Family naturalization questions

Hi All,

We are a family of foreigners living in Taiwan long time. I am an APRC holder and my wife is on dependent ARC.
We are seriously thinking about naturalization with possible renouncing our original citizenship. AFAIK the authority will consider us independently. For this and for some other reason we have to initiate our applications separately in time: first me, then (after few years) my wife. The advantage for her is she will go through “marriage to Taiwanese” route.
So, here we have several questions which I hope some of you can help:

  1. Assuming I will start the application for myself. How HHR will proceed my case because I am married and the spouse still keep its original citizenship? Will they make any record about?
  2. Does that automatically mean that after approval I immediately lose my APRC status and get TARC one?
  3. How about my wife status? will she need to apply some change from dependent ARC to somewhat else?
  4. When my wife will be eligible to apply for JFRV (including working rights)? only after I will get national ID? or early?
  5. How 3 years of residence for my wife as a wife of national is counted? from JFRV issue date or might be early?
  6. When my wife will submit her naturalization application how we can prove we are married? with using our old marriage certificate issued by our original home country?

I think our situation should not be very special but I cannot find any information for the case of family naturalization, even the paperwork looks not very clear. Any help or suggestions are welcome!

Thank you in advance!

No any response so far. I guess my situation is some kind unusual. So, may I ask for those single applicants who passed the naturalization process. How HHR people determine the marital status of the applicant? I am sure they would need to fill some field in their form (at least to issue ID) like “single/married” and the name of the spouse. But it looks that no any marriage documents is requested in the standard application list.

Do you have anything that could make you qualify as an “exceptional” foreigner under the new rules?

Do you mean a recent amendment to the Naturalization Act which may allow dual citizenship to some high-level professionals? I wish I can but AFAIK the procedure is not finalized yet. I think I can qualify in two areas in technology category. I am not sure how it may help because my wife cannot qualify.

Have you been to the household registration office to ask these questions? Have you tried emailing?

There’s a discussion of it here:

If only one of you retains the original citizenship, does that make it easier for the rest of you to regain it after acquiring ROC citizenship?

No, I did not visit or email them yet. Actually, my Chinese is close to zero. For sure, some day I will go there. But, you know, I would like to have some background in advance.

maybe yes, maybe not. I did not check yet. For us, gaining Taiwanese citizenship is the major concern right now.

Can you pass the language requirement?

Good question! Since I never learned Chinese. But I still think I should be able to pass the test. After checking the up-to-day questions Written test questions and applying Northcoast_Surfer’s guide with minor updates I can get the average score ~76% just after a few days practice. BTW this practice link I found very helpful.

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Hi Alex1000,
Can you please provide the link again for the practice link of the written exam? It seems that the page can no longer be found. Thank you and appreciate your help :).

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@Alex1000 did you naturalize yet?

What is the pass %?

Here is an updated link It is quite useful. I made just 1 error at the real exam.

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So, how is the procedure going?

For Simplykc, anotehr option is to take government sponsored lessons at your local school, cheaper practically free. Inquire at HHR.

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the process is almost finished (crossed fingers). I will make update. I promise.

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Thank you so much :grinning:

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Hi Icon,
I actually did. I have enrolled for more than a year in one of the public schools that offer the Government Chinese Sponsored Lesson and yes, for free. However when I checked with HHR, they told me that since I am an APRC holder by profession and not married to Taiwanese, I need to study in any of their bigger Taiwan Universities instead to gain the 200 hours requirement :(. So I am looking at the possibility of taking the written exam instead since acquiring the 200 hours (450 NT/hour) is too costly. Thank you :grinning:

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Yipes! That is a very important detail. And yes, if your language skills are enough, then a 500 NTD test sounds more reasonable moneywise.

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yes it is :grinning: