Marriage in Taiwan

Legal Legal - Marriage
21

I think what Richard is saying is that although most countries recognise Taiwan marriages in many places you may have trouble getting a piece of paper that says your country or state or whatever recognises your marriage. Now my home has a register of births deaths and marriages and they state quite clearly that although it is not compulsory, you may register foreign marriages and even get a marriage certificate, so I think that’s me sorted. Other people would have to either check it out first or get married in their home country.

I’m still curious though: what is a Special Foreign Spouse Work Permit?

22

Here is how it worked for me, a New Zealand citizen who married a Taiwan national.

We got married using a form purchased from a stationery store, duly chopped by my wife’s family as witnesses. No court etc was required, but it needs to be recorded in the family book within 3 months. I understand this registration is required even if you marry in court.

This was taken to the office where my wife’s household registration (family book) was recorded, together with the “single certificate” (a recent divorce certificate was not good enough)- In NZ this is issued by Births Deaths and Marriages and can be done by mail. The form is found under “Intention to marry overseas”. A certificate of “no impediment to marriage” is issued. BDM arrange for the Taiwan office in NZ to affix their approval before posting it to you. This document was translated by us and and approved by BOCA (Taiwan) on the second attempt. That the required “corrections” made little sense is not important.

The marriage was recorded in the family book and a copy provided. A Chinese name and chop seemed pretty useful at this point.

So for the resident visa, I had the required medical certificate, family book extract (this is the proof of marriage), and police clearance. NZ police do not issue a police clearance to an individual, but send it to the Taiwan office in NZ who chop it. It has to be collected in person or by a nominated representative, as I understand it, purely because they cannot handle the payment in any other way. This did not require translation.

With resident visa in hand you can then apply for an ARC (must be done in 14 days).

For this I needed the family book extract, passport with resident visa and rent book (as we were not living at the address in the family book).

Sounds simple but it took some time to get the right information at various steps.

Initial approaches to the NZ office in Taiwan were met with indifference, particularly when compared with the immediate assistance when my wife to be rang them (in chinese). The help from the Taiwan office in NZ improved dramaticly when the person I had been dealing with was out, and I spoke to someone else. BOCA also advised me of the Police Clearance procedure by email about the same time I discovered someone helpful in the Taiwan office in NZ.

In theory it can almost all be done in English, but I know from my own experience, and that of friends, that some help from your chinese fiancee can find a lot of answers quickly, even if you are trying to do as much as possible yourself. I learned not to trouble myself with logic during the process. They need the documents listed in the book. That the documents may prove nothing is not important.

As for recognition, NZ and Australia recognise just about any form of marriage from any country.

23

Okay I will put my questions in here just to keep more topics about marriage together. I have some questions that may or may not have already been answered somewhere in the forums, I have searched, but am unable to find the answers. If they are already posted please tell me where.

  1. I want to go back to the US to get married to my fiancee in the near future. What exactely is a single certificate? Where can I get one? And is this document absolutely needed for this type of way to get married?

  2. Where can I pick up a marriage resitration, whould this be filed before I go to the US with my fiancee to get married? Or is this document required after we return to Taiwan?

3 How long is a CCRD valid? Meaning, how long do I have from the time the CCRD is stamped by the police station and then translated into Chinese to the time I give it to the correct people in Taiwan to process the VISA?

  1. After doing all the paperwork and turning the documents over to the police, how long does it take to get the Visa? I think I read this earlier somewhere, it is around 10 days is that right?
    Thanks
24
  1. A “single certificate” documents the fact that you are single. As in most countries, Taiwan only recognizes the “one wife, one husband” type of marriage. If you cannot prove you are single, how can you get married?

The American Institute in Taiwan issues these types of documents. If you are going back to the USA, they could also no doubt advise you of where in your home district you could obtain such official paperwork.

  1. It is most desirable to get married in the country of the foreign spouse. You have stated that this is your plan. Hence, you are definitely moving in the right direction! Back in the USA, you get the CCRD, the single certificate, then you get married, then you get the marriage documents translated into Chinese. Take everything else to the nearest ROC Overseas Office to get certified: the marriage documents and the CCRD. When you arrive back in Taiwan, submit all those documents to MOFA for verification. Then have your ROC spouse get a chop, and the three of you (foreign spouse, ROC spouse, and chop) go to the Household Registration Office and register the marriage. Bingo, you are a registered foreign spouse.

  2. After completing the above, you have a valid CCRD in your hands. Congratulations. A CCRD is generally considered valid for three months.

  3. When you get all the documents together to apply for a Joining Family Resident Visa, you submit those documents to MOFA BOCA. When you are granted the JFRV, after ten days or two weeks, you begin the countdown: you must report to the nearest Foreign Affairs Police Station to get your ARC within 15 days!

25

Richard you again say that getting married in the country of the foreign spouse is best. You explained that this is because you need to prove to the Taiwanese that your country recognises your Taiwan marriage.

Is this the only reason it is better to marry in the country of the foreign spouse.

I have checked their website and the New Zealand Register of Births Deaths and Marriages clearly states that I can get a NZ certificate of marriage for just this sort of purpose, so I don’t see the legal disadvantage in marrying in Taiwan (and for me there are personal advantages. Is there some other reason I am missing?

Your help is appreciated.

26

Well as one should be well aware every state has different laws, make sure you check it out.

