So I have a criminal record in Taiwan. And the law says I am banned to re-enter Taiwan for certain years starting the day I leave Taiwan. It is not deportation, I can leave whenever I want but seems like I can’t re-enter for some years. The question is
They stamp a letter i.e. “C” in your passport but they won’t officially tell you the length of your ban. Unofficially they’ll probably tell you 5 years or 10 years.
So when I leave Taiwan and when they scan my passport they’ll see my criminal record on the computer and stamp that letter on my passport… Is it right? What if I use e-gate?
The length is set as follows.
III. Any foreign national having a criminal record in Taiwan shall be banned from entry for a period of time as prescribed below:
a. Having been sentenced to 5 years or longer in prison by the court, the subject shall be banned from entry for 10 years;
b. Having been sentenced to more than 3 years but less than 5 years in prison by the court, the subject shall be banned from entry for 9 years;
c. Having been sentenced to more than a year but less than 3 years in prison by the court, the subject shall be banned from entry for 8 years;
d. Having been sentenced to less than a year in prison by the court, the subject shall be banned from entry for 7 years;
e. Having been given a suspended sentence by the court, the subject shall be banned from entry for 6 years;
f. Having been subjected to detention or fine by the court, the subject shall be banned from entry for 5 years, and those who commit a sham marriage shall be banned from entry for 7 years;
g. Having been subjected to detention or fined and given a suspended sentence to prison or being exempted from any penalty by the court, the subject shall be banned from entry for 3 years;
h. Having been placed under drug rehabilitation in violation of the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act, the subject shall be banned from entry for 5 years. If the prosecutor considers the subject to be free of further inclination for drug use and decides non-prosecution, the subject shall be banned from entry for 3 years;
i. Having been given a deferred prosecution by the prosecutor, the subject shall be banned from entry for 3 years but commit a sham marriage shall be banned from entry for 5 years;
j. Having been given a non-prosecution by the prosecutor, the subject shall be ban from entry for 3 years. Otherwise, a five-year entry ban shall be imposed for those having committed a sham marriage. Anyone meeting the conditions stated in Article 252 of the Code of Criminal Procedure shall be exempted from any entry ban.
The period of the entry ban as prescribed in the preceding paragraph starts from the day following the exit of the foreign national.
If the foreign national has a criminal record in a foreign country, Paragraph one above shall apply and the period of entry ban starts from the day of conviction.
Does this have anything to do with ARC renewal? If I apply for ARC extension and NOT leave Taiwan, will they refuse to extend it due to my criminal record?
So what happens when you get a new passport before the ban is over? US passports change numbers for a new passport. Though I suppose they could match your name, date of birth, and picture even if the passport number is different.
Don’t they also check fingerprints on arrival?
True. Forgot about that. Plus they take your picture on arrival. So if they link the ban to bio-metric data, a banned person probably can’t get in. I don’t know if bio-metric data is the ID or it just confirms the ID.
When they submit the list of passengers for the flight to the Taiwan authorities, it’s possible the name might also be flagged and boarding might be denied or further inspection upon arrival might be done.
EDIT : I don’t think they scan your eyes. Think it’s just taking your picture on arrival.
So does this mean when they scan my passport they see my criminal record and stamp C on my passport? What happens if I use e-gate? Because I really don’t want any kind of ugly stamps on my passport.
You won’t be able to use the e-gate. The immigration officer will enter a whole lot of particulars into the system to make sure you can’t get back in. But I wouldn’t really worry, its not an ugly stamp, just a code letter. You get home get a new passport if you want. But please don’t try and come back in. It won’t work.
Thanks, the_bear. I understand that I can’t use e-gate if I try to re-enter. What I meant is, if I use e-gate when I leave can I avoid that C stamp since we don’t get any stamps when using the e-gate. Or is it people with criminal records won’t be able to use e-gates anymore even when they leave?
If you have a criminal record, you cannot use e-gate.
申請及使用入出國證照查驗自動通關系統作業要點
http://law.immigration.gov.tw/immigr-law/cp.jsp?displayLaw=true&lawId=8a8a99f138ddce8c0138ea8eed730100
申請人有下列情形之一者，不得使用自動查驗通關系統：
（二） 外國人依入出國及移民法第十八條及二十一條規定受有禁止出國、入國處分。
Immigration Act
http://law.moj.gov.tw/MOBILE/lawEng.aspx?pcode=D0080132
Article 18
National Immigration Agency shall prohibit an alien from entering the State if he/she meets one of the following circumstance:
7. Has a criminal record in the State or foreign countries.
Oh. Means no way of escaping the criminal stamp on my passport when I leave Taiwan… 
Unless your passport gets lost or stolen on your trip home, the authorities in your home-country will become aware of that stamp. 
Does this mean the immigration officer in my home country will recognize the stamp and possibly record my Taiwan’s criminal status? 
I don’t know that, but I assume that they are trained to look for strange marks and know what most of them mean.
Yeah but, nah but. I doubt it. Its a small stamp next to your last Taiwan visa. When you repatriate yourself immigration aren’t going to read your passport from cover to cover are they?
Since you aren’t being deported or serving time your crime must be pretty minor and won’t be in an Interpol type database.
Thanks. If I get the C stamp on my passport and go back home and get a new passport, will the C thing still be visible in the computers when they scan my passport at immigrations in other countries?
Certainly not.
you can ask this to NIA. Immigration Act says you cannot apply ARC or change the purpose of ARC with a criminal record, but nothing on extension. You might be able to renew your current ARC.