Converting from 30 Day Visa-Exempt Entry to Resident Visa

Seeking some advice:

I have done much reading through the visa/work permit threads on here, and while this issue has been alluded to, I am hoping that someone that has personal experience going the visa-exempt to resident visa+ARC route INSIDE Taiwan can offer some insight into the process. Although I am currently in North America, I have been offered a teaching position at a large chain school in Taiwan due to start soon, and am a bit concerned about the directions I am being given regarding the work permit process.

First off, I understand from speaking to the TECO offices in N.America that, officially, an individual must be offered a job from abroad, work permit applied for by the company, which is then sent to the foreigner which he/she uses to apply for a resident visa at a TECO office prior to arriving in Taiwan, then apply for the ARC once in the country. I have yet to speak to a school in Taiwan that observes these rules and they all basically say that this process is impossible to complete before arriving. Such excuses are, “securing a work permit + resident visa in advance is too labor or cost intensive for the school, and outright just too difficult.” I know this is not true, but my bargaining power is obviously limited.

So on to the job at hand. I have been told that the work permit application process has recently changed and that it is now possible to come to the country on a 30 day visa-exempt entry (USA passport holder), and then have that converted to a resident visa, effectively bypassing the whole visitor to resident visa process. While even the visitor to resident visa process is technically not allowed according to the TECO offices, I know that many on Forumosa have secured work in this fashion. I have read some posts that suggest it may be possible to switch from visa free entry to resident visa from inside the country. Does anyone have experience with this, or know for sure if indeed this is now possible? One of my largest concerns is how long the process will take to complete, since 30 days is obviously not that long if I were to run into some unforeseeable circumstance.

I really appreciate any advice or input that is offered.

short answer: YES, simply enter on the 30 day visa exempt and the school will process your paperwork. Shouldnt have to make a visa run.

long answer : read all those threads again :slight_smile: and good luck to you. Your Taiwan experience may be life changing, be forewarned. :sunglasses:

Thanks, I’ll be sure to keep reading through the threads. I do look forward to the life changing experience awaiting me, and hopefully there won’t be too many hiccups along the way!

Not sure if this helps from my experience but my husband (Singaporean) and I recently tied the knot here in Tw and we headed to the immigration offices to try to apply for residency for him with our marriage certificate but to our dismay, they said my husband’s visa (30 day free entry visa) could not be converted into any other visa nor apply for ARC. The lady at the counter said he had to go back to his country and then apply there for a proper visa (resident visa?). So I guess the official word is that we cannot convert a 30 day visa-exempt entry to resident visa? (even through marriage :frowning: ) But I would love to hear otherwise too. Anyways, I googled around n found this from the Bureau of Consular Affairs/ Ministry of Foreign Affairs site: boca.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=144 
 e=116&mp=2

Hope things work for u though n best of luck to u. :slight_smile:

Weird. I recall reading it was ok on another ROC site. Things couldve changed ?

Things may have changed but, as far as I recall, you cannot arrive on a 30-day landing visa and obtain a resident visa without the need for an additional visa run. The visa that can be “converted” in-country is the 60-day visa that you must apply for at the Taiwan defacto embassy in your area.

There is something of a song and dance routine to go through when first arriving here. The TECO will tell you that you must get all resident visas etc through them but, on the other hand, no employer will hire you and process you from overseas. You have to masquerade as a tourist, get a 60-day visa and do your resident visa process from here.

I believe that things have changed. Things change fast here. On the site linked above, it says that:

So you can change your visa exempt status if you get a job, but apparently not if you’re getting married, or are a student, or for whatever other reason.

[quote=“Toasty”]Things may have changed but, as far as I recall, you cannot arrive on a 30-day landing visa and obtain a resident visa without the need for an additional visa run. The visa that can be “converted” in-country is the 60-day visa that you must apply for at the Taiwan defacto embassy in your area.

