Months ago, I posted a thread about a set of proposed amendments that would liberalize the Immigration Act in favor of resident foreigners in Taiwan and overseas-born Taiwanese hoping to settle in Taiwan: forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … 6&t=112828
myoungabr2 also posted another thread on the same topic here: forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … 6&t=121263
The amendments were formally proposed by the Executive Yuan in late 2012 and have been sitting in the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Affairs Committee for the past few months. For the past few weeks, myoungabr2 has been personally meeting with legislators and their staff in an attempt to persuade them to move this thing up the agenda and pass it sooner rather than later.
myoungabr2 has also created this petition which he hopes to show to the legislators once we receive 100 signatures. Please take the time to show your support! This will likely affect you if you are a PARC/ARC holder in Taiwan or an overseas-born Taiwanese.
PETITION HERE: change.org/petitions/taiwan … e_petition
In a nutshell, the amendment abolishes the requirement that adult overseas-born children of Taiwanese citizens reside in Taiwan for a certain period of time before being eligible for ID cards and other citizenship benefits. In addition, it helps foreigners residing in Taiwan in a bunch of ways: Article 33: PARC holder only needs to visit Taiwan once every 5 years to maintain PARC status (changed from the requirement that the PARC holder needs to reside within Taiwan at least 183 days per calendar year to maintain residency). Article 22: the multi-stage process of applying for a work permit (CLA), residence visa (MOFA), ARC and reentry permit (NIA) through different government agencies is simplified into a one-step process for incoming white collar workers. Article 25: extends permanent resident status to the spouse and minor children of PARC holders.
Gnaij, thanks for the post. If we can get virtual signatures from Forumosa members-- both second generation Taiwanese Americans and also foreigners who are interested in living/working in Taiwan-- it will be of great help in my meetings with the legislators to show that there are hundreds of supporters of changing this law that will benefit us all. All it takes is three minutes of your time to sign this online petition, so please find some time to help me with this matter that is so close, but yet so far.
An alternate shortened link to the Petition can be found HERE: chn.ge/1bEq0Xq
Please forward to all your friends and family or any of your contacts with ties to Taiwan.
Can you explain this a bit more as I don’t see anywhere that explains how this is helpful to foreigners? You are claiming it does but the petition does not.
The changes to the PARC requirements aren’t mentioned in the petition, but they are included in the legislation
that the petition is urging the Legislative Yuan to pass.
[quote=“Dr. Milker”]The changes to the PARC requirements aren’t mentioned in the petition, but they are included in the legislation
that the petition is urging the Legislative Yuan to pass.[/quote]
I got that, except for the lack of a link to the legislation. Sorry, I don’t, and most don’t, sign petitions in a foreign country without clearly knowing what I am doing.
This link is to the Legislative Yuan’s status on the amendments, which includes the link to the text as submitted by the Executive Yuan for the Legislative Yuan’s consideration: misq.ly.gov.tw/MISQ/IQuery/misq5 … 6070100100
I suggest, as others here have done, that you include in your comments when signing this the particular provision that applies to you even if it is not mentioned in the petition yourself. The signing comments will be forwarded to the legislators as well. This whole package of amendments are intended to be passed in one go, as has happened in the past (though, as always, subject to modification in the Legislative Yuan).
Nor do I. Which is why I followed the helpful link on the petition page, read exactly what was included in the
legislation…and then signed.[/quote]
Well, you must have damn good Chinese to be so confident in your ability to understand the legislation that you are willing to sign a petition saying you agree with it.
And frankly, if the OP doesn’t understand that most foreigners in Taiwan are not going to be able to confidently read the legislation then he needs to rethink what he is doing asking for support here.
I see 27 signatures so far. That is telling considering this is an issue many of us care about.
OP: I am with Muzha Man in wondering about what you expect some of us to do here. I am sympathetic and would gladly support the proposed legislation–but I’m sorry I cannot sign the petition as along as it opens with the words: “We, the sons and daughters of Taiwanese citizens around the world.”
For the non-Chinese readers out there, here’s a quick summary of the changes in the amendment that are relevant to PARC holders and other resident foreigners:
Article 22
Enables “white collar” workers who enter Taiwan on a visa or visa free to apply for residence visa, work permit, ARC and reentry permit through single application process within 30 days of entry
Article 25
Allows spouse and minor children of PARC holders to also obtain PARC
Article 31
Main change allows foreign residents who are injured on the job to stay past the date their ARC expires if they are undergoing medical treatment
Article 33
Allows PARC holders to maintain residency status just by making sure that stays abroad are under five years
Yes, the wording of the petition could have been more inclusive, considering that the proposed amendment includes benefits for all stripes of non-citizens. On the other hand, I can’t blame Mr. Young for starting a petition mainly with his own interests in mind.
But the fact remains that the petition supports passage of an amendment that will make life easier for all of us, not just “the sons and daughters of Taiwanese citizens around the world.” Anyway, that’s why I signed it….
All, yes, certainly the petition I made was written for my own pathway to Taiwanese dual citizenship-- by virtue of my mother being a Taiwanese national. You are correct that the petition was originally written to appeal to the tens of thousands of overseas Taiwanese Americans who now currently do not have a direct right to return to Taiwan and reclaim citizenship here. When I am meeting with legislators here in Taipei or discussing the issue with Taiwanese business groups like the World Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce (wtcc.org.tw/v2/index.php/zh/home), you’ll understand that I need to approach the issue from a perspective that is more in line with their understanding.
I can’t bring this issue to legislators from the point of view of a non-Taiwanese person as this convolutes the message, although I do mention in meetings with them that there are broader benefits to the immigration reform that will streamline the ability for talented foreigners to stay and work in Taiwan and how this will benefit Taiwan’s economy and bring it more in line with that of Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea. As gnaij posted, the same comprehensive immigration bill includes all of the articles summarized by Dr. Milker that will benefit foreigners and facilitate every aspect of their being in Taiwan.
Regarding the interests of non-Taiwanese, I have spoken also with the American Chamber of Commerce (ecct.com.tw/aboutus.aspx?cseq=1&seq=2) about the legislation, and they are both aware about it. If you are an American or European here in Taiwan and the successful passage of this legislation directly affects you, take the time to call or email the staff at the American or European Chambers here in Taipei. I can assure you that them receiving a few dozen calls or emails from you all about the matter on a daily basis will be more likely to persuade them into taking more direct action through their government contacts than only me meeting with them as just one person.
I understand that how the Petition is currently written isn’t broad enough to encompass the diversity of all the members of this board, but I would appreciate your support by signing it and understanding that the same legislation will benefit all of us, whether Taiwanese or non-Taiwanese, in our ability to live and work in Taiwan.
The problem is that some of us think we are entitled to a passport just like you are (due to our long residence and work history and contributions blah blah) so you claiming to be Taiwanese just because your parents are Taiwanese and then saying ‘we are not Taiwanese’ is kind of weird
Sorry, I originally misunderstood your post when I read through it the first time. What I mean to say in the petition is that we should have the right to return to Taiwan and acquire citizenship with all the legal benefits associated with household registration, but until the law changes removing the 365 consecutive day residency period most Taiwanese born overseas will not likely ever be able to qualify for that citizenship. Taiwan currently recognizes us as overseas Taiwanese, hoping to maintain all of the benefits of the diaspora, but until it gives us the right to come back and participate as full citizens, I would think we are in fact viewed much more by the government here as foreigners-- as nationals of the countries in which we presently hold citizenships and passports-- than as actually Taiwanese.
That makes perfect sense to me, as you are nationals of the countries in which you hold citizenship and passports…that’s kind of the definition of that very thing. In fact, I’d go even further and say that, as foreign nationals of non-Taiwanese ancestry are required to renounce their other citizenship to acquire ROC citizenship, those who happen to have Taiwanese ancestry should be treated exactly the same way.
[quote=“Poagao”]
That makes perfect sense to me, as you are nationals of the countries in which you hold citizenship and passports…that’s kind of the definition of that very thing. In fact, I’d go even further and say that, as foreign nationals of non-Taiwanese ancestry are required to renounce their other citizenship to acquire ROC citizenship, those who happen to have Taiwanese ancestry should be treated exactly the same way.[/quote]
Jus sanguinis is overwhelmingly practiced among liberal democracies. I don’t see how Taiwan should be any different. You can easily argue that foreigners should not be required to renounce their existing nationality in order to naturalize. These are separate steps in the same direction.
Maybe those who are illiterate and wanting to naturalize should be excluded from citizenship until they are literate enough to pass a proficiency test in Chinese with listening speaking reading and writing all taken into account?
That seems like a pretty backward way of looking at things. Instead of less freedom and less rights for everyone, why not more? Unless you subscribe to some outdated brand of nationalism that requires you to pledge allegiance to a particular government or plot of land at the exclusion of all others. Why not give responsible, productive people the freedom to lead full lives in the country or countries where they create strong ties?
Are you going to become Taiwanese when you get a Taiwan passport? I thnk Taiwan should just hand out Taiwan passports to immigrants after they have been here a few years. In fact it should be mandatory.[/quote]