I called my local police station, they said they cannot give me a CCRD, they said call the capital, I did, they said we can do it but it only for that state. Do we need state or national? They said if you want an FBI check, they do not do it for individuals. Only for companies, and the process is rather difficult, so they really cannot do it for me anyway.

So I hope it is only state, plesae advise. Thanks.

Sorry have to add something to this…

Richard said that a valid CCRD is valid for 3 months after getting it verified by the MOFA and Household registration office. So does that mean that if I get my CCRD now from my home state and then decide to get married, say in November, that indeed the MOFA and Household registration office will still accept it even though the original date on the CCRD is actually 6 months earlier? It would seem to me that it would be okay, I’m in Taiwan, not the U.S. now, what am I going to do clone myself and go back to commit a crime during tha time? But I guess things aren’t always the way they seem. Also please advise. Thanks again.

By the way cranky laowai, I already feel like it is driving me crazy!

[This message has been edited by Frizz (edited 15 May 2001).]

27

In my experience, I think they just want an official-looking piece of paper that says roughly what it’s supposed to. I’d be willing to bet that local, state, or federal doesn’t matter – as long as the Taiwan authorities don’t feel like picking on you, for whatever reason. (I write of the way things really work here, not of how they might be in the letter of the law.) Just get something, because if you try to make much sense of this it’ll drive you crazy.

Mine was from the city police department and said that I’d never been convicted of trying to subvert the U.S. government, or something else ridiculous like that. But it worked just fine.

www.romanization.com

28

To my knowledge, a CCRD is valid for three months from the date of issuance.

While it is true that you may have been out of the USA for an extended period, that fact (by itself) is no proof that you have not been implicated in a criminal investigation, or had criminal charges made against you, during your absence.

I regret having to bring up this technical legal point, since I know that all the visitors to the ORIENTED website are thoroughly law abiding.

29

Sorry to beat a dead horse, but I have a friend who is concerned about verification of criminal records. I assume that means any crime that may have been committed in one’s home country? He is in his 30’s now, a professor, yet he did plead no contest to a misdemeanor charge when he was 18. Would this automatically exclude him from receiving residency privileges? From the above posts, one would suspect that as long as one provides some reasonable document, there will be no problems. It does seem unfair, though, when compared to US law.

30

The record only goes back 5 years back as far as I know.

Although I don’t have the same problem as your friend, I applied for my in Taiwan, since I’ve been here for more than 7 years. If he’s been here more than 5, he shouldn’t have a problem. But Mr. Hartzell is the expert.

31

The purpose of the “Clean Criminal Record Documentation” is to show that you have no CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS within the past five years.

In the Taiwanese mentality, penalities and convictions fall into three broad areas: ADMINISTRATIVE, CIVIL, and CRIMINAL.

At any rate, the fellow being spoken of above was in some minor trouble at the age of 18, but he is in his 30’s now, so it should be no problem.

32

I was married in Chia-Yi City in 1994 to a Taiwanese woman and had no trouble obtaining my first joining family visa and consequent renewals. After living and working in the USA this past year, I came back to Taiwan a month ago and applied for a new joining family visa. The foreign affairs in Kaoshiung informed me that I need to provide proof of USA’s recognition of my marriage. The state of Michigan has no such requirements and provides no such services (I was told in Michigan).

Then the Foreign Affairs person in Kaoshiung added that all I needed to do was to go to the AIT and take an oath and have the qualified AIT person there notarized this document. I did. I gave the document to Kaoshiung foreign affairs and it was accepted.

33

That is scarey - my resident joining family visa has no expiry date - I was unaware that I could ever need to apply for another. How come yours “expired”??? Do I read between the lines that if your ARC expires, while you are out of the country, you have to face the bureaucratic wars again?

34

It should be 3 years. Your ARC must have an expiry date on it right? Your visa stamp in your passport should say something like “must be used in conjunction with validARC and expires when ARC expires”.

35

Ignoring for a moment the status of those with permanent residency in the ROC area, I can say that your visa is your permission to enter the ROC. If that is a short term visa, then that is that. If it is a resident visa, then you have to apply for an ARC within 15 days. When you have the ARC, then that is your legal permission to reside in the ROC. If you have an ARC and leave, then you have to have a re-entry permit to come back in.

Obviously, if your ARC expires when you go overseas, or if you overstay the term of your ARC and then leave, then you have to start the application process for a resident visa all over again.

36

Thanks for the reply Richard. What you say makes a lot of sense - I just never looked at it that way. Just using the existing resident visa to renter the country and trotting down to get a new ARC with the usual collection of documents would be way to easy.

So if I plan to go overseas for a period, during which my ARC will expire, how long before my current ARC expires can I apply for a new one? For example, say I leave in November for 3 months and my ARC expires in January.

I refer to the situation where the ARC was obtained through entry on a joining family resident visa (or being already here when granted).

So my ARC expires while am overseas. On applying for a new resident visa, I have to prove my marriage in Taiwan is recognised by the New Zealand Goverment (equivalent to Kyle’s situation)??? I chose not to have my Taiwan marriage registered in NZ - It is possible, but involved complications at a time when I had enough of them - I did not consider it necessary - I have no need of it in New Zealand! - My Taiwan marriage will be recognised there - and it never entered my head that I could ever need to prove, in Taiwan, that my Taiwan marriage (duely recorded in my