I’m an American citizen, going to be studying Chinese at NTU from June-December (I’ve already been accepted). I was planning on just skipping the hassle and cost of getting a visa by taking advantage of the 90 visa exemption and just taking a little trip out of the country every time I have to renew the visa. I spoke to someone from TECO and they said they saw no problems with this. However, I just was informed that in order to receive a Taiwan government scholarship I applied for I will need to get an ARC so I can open a Taiwanese bank account.
So my question is, is it possible to get an ARC if I’ve entered via the visa exemption program? I will have documentation proving my acceptance and enrollment in an accredited Chinese program and I should also have my tickets into and out of the country already purchased. What does everyone think?
Just found this tidbit on the National Immigration Agency website under ARC instructions:
“II.Prospective applicants:
1.
A foreign national who obtains Alien Resident Certificates (hereinafter ARC) after entering Taiwan by the inspection of National Immigration Agency with a valid passport or a valid travel document(s) under the visa waiver program, or holding a visitor visa.”
I think that indicates that I should be able to receive it right?
So please can someone clarify. If you enter on a 90 day visa waiver you can still convert it to an ARC without having to leave country. I’m confused because the school that I’m about to start teaching at is telling me I have to leave the country.
I’m curious about this. If you originally entered the country on a 90 day visa exempt, and then you flew to Hong Kong for example, wouldn’t you just be re-entering Taiwan on another 90 day visa exempt? Apart from giving you a fresh 90 days, how would leaving the country change your visa status? Is the OP running out of time on his current 90 days? Is that the problem?
I’m curious about this. If you originally entered the country on a 90 day visa exempt, and then you flew to Hong Kong for example, wouldn’t you just be re-entering Taiwan on another 90 day visa exempt? Apart from giving you a fresh 90 days, how would leaving the country change your visa status? Is the OP running out of time on his current 90 days? Is that the problem?[/quote]
Leaving the country and re-entering resets your visa-exampt entry time counter. It can (in principle) be done for as many times as you want and with as high a frequency as you want. As for other visas, it mostly depends on your visa type (especially whether it is single entry or multiple entries). Also, exiting the country allows you to apply for a different kind of visa if you happen to meet the requirements.
Your best advice would come from NIA but my understanding is that you can get your resident visa/ARC (work related) w/o leaving the country but not if you are getting a study related visa/ARC.
According to my school I need to enter on a tourist visa because only this can be converted to an ARC. But will head to the NIA tomorrow to clarify. I’ll let you all know the outcome.
Hmmm? I don’t understand this. If you are from a country that makes you eligible for visa exempt, how do you get a tourist visa? If you flew to Hong Kong wouldn’t you just fly back in on a new 90 day visa exempt? How will you get the tourist visa? I’m thinking that if you ask them for one in Hong Kong or at the airport in Taiwan they will just tell that you have 90 days visa exempt and don’t need a tourist visa.
I would advise you to get a visa right from the beginning, even if it costs much. Visa runs are a hassle, not the visa application.
But you only stay half a year, you can renew your visitor visa once up to half a year afaik (several friends who only stayed half a year did that). No need to get an ARC.
Are you from a country with visa exemption? It just doesn’t make sense. Why would someone apply for a visa to enter Taiwan when they don’t need a visa to enter Taiwan, and why would a TECO office issue a visa to someone who doesn’t need one?
Are you from a country with visa exemption? It just doesn’t make sense. Why would someone apply for a visa to enter Taiwan when they don’t need a visa to enter Taiwan, and why would a TECO office issue a visa to someone who doesn’t need one?[/quote]
Visas can be extended. That is not always the case with the visa-exempt entry. A 2-months tourist visa allows you to stay here 6 months with two extensions, as opposed to the 90 days of the visa exemption. I am referring to what I experienced a few years back, so my information might be outdated.
Are you from a country with visa exemption? It just doesn’t make sense. Why would someone apply for a visa to enter Taiwan when they don’t need a visa to enter Taiwan, and why would a TECO office issue a visa to someone who doesn’t need one?[/quote]
I am from Germany and we have Visa exemption. But granted, at the time I was in that situation, we only had 1 month visa exemption, now we have 3. I don’t know exactly how this changed the situation.
The thing was that a visa exemption could not be extended. A visitor visa could be extended once to 6 months. NTU recommended that way to us.
Well but I was there for one year, so I got a residence visa.
You may want to consult the NTU administration, they know everything about visa stuff for students.
Are you from a country with visa exemption? It just doesn’t make sense. Why would someone apply for a visa to enter Taiwan when they don’t need a visa to enter Taiwan, and why would a TECO office issue a visa to someone who doesn’t need one?[/quote]
Visas can be extended. That is not always the case with the visa-exempt entry. A 2-months tourist visa allows you to stay here 6 months with two extensions, as opposed to the 90 days of the visa exemption. I am referring to what I experienced a few years back, so my information might be outdated.[/quote]
Some visas can extended. If you fly to Hong Kong to get a typical visitors visa then it might be non-extendable (probably). They do give extendable visitors visas to those with the student paperwork or with family connections (longer stays). Or they give extendable visas for completely random reasons.
Imo there is very little reason for someone to pay for a 60 day visitor visa when they can get 90 day visa exempt for free. Unless you are certain that you will get an extendable visa and you are certain that you are staying longer.
[/quote]Visas can be extended. That is not always the case with the visa-exempt entry. A 2-months tourist visa allows you to stay here 6 months with two extensions, as opposed to the 90 days of the visa exemption.[/quote]
So I guess if you are from a visa exempt country and what to move to Taiwan for work instead of travel, you would have to ask a TECO office for a tourist visa. I wonder what you would tell them though? You can’t tell them that you want to go there for work, so I guess you would have to stay that you want to travel around the island for more than 90 days and the tourist visa will allow you to get an extension. Is that right? I wonder if they would go for that? It sounds a bit fishy.
[/quote]Imo there is very little reason for someone to pay for a 60 day visitor visa when they can get 90 day visa exempt for free. Unless you are certain that you will get an extendable visa and you are certain that you are staying longer.[/quote]
I agree, but that’s where it gets tricky. I imagine you will need a pretty good excuse as to why you want to stay in Taiwan for more than 90 days. I mean, what kind of tourist travels around Taiwan for more than three months? I’m sure that’s not normal unless they have a pretty fancy itinerary.
It’s an interesting situation, IMO. It seems to me that the visa exemption has made travel to Taiwan easier, but going to Taiwan for work more difficult. That is if people are correct when they say a visa exemption cannot be converted into an ARC.
So I guess if you are from a visa exempt country and what to move to Taiwan for work instead of travel, you would have to ask a TECO office for a tourist visa. I wonder what you would tell them though? You can’t tell them that you want to go there for work, so I guess you would have to stay that you want to travel around the island for more than 90 days and the tourist visa will allow you to get an extension. Is that right? I wonder if they would go for that? It sounds a bit fishy.
[/quote]Imo there is very little reason for someone to pay for a 60 day visitor visa when they can get 90 day visa exempt for free. Unless you are certain that you will get an extendable visa and you are certain that you are staying longer.[/quote]
I agree, but that’s where it gets tricky. I imagine you will need a pretty good excuse as to why you want to stay in Taiwan for more than 90 days. I mean, what kind of tourist travels around Taiwan for more than three months? I’m sure that’s not normal unless they have a pretty fancy itinerary.
It’s an interesting situation, IMO. It seems to me that the visa exemption has made travel to Taiwan easier, but going to Taiwan for work more difficult. That is if people are correct when they say a visa exemption cannot be converted into an ARC.[/quote]
I don’t get what you’re saying. Working on a tourist visa is illegal. Also, you can only extend it twice.
Converting visa exempt to an ARC is not a problem for TEACHERS. I did this two years ago and this forum is full of similar comments. Sometimes a buxiban doesn’t understand the rules but there shouldn’t be any issues. For students studying Chinese I don’t think you can convert visa exempt to an ARC but I have never understood why not or perhaps I’m wrong about that part. usually logic can’t be applied to Taiwan’s rules though.
So I guess if you are from a visa exempt country and what to move to Taiwan for work instead of travel, you would have to ask a TECO office for a tourist visa. I wonder what you would tell them though? You can’t tell them that you want to go there for work, so I guess you would have to stay that you want to travel around the island for more than 90 days and the tourist visa will allow you to get an extension. Is that right? I wonder if they would go for that? It sounds a bit fishy.
[/quote]Imo there is very little reason for someone to pay for a 60 day visitor visa when they can get 90 day visa exempt for free. Unless you are certain that you will get an extendable visa and you are certain that you are staying longer.[/quote]
I agree, but that’s where it gets tricky. I imagine you will need a pretty good excuse as to why you want to stay in Taiwan for more than 90 days. I mean, what kind of tourist travels around Taiwan for more than three months? I’m sure that’s not normal unless they have a pretty fancy itinerary.
It’s an interesting situation, IMO. It seems to me that the visa exemption has made travel to Taiwan easier, but going to Taiwan for work more difficult. That is if people are correct when they say a visa exemption cannot be converted into an ARC.[/quote]
I don’t get what you’re saying. Working on a tourist visa is illegal. Also, you can only extend it twice.[/quote]
What I’m saying is that if a visa exemption cannot be converted to an ARC then a person coming to Taiwan for work needs to apply for a tourist visa, which can be converted to an ARC.
I guess maybe the OP’s buxiban doesn’t understand the rules because they’ve told him he must leave the country and re-enter on a tourist visa. Since you, and others on this forum have converted a visa exempt to an ARC, maybe the OP just needs to find the ministry info and show it to the owner of his school.
Well, to be honest I never had to go through this. I applied for my position from abroad and I got here with a resident visa on my passport, which gave me an ARC as soon as day one.
In general you have to consider the visa exemption is something that keeps changing and often overlaps with other visa-related situations. For example, when I first visited Taiwan my exemption was for one month only. Last but not least, you have to know that Taiwanese go-to answer for anything they don’t know is “it’s not possible/it does not exist”.