied in Taiwan from September, 2007-April 2011). I left Taiwan in 2012 just for a month. It seems, that I will be able to apply for APRC in May 2016. Is it right? But I am planning to quite the job and open my company in 2015. If I open a company, does it mean that I have to change the ARC status? If it does, I have to start my calculation for APRC from zero again?
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Did you ever enter Taiwan on a visitor visa or a landing visa between April 2011 and now? That resets your APRC clock.
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Leaving Taiwan for a month does not necessarily reset the APRC clock. Did you have an ARC at that time? How did you re enter Taiwan?
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If you open a company, you will need to get a new ARC. That does not mean you start from zero. You can change ARCs without resetting the clock. It should be easy to do this if you apply for a six month extension of your ARC when you quit your job (and before the old ARC expires). That should give you plenty of time to sort out your new ARC based on your company. See winklerpartners.com/?p=4697
Thank you for the reply! I entered Taiwan (every time when I went out and came back the island) on my working ARC between April 2011 and now. The one month leave was a business trip, so I re entered Taiwan on my working ARC. Per my understandings: quitting the job and using 6 month of ARC extension to open the company and get new ARC,based on my company still let me to apply for APRC in may 2016. This is good news! 
Can not wait to become the boss, and later, obtain the freedom through APRC
It sounds like you should be eligible in May 2016 then. I think your main problems now will be timing and financial. As you probably know, you can set up a foreign company with an investment of NT$500,000 and get a work permit and ARC for one year. The problem is that you have almost two years to go before you can apply for the APRC. The extension gives you up to six months, so you will have 18 months on an ARC with the extension plus your first year. That leaves you around 5 or 6 months short.
That could be a problem because if your company does not make NT$3 million in revenue (not profit) in the first year, your ARC and work permit won’t be renewed (maybe you could get another 6 month extension but I wouldn’t count on it).
Also you need to show something like NT$40k per month in income for the three years before your APRC application.
These are mainly logistical issues though. If you don’t overstay and you don’t enter on a landing visa or a visitor visa, you should be fine.
For the financial requirements I can get my tax statement, as I file annually, but I don’t have salary statements (as I get paid by fund transfer from overseas). Do these need to be any sort of official statements?
Where exactly in this lengthy thread is the most up to date checklist for APRC application procedures? It’s not page 1. I have looked.
Here is the checklist that the APRC rep gave me last year when I applied:
English Front
English Back
Chinese Front
Chinese Back
Items 5 and 9 (Health Check and Home Country Criminal Record Check) are crossed off on my list because I was exempt due to the less-than-3-months-abroad provision on the back of the form.
As always, it’s best to meet with the APRC rep to get the most up-to-date information relating to your particular case, but this gives you an idea. I believe only the income requirement has changed since I applied.
Well, got my application in on Monday. Was told my application was good, they didn’t expect any trouble. So, is it pretty much a guarantee I’ll be approved? Have many been refused after submitting documents and the $10,000? Anyone have any idea?
You’re not supposed to pay the 10,000 until they call you to pick it up. At least that’s what I remember. You didn’t pay yet did you?
You’re not supposed to pay the 10,000 until they call you to pick it up. At least that’s what I remember. You didn’t pay yet did you?[/quote]
Exactly. The order is:
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You go to the NIA office. They check your records, and tell you if you are good time wise. THEN you leave NIA office, go home and start collecting papers and stamps.
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You come back to the NIA office, hand in the paperwork as per checklist. They recheck everything is there, if it is then they tell you don’t call us, we’ll call you. You go home and wait by the phone.
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They call you to collect your APRC and pay.
Assuming they first checked you were OK timewise, ie, had no gaps in your stay/ARC records, etc. then it should be OKish. Still might be some discrepancies with taxes or maybe you forgot to sign all copies or something along those lines.
How long does the APRC application procedure actually take from payment/acceptance of documents to pickup of card?
I know the NIA website says 14 days, but the clerks at the Taoyuan NIA office snorted at the mere suggestion and said it takes at least a month.
They categorically stated that “the website is wrong”.
Well, they have a backup from all the applications… and only one machine.
From what people have posted here, two weeks is optimistic. 3 to 4 is average. Anything more than that, Houston, we have a problem.
[quote=“monkey”]How long does the APRC application procedure actually take from payment/acceptance of documents to pickup of card?
I know the NIA website says 14 days, but the clerks at the Taoyuan NIA office snorted at the mere suggestion and said it takes at least a month.
They categorically stated that “the website is wrong”.[/quote]
Yep. I did mine through Taoyuan last year; from submission of the paperwork to approval from Taipei took exactly 4 weeks. At that point I was told to come in and pay the 10K, but it took another 15 days for the card to be made and sent to Taoyuan where I could finally pick it up.
I’m in! Count me among the happy APRC holders. Got my call Monday and picked it up Thurs.
WOO HOO!!!
[quote=“k.k.”]I’m in! Count me among the happy APRC holders. Got my call Monday and picked it up Thurs.
WOO HOO!!![/quote]
Congrats! FREEEEDOOOOOOOM!!!
Just read this article
chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/nati … m-wage.htm
Does this mean the minimum amount you need to earn in a year to get the APRC is now ($20,008x2) per month x12 = $480,192?
APRC holder, recently divorced, in process of moving-out.
Do I have to apply for a new APRC under my new address ?
Reason is my new place probably is just tempolarly (4-6 months),
and if possible I just like to stick with my old (ex-wife’s) address
( I guess I won’t receive any NIA mails anyway … )
So, am I obliged to tell NHI each of my (possible) new address ?
Thank you for your help, bye Moritz
Yes, you are supposed to report every new address and there is a small fine that is sometimes imposed if you don’t. You can probably get away with not reporting it for that short period but I would suggest that you get in the habit. That reminds me…
When I moved back to Taoyuan from Hualian I didn’t think the 15-day requirement to change one’s address was ever an issue, but I found out differently. I finally went to the NIA about two months after I moved. When the official took a copy of my rental contract and saw the date I signed it, he said I was subject to a fine (I think it was NT2,000 but don’t remember). I feigned ignorance, to which he responded, “Are you sure you moved in on that date? Maybe you signed the rent contract but didn’t move in until later. Maybe like last week? You can just write ‘I moved in on such and such date’ here on the form…” He helped me avoid a fine; gotta love him for bending the rules like that!