Hi! I’ve been wanting to get a Taiwanese citizenship for years but my parents always weren’t able to go through the process because it’s too expensive, so I guess I’ll just have to wait until I earn my own money. It might’ve been easier when I was a minor, too. I’m turning nineteen in July.
I was not born in Taiwan, nor do I live there. I do, however, have Taiwanese relatives, and my mother has a Taiwan passport (with Chinese citizenship; I don’t know how that works). I think I read once that I can get a Taiwanese citizenship by dual citizenship until 18 years old only, because Taiwan considers 19 to be an adult? I don’t mind giving up my current citizenship, too, as I don’t really care about it. So now I have to go through the naturalization process, right? Would it be easier to get a Taiwanese citizenship if I already have Taiwanese relatives?
I would also like to know the possible (estimated) cost of this, because all my family tells me is that it’s expensive. I want to know how expensive, and why it becomes expensive?
Costs.
$100 or so for the passport.
$1000 plane ticket ride out here to enter on your Passport. 12,000? for the year that you have to live here to establish residency. Cheaper if you can live with relatives. More if you have to or want to rent your own place.
? A year of lost wages if you have a job.
Are you a dude? You may have to join the army so there’s another 18 months.
Hi, thank you for the response! do you mind if I ask some questions though?
Why only a year? And when you put it that way, it’s actually not too expensive (I can get cheaper plane tickets as I live in Asia). I thought I would need to get a lawyer and everything, especially renouncing my current citizenship?
You have to first get a Taiwanese passport and enter on it. Then you have to live here for one year continuously or xxx days spread over 2 years before you can apply for your ID card. You don’t need a lawyer. You don’t need to renounce your current citizenship if one of your parents have a Taiwanese ID card. Visit or contact the nearest TECO office and ask them what the procedure is. The first step is getting your overseas passport. I don’t remember it being very hard nor expensive.
[quote=“milkeu”]Hi! I’ve been wanting to get a Taiwanese citizenship for years but my parents always weren’t able to go through the process because it’s too expensive, so I guess I’ll just have to wait until I earn my own money. It might’ve been easier when I was a minor, too. I’m turning nineteen in July.
I was not born in Taiwan, nor do I live there. I do, however, have Taiwanese relatives, and my mother has a Taiwan passport (with Chinese citizenship; I don’t know how that works). I think I read once that I can get a Taiwanese citizenship by dual citizenship until 18 years old only, because Taiwan considers 19 to be an adult? I don’t mind giving up my current citizenship, too, as I don’t really care about it. So now I have to go through the naturalization process, right? Would it be easier to get a Taiwanese citizenship if I already have Taiwanese relatives?
I would also like to know the possible (estimated) cost of this, because all my family tells me is that it’s expensive. I want to know how expensive, and why it becomes expensive?
Thank you! I hope I provided enough information.[/quote]
What are you current citizenships?
What about your parents?
Are your parents married?
What year were you born?
Your original post leaves out a lot of important details.
My aunt told me I can’t get a Taiwanese passport without first getting a Taiwanese citizenship. She does have a Taiwanese ID card but she’s still a Chinese citizen with a Taiwanese passport (she can only stay visa-free in Taiwan for six months). I definitely will go to TECO soon enough though, I just wanted to know of some basic things in general so I won’t be too clueless. ^^’
[quote=“hsinhai78”]What are you current citizenships?
What about your parents?
Are your parents married?
What year were you born?
Your original post leaves out a lot of important details.[/quote]
I would rather not mention my current citizenship. My mother is a Chinese citizen, as mentioned in the OP, but has a Taiwanese passport. My parents are married. I was born in 1997.
Your aunt is wrong. In Taiwan ID card = citizenship and so if you’re born here, you get assigned an ID number and then you can get a passport. But in your case and with the thousands of Overseas Taiwanese, you must first apply for a passport and then the ID card. If your mom has an ID and a Taiwanese passport, then she doesn’t need a visa and can stay as long as she wants. I’m guessing that she has a Taiwanese passport but maybe not the ID card and so she needs a visa to enter? The overseas passport does not have an ID number in it while a Taiwanese citizen’s passport does.
Does her ID look like this?
[quote=“kaikai34”]Your aunt is wrong. In Taiwan ID card = citizenship and so if you’re born here, you get assigned an ID number and then you can get a passport. But in your case and with the thousands of Overseas Taiwanese, you must first apply for a passport and then the ID card. If your mom has an ID and a Taiwanese passport, then she doesn’t need a visa and can stay as long as she wants. I’m guessing that she has a Taiwanese passport but maybe not the ID card and so she needs a visa to enter? The overseas passport does not have an ID number in it while a Taiwanese citizen’s passport does.
Does her ID look like this? [/quote]
Ahh, no, hers is kind of yellow in color. I don’t really care about my current citizenship though, so I don’t mind losing it. I’m not sure if that would be the one that would be expensive though, and looking into the requirements in the TECO website it seems pretty simple and I don’t know what “long and complicated” process everyone’s telling me.
Does your father have citizenship? You need to have at least one parent with the ID card to be able to apply for (dual) citizenship and there’s no need to give up your current mysterious citizenship. If you don’t have a parent then you will have to go the naturalization route giving up your current citizenship but that process is completely different. You would not get a Taiwanese passport first and you have to live in Taiwan for something like 5 or 6 years before you can become a citizen.
Read this thread.
[url]How to get Taiwan Citizenship - Primer, FAQ, and Resources
Applying as an overseas Taiwanese seems to me a much easier route.
[quote=“milkeu”][quote=“kaikai34”]Your aunt is wrong. In Taiwan ID card = citizenship and so if you’re born here, you get assigned an ID number and then you can get a passport. But in your case and with the thousands of Overseas Taiwanese, you must first apply for a passport and then the ID card. If your mom has an ID and a Taiwanese passport, then she doesn’t need a visa and can stay as long as she wants. I’m guessing that she has a Taiwanese passport but maybe not the ID card and so she needs a visa to enter? The overseas passport does not have an ID number in it while a Taiwanese citizen’s passport does.
Does her ID look like this? [/quote]
Ahh, no, hers is kind of yellow in color. I don’t really care about my current citizenship though, so I don’t mind losing it. I’m not sure if that would be the one that would be expensive though, and looking into the requirements in the TECO website it seems pretty simple and I don’t know what “long and complicated” process everyone’s telling me.
Thank you very much for your help! ^^[/quote]
You have some good advise already. My wife and I are dual citizen (US and Taiwan). We went to TECO and got our 2 kids their Taiwan passports. It is very simple. Just one visit, and we showed them our own passports and their relationship with us. Paid something like $35 us dollars for each. A week or so later, they got their passports, and an
‘Entry permit’ sticker. Both valid for 10 years. This is the process if you are 20 years and younger.
I am not sure if my ABC kids would want to stay in Taiwan. We did this for them just so they have an option if they do want to . My wife and I do plan to come back to Taiwan after we retire.
Don’t think too hard about it. Give your local TECO a call and ask about your own specific situation. They are very friendly and eager to assist Taiwanese. If you have never dealt with Taiwanese official workers, your will be very pleasantly surprised.
[quote=“kaikai34”]Does your father have citizenship? You need to have at least one parent with the ID card to be able to apply for (dual) citizenship and there’s no need to give up your current mysterious citizenship. If you don’t have a parent then you will have to go the naturalization route giving up your current citizenship but that process is completely different. You would not get a Taiwanese passport first and you have to live in Taiwan for something like 5 or 6 years before you can become a citizen.
Read this thread.
[url]How to get Taiwan Citizenship - Primer, FAQ, and Resources
Applying as an overseas Taiwanese seems to me a much easier route.[/quote]
He doesn’t. So I need to go through the naturalization process? I thought the passport itself would be enough, since the requirements said ROC passport, Taiwan ID card, or Taiwan Household Registration Certificate, and the fact that my mom has the passport but both my grandparents were Chinese.
[quote=“fh2000”]You have some good advise already. My wife and I are dual citizen (US and Taiwan). We went to TECO and got our 2 kids their Taiwan passports. It is very simple. Just one visit, and we showed them our own passports and their relationship with us. Paid something like $35 us dollars for each. A week or so later, they got their passports, and an
‘Entry permit’ sticker. Both valid for 10 years. This is the process if you are 20 years and younger.
I am not sure if my ABC kids would want to stay in Taiwan. We did this for them just so they have an option if they do want to . My wife and I do plan to come back to Taiwan after we retire.
Don’t think too hard about it. Give your local TECO a call and ask about your own specific situation. They are very friendly and eager to assist Taiwanese. If you have never dealt with Taiwanese official workers, your will be very pleasantly surprised.[/quote]
I do hope it is that easy, but I’ll have to call them to ask to be sure, especially since my mom only holds a Taiwan passport. ^^ Thank you, though!
Age of majority in Taiwan is 20, so until 19 you’re considered a minor for all intents and purposes. Wikipedia’s article on Taiwanese passport is surprisingly complete - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_passport - and what distinguishes a citizen from a national who does not have the right to reside in Taiwan indefinitely is if they have an ID number (not necessarily the physical ID).
If the person is registered or can be registered in a household, they can apply for an ID, an ID number will then be assigned and the physical card printed. The person should then apply for a new passport, which will contain their ID number.
If your mother has a Taiwanese passport with ID number, she’s a citizen, otherwise she’s a national without household registration. Either way, you can still have a Taiwanese passport without ID number by submitting proof of your mom’s ROC nationality (passport), making you a national without household registration. If she’s a citizen and since you’re a minor, I believe you may still establish household registration, but this has to be done in Taiwan - and you’ll need all sorts of authenticated documents, translations: birth certificate, parent’s marriage certificate, etc., but only the proper office can give you a detailed list.
If she’s not a citizen, then you must live in Taiwan for either (1) continuously for one year, (2) 270 days per year for two years, or (3) 183 days per year for five years. Once you have fulfilled this requirement you may establish household registration. This process does not equal naturalization, you’ll never be required to relinquish any citizenship you currently have.
You should really contact the Taiwan Affairs Office in your location (it’s often called TECO) and ask them about this. It’s true that people are considered minors until they are 20 in Taiwan. However, if your mother does not have an ID number in her passport, then things might be complicated for you. Just phone the representatives wherever you are and ask.
This may have been covered already so if it has I apologize in advance for being too lazy to search the thread. But:
What if someone who wants to naturalize already has more than one citizenship? For example, let’s say somebody who grew up in New Zealand and immigrated to Australia in their 20s has both Australian citizenship and New Zealand citizenship (quite common). They’ve been living and working in Taiwan for the requisite amount of time. When they go to apply for naturalization, are they supposed to provide proof of renunciation of both their New Zealand citizenship AND their Australian citizenship? What if they entered Taiwan on a fresh New Zealand passport and never used an Australian passport in Taiwan or visa versa? How would the Taiwanese government know of their other citizenship? Let’s expand this further, what about somebody with 3 citizenships? Or 4?
Another thing I’m curious about, somebody in another thread said that Taiwan allows dual citizenship for Taiwanese. So let’s say you just have Australian citizenship. You naturalize as a Taiwanese, and of course in the process give up your Australian citizenship. Fast forward, you are a full blown Taiwanese citizen with an ID card and a passport which has your Taiwanese ID number in it. For all intents and purposes, you are a local Taiwanese. For whatever reason, you decide to go back to Australia to live. Since Australia allows for rather straightforward resumption of previously held Australian citizenship, could you simply resume your Australian citizenship without the Taiwanese government giving a damn? Or do they treat naturalized Taiwanese differently to born Taiwanese in this regard?
I have seen a discussion about this in the past, but I’m not sure of the upshot. I think it was a case of a man who gave up his UK passport to naturalize in Taiwan, then went back to the UK to reclaim his British citizenship.
Though I don’t know what the real rules about this are, I would suspect that it wouldn’t go down so well on the Taiwanese side. Dual (or multiple)-nationality only works for people with “blood ties” to Taiwan (and even mixed people with Taiwanese mothers didn’t qualify until relatively recently, as nationality was patrilineal).
I could be wrong, but gaming the system is typically frowned upon. Your best bet is probably asking someone who’s already tried it.
But if it’s so important that you keep your other passports, why don’t you just get an APRC or whatever is the closest thing to a green card that Taiwan has? Are there any real benefits to naturalizing? You’re obviously not an American that gains from not having to pay taxes.
Actually it’s more of a thing I’m interested in learning about rather than actually doing myself. I don’t have any solid plans of even ever visiting Taiwan.
Hi, I’m pretty much in the same boat as the original poster.
Both my parents are Taiwanese and registered into households. I possess a Taiwan passport with no ID number. Planning to apply for citizenship when I head over to Taiwan soon.
What I want to know is what documents I will need to apply for citizenship e.g. Birth certificate, police clearance etc. Don’t want to go there and have some document missing.
She does have a Taiwanese ID card but she’s still a Chinese citizen with a Taiwanese passport (she can only stay visa-free in Taiwan for six months). I definitely will go to TECO soon enough though, I just wanted to know of some basic things in general so I won’t be too clueless. ^^’
So I need to go through the naturalization process? I thought the passport itself would be enough, since the requirements said ROC passport, Taiwan ID card, 