There is something of a song and dance routine to go through when first arriving here. The TECO will tell you that you must get all resident visas etc through them but, on the other hand, no employer will hire you and process you from overseas. You have to masquerade as a tourist, get a 60-day visa and do your resident visa process from here.[/quote]

It’s a common mistake on the forums but creates a lot of confusion. You mean to say 30 visa exempt (or visa free) entry instead of 30 day landing visa since that is completely different circumstances.

And my roommate successfully transferred a 30 day visa exempt entry to a resident visa (for work) w/o leaving the country. So that agrees with what the previous poster found regarding this topic.

zyzzx and Abacus are correct.

Converting Visa Exempt straight to ARC without leaving the country is very common now for teaching English in Taiwan.

Most employers are well versed in how to do this, so they will not lead you astray.

I went as far as to write out each step you will go through in this [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/visa-exempt-entry-to-work-permit/63302/1 Exempt Entry to Work Permit[/url] thread.

This is fairly new, zyzzx quote can be found at this website.

GOOD NEWS! It appears , as of April 2011, you don’t need to leave the country to convert your visa to a visitors visa. I went to the Waijiao Bu today, and with proof of a work permit issued form the labor affairs office, I was able to convert my USA exempt entry into a visitor’s visa for 5140 NT. I dropped it off today , Monday and it will be ready on Friday. (one week conversion).

the next step is the Immigration office and I’ll spend 3200 to convert it into an ARC.

I just went to The Philippines about a month ago with my USA passport to do this conversion.

The office there denied me and said that I needed a letter of approval from the Labor Council, which I hadn’t yet received. So, be sure to make sure the specific consulate won’t pull this BS with you! Otherwise, if you want to get a multiple entry or regular visitors visa, the old fashion way, you’ll need to go back to your home country or find a consulate that isn’t as tight. Hong Kong still has one day service.

My wife and I have been struggling through this process for the past 3-4 months. We have gotten excellent information from the Foreigner’s Hotline set up by the National Immigration Agency in Taiwan. This 24 hour hotline has consistantly been one of the best sources of information as we worked through our own visa issues.

The number for the Foreigner’s Hotline is: 0800-024-111

Here’s a good article from the China Post:

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2010/07/01/262846/NIAs-foreigner.htm

Hope this helps!

BTW: I am cutting and pasting from one of my previous posts, here.

I live in Taiwan and I teach English at a university, but now I am in the U.S. visiting my parents. (It’s now the summer vacation at my school.) I already had a work-sponsored ARC when I left Taiwan at the beginning of July, but it expired on July 31st because that is when my contract with my school expired, and my school didn’t issue the new contract for the next school year until after I had already left Taiwan. I am scheduled to leave the U.S. on August 23rd and arrive back in Taiwan on the 24th.

Since my work visa has already expired, I plan to re-enter Taiwan with a 30-day visa-exempt entry (I have a U.S. passport), and then get my visa-exempt entry converted to a work visa. But I’m worried because at the Taiwan Bureau of Consular Affairs website (boca.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=1443&ctNode=116), it lists this as one of the requirements for visa-exempt entry:

“A confirmed return air/sea ticket or an air/sea ticket and a visa for the next destination, and a confirmed seat reservation for departure.”

I came to the U.S. with a round-trip plane ticket, departing from Taiwan, and then scheduled to return to Taiwan. So when I arrive in Taiwan on August 24th, I won’t have any plane ticket for departing from Taiwan during the next 30 days.

So my question is: Do I really need to have a plane ticket for leaving Taiwan within the next 30 days? When they stamp “visa-exempt entry” in people’s passports, do they ever ask to see a plane ticket for leaving Taiwan?

I don’t want to end up like Tom Hanks in the movie “The Terminal” (having to live at the airport because of not having a valid visa)!

This is a long discussed situation. You might be okay and you might not. You almost for sure won’t have an issue at immigration though. The problem that you could run into is at check in in the US. Your airline might check (less than 50/50 in my experience) to see if you have an onward ticket before they let you board the plane. If you don’t they will require that you buy one at the counter before boarding the plane.

Hello Folks - the information provided on these forums has been highly useful. It has helped me a lot and I would like to share my experience with you in brief. Situation - arrived here on a 120 days No Extension visitor visa for pursuing Mandarin course and spend more time with my Taiwanese Girlfriend. Initially was enrolled for a 2 month course, completed and enrolled for another 3 months(MOFA told me that it is possible to remove No Extension if I want to continue with studies and can show the necessary certificates). Fell in love with Taiwan and decided to stay here for longer - searched around and got a job as International Sales. Company was able to get me the work permit (they needed a scanned copy of my Masters degree, previous pay slips, pass port and Visa) - however when went to apply for ARC, was told that ARC can not be issued with a no extension visa and I need to go to MOFA office and get an extendable visa before applying for ARC. Talked to MOFA and they said that no extension can not be removed unless I plan on continuing with Studies. Further, even if I continue with studies, ARC to work will not be issued using this VISA (as the purpose of granting the visa is studies). ARC for continuing studies is possible via this route. Since I had the option of Visa exempt entry (valid US Visa) - went to Hong Kong for a weekend. The airlines did check my outbound flight from Taiwan when I was returning from Hong kong (had booked it before leaving). Immediately after returning, the next day I went to MOFA office, showed them the Visa exempt entry and Work Permit, and they asked me to apply for Visitor Visa. I provided the filled form the same day along with required documentation (copy of work permit, photos, passport, visa exempt entry and US Visa), and they have asked me to collect the passport in next few days. Once I get the Visitor Visa - I can directly go to immigration office and apply ARC.

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 怖äș€éƒšé ˜äș‹äș‹ć‹™ć±€ (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 ć…„ć‡șćœ‹ćŠç§»æ°‘çœČ (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 ć‹žć·„ć§”ć“Ąæœƒć‡œ (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 ć‹žć·„ć§”ć“Ąæœƒć‡œ (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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Good luck!

Hello, sorry for reviving this thread but I was wondering if the information posted by Mark_Nagel is still valid or if the regulations have changed since December 2013.

He also mentions that:

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.

Does this mean that when I apply for the ARC with this single entry visitor visa I will still not be able to re-enter the country or the ARC allows for multiple re-entries by default?

Thank you!

Hi! Im from philippines and we only have 14days visa exempt entry to taiwan. What is the best possible way for me to have an ARC? My Mom’s employer in taiwan told us tjat i should get ARC first for me to have the job they offer. Help me please. Thanks

If you provide more details, you may get more specific information. How old are you? What is your mother’s status in Taiwan? On work based ARC? Spouse of taiwanese? Taiwanese citizen? What kind of job you want to get?

Anyway, you cannot convert your visa exempt entry to ARC in Taiwan.

You will get some information from the web site of “Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines” .
https://www.roc-taiwan.org/ph_en/index.html

Some pages you might want to check.

Visitor visa for Employment-Seeking Purpose
https://www.boca.gov.tw/cp-158-4158-09d5a-2.html

Visa for White-Collar Employment/ Investment/ Internship/ Business Training/ Entrepreneurs/ Cooks
https://www.roc-taiwan.org/ph_en/post/1985.html

For Foreign Workers to work in Taiwan
https://www.wda.gov.tw/en/Content_List.aspx?n=9C5B2858AA5E7B50

How does a foreign laborer renew or apply for an ARC?
https://www.immigration.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=1090281&ctNode=30085&mp=2

Hi Tando! Thanks for the reply. Im 26yo. My mom is a spouse of a taiwanese and she herself too is a taiwanese citizen already. Ive been to taiwan mamy times before but only stay there for a week or days. Now i want to work there. Do i have to apply for a visitors visa ,and get arc?is thatmpossible? Thankyou