Converting from 30 Day Visa-Exempt Entry to Resident Visa

Legal Legal - Work
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I have gone from visa-exempt to Visitor Visa three times, and I have gone from Visitor Visa to ARC twice, so now I know exactly how to do it and I don’t make any wasted trips anymore. To convert from 90-day visa exempt to an ARC, it is a two-step process:

  1. First, you have get a Visitor Visa from the Bureau of Consular Affairs (BOCA), which is part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). (In Chinese, this office is called 外交部領事事務局 (wai4 jiao1 bu4 ling3 shi4 shi4 wu4 ju2).
  2. Then you apply for your ARC at the National Immigration Agency (NIA). In Chinese, this office is called 入出國及移民署 (ru4 chu1 guo2 ji2 yi2 min2 shu3).


Step 1: Applying for a Visitor Visa

You have to bring these documents to the Bureau of Consular Affairs (BOCA):

  1. One completed Visitor Visa form. Here is the website for the form:

https://visawebapp.boca.gov.tw/BOCA_MRVWeb/subroot/MRVWeb0_form.jsp

At this website, click on “General Visa Applications”. When you fill out the form, you must check “Single Entry”, not “Multiple Entry”. This is because when you apply for a Visitor Visa within Taiwan, you can only get a Single Entry visa.

It’s important to remember that this form is not available at the BOCA office, so it must be filled in online and then printed out and brought into the BOCA office when you apply for your Visitor Visa. Also, the date that you fill in at the bottom of this form must be less than 14 days (two weeks) from the day when you go into the BOCA office to apply for your Visitor Visa.

  1. Your passport, with at least six months validity.
  2. One photocopy of the first page of your passport.
  3. One photocopy of the page in your passport that has the “90 days visa exempt” stamp.
  4. Two color passport photographs. Each picture must have a white background, and each picture must be 3.5 cm wide and 4.5 cm high. Also, the pictures must have been taken within the last six months. If you have a different hairstyle or haircut than you did when your pictures were taken, or if you usually wear glasses, but you didn’t wear glasses when your pictures were taken, they might ask you to get new pictures taken right away, and they will return your old pictures to you. (This happened to me once, and I had to waste a lot of time and money to get new pictures taken and printed right away, and then get back to the BOCA office before they closed for the day.)
  5. One original and one photocopy of your work permit, issued by the Taiwan Labor Committee. In Chinese, this form is called the 勞工委員會函 (lao2 gong1 wei3 yuan2 hui4 han2).
    (This document must state that you have a contract issued by your employer to work in Taiwan for at least six months.)
  6. A self-addressed stamped envelope, big enough and thick enough to hold a passport, and with enough stamps for it to be sent by certified mail (掛號 gua4 hao4). (If you are willing to go back to the BOCA office in person to pick up your passport, then you don’t need to give them this.)
  7. The fee. For holders of U.S. passports, the fee is NT$5600 if you apply for a Visitor Visa in Taiwan. (NT$5600 is US$190 according to the current exchange rate.) But for holders of non-U.S. passports, the fee is only NT$1500 (US$50).

Note: You do not need to show them the contract from your employer.

They will mail your passport back to you three business days later, so you should get it four or five business days later. In your passport, there should be a new sticker on the first unused right-hand page, which is your Visitor Visa. It will be valid for either 60 days or 90 days.


Step 2: Applying for an ARC

You have to bring these documents to the National Immigration Agency (NIA):

  1. One completed form. This is a paper form (not an online form), and you can either fill it out at the NIA office or fill it out at home before you go. (But in order to fill it out at home, you will first have to go to the NIA office to pick up the form.)
  2. Your passport, with at least six months validity.
  3. One photocopy of the first page of your passport.
  4. One photocopy of the page in your passport that has your Visitor Visa sticker.
    Note: Your Visitor Visa must be extendable! If you have a stamp on your Visitor Visa that says “No extension will be granted”, then you can not apply for an ARC card!
  5. One color passport photograph. It must have a white background, and it must be 3.5 cm wide and 4.5 cm high. Also, the picture must have been taken within the last six months, and it must closely resemble how you look when you go into the NIA office (especially your hairstyle and whether or not you are wearing glasses).
  6. One original and one photocopy of your work permit, issued by the Taiwan Labor Committee. In Chinese, this form is called the 勞工委員會函 (lao2 gong1 wei3 yuan2 hui4 han2). (This document must state that you have a contract issued by your employer to work in Taiwan for at least six months.)
  7. One original and one photocopy of the contract issued by your employer. (The contract must be for at least six months.)
  8. One original and one photocopy of your rental contract or some other proof of your home address. (This is because your home address will be printed at the bottom of your ARC, and they won’t just take your word for it. You have to prove that the address that you write on the form is really where you live.)
  9. A self-addressed stamped envelope, big enough and thick enough to hold a passport, and with enough stamps for it to be sent by certified mail (掛號 gua4 hao4). (If you are willing to go back to the NIS office in person to pick up your passport, then you don’t need to give them this.)
  10. The fee: NT$3200, regardless of which country issued your passport

They will mail your passport and ARC card back to you about two weeks later.

If you have any questions, you can send me a PM.

Mark

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