How to get Taiwan Citizenship - Primer, FAQ, and Resources

Hey bismarck, if it makes you feel any better about SA the British Home Office are a bunch of fuckers too. Their answer to everything is to call back in 6 months. I have a feeling this is going to take some time…

It does, mate. It does.

But know this. I feel for you. I really do. The bureaucracy sucks donkey c*ck. :2cents:

ouch, that hurts!! UK ( Britian ) and all her ex colonies still suffer from loads of red tape…

Hang in there mate!!

BTW the MOI office decided that I could use the married route after all, the Taiwan side have all been super nice from the start. Also both household registration and MOI are surprisingly organized for government offices - it was a few months since I last went in and a few people had left since then so I was worried it was going to take a few hours explaining everything again. Not so, they had all of my docs on file and notes explaining where we were up to so the final application took maybe 10 minutes at most. :thumbsup:

that’s been my experience too, everything on the Taiwan side was super fast, as long as all the paperwork for that particular stage in the process was in order. So once they took the documents and told me, “Okay you will get so and so thing by registered mail”, if they said 7 days I got stuff in the mail on the 3rd day, if they said 3 weeks I got stuff within 14 days.

wherever some paper work was not in order, they guided me and told me exactly what I need to get and from where.

Everything was super fast for me also except for the verification of renunciation. :thumbsup:

Just called the Home Office, advised to call back in 4 months. Uh thanks.

What are you waiting for? Renunciation?

I have less than nine months to go. It feels like time is standing still, or at the very least dragging it’s feet at a snails pace.

hang it there Llary…

ha ha Bis I know that feeling!! this will be, by far, the longest year of your life!!

Yeh renunciation, I don’t want to apply for HR right away because I’m still eligible for military service.

[quote=“speed_maniac”]hang it there Llary…

ha ha Bis I know that feeling!! this will be, by far, the longest year of your life!![/quote]
Starting to feel that way, mate.

Sheesh, they seem to be even worse than the Saffa Home Affairs Office was. Hang in there!

:unamused: Waiting and waiting and waiting. How does one get through this extra year? :ponder:

Geez, it does take forever! It’s driving me nuts, but I’m just trying to think of other things, and take care of other plans.

Frikking ridiculous, though. :wall:

Geez, it does take forever! It’s driving me nuts, but I’m just trying to think of other things, and take care of other plans.

Frikking ridiculous, though. :wall:[/quote]

Well if you’re counting the days, then it would really take forever. Try to make a plan of what you’re going to do when you finally get that ID. Then get on with your life. Don’t even try to look at the calendar. The worst is already over, you are now a Taiwan National.

Not so. I got my renunciation ( paid a small fee for the renunciation application only ) done by immigration in Australia, notorized, translated into Traditional Chinese, issued with 5 Notarized originals, all for free, as considered necessary documents in a matter of a couple of weeks. Then sent to the TECO Canberra who then stamped them again, sent to Taipei and stamped by MOFA. All in all less than 5 weeks from the time I sent them. When I re-applied for my Australian Citizenship ( Cost A$70 for application fee ) Notarizations free, post this year I got an email two weeks later advising me they needed my Taiwan Police Certificates, after I sent them they emailed to confirm they were received and had my Australian Citizenship restored. All in less than 8 weeks. They then sent my Aussie Citizensip to ACIO in Taipei to go and collect later on. Was funny as I had to get a visitor Visa to visit Australia in February then later come back and get my citizenship certificate from the same staff.

Bismark will do his one year just as I did. At least he knew it was coming. I didn’t know so it came as a shock when I got my TARC. Anyways after 12 months he does another medical and police clearance then he gets a letter from Ministry of Interrior ( who also send a registered letter to the household registration office ) for hom to go get his ID card and Hukou. Bismark make sure you get to choose your ID number. I did. I made the excuse I needed a number easy to remember.

Hope the time passes for your quickly Bismark. I know what you are going through even though it’s been a 13 or more years.

Well good for you, cause the UK charges 225 fine British pounds then tells you to fuck off and call back in 6 months if you just want to check that they received the paperwork.

[quote=“Satellite TV”]Bismark will do his one year just as I did. At least he knew it was coming. I didn’t know so it came as a shock when I got my TARC. Anyways after 12 months he does another medical and police clearance then he gets a letter from Ministry of Interrior ( who also send a registered letter to the household registration office ) for hom to go get his ID card and Hukou. Bismark make sure you get to choose your ID number. I did. I made the excuse I needed a number easy to remember.

Hope the time passes for your quickly Bismark. I know what you are going through even though it’s been a 13 or more years.[/quote]
As Dasaint said, I’m just making plans and getting on with other things to take my mind off it. The next eight months will surely be over before I know it. No worries.

Well good for you, cause the UK charges 225 fine British pounds then tells you to fuck off and call back in 6 months if you just want to check that they received the paperwork.[/quote]
Almsot as bad as South Africa was, mate. Hang in there.

Well one would think nowadays that government officials should be using emails to keep people updated as things progress.

Will your children lose their UK Nationality if you renounce and then reclaim it when you do later on? As you may know, my son would have lost his Aussie Citizenship if he had ROC Nationality from being born here to an ROC Parent. But at the time in 1991 ROC Nationality could only come from the father at that time. So no ROC Nationality for him back then. Once his ARC expired when he turned 20 in March this year ( he was in Australia at Uni by then ) he simply rocked up to the TECO office in Sydney, showed he was born here, has an ROC national parent ( he had to show my Hukou and ID card at the Teco office ) was able to get a Taiwan passport ( using his mothers family name, by both parents signing a form consenting to this ) and in a few days had his ROC passport in hand and did not have to not renounce his Aussie Citizenship. He is back here now on a Taiwan passport with no ID card but he can get one anytime by registering for his Hukou and ID card any time he likes. He will do that after either finishing uni or once he has started at RMC Officer cadet school in the Oz Army if he gets in there. So he can come and go as he likes for uni without the need to worry about getting drafted for military here. They don’t draft active uni students anyways but it’s nice to ensure the choice is his.

British nationality is passed on as long as the father or mother was British at the time of birth.

Honestly though I don’t think it’s a big deal if they do or don’t have it.

[quote=“llary”]British nationality is passed on as long as the father or mother was British at the time of birth.

Honestly though I don’t think it’s a big deal if they do or don’t have it.[/quote]

Cool, look forward to chatting when we meet up in Taichung next week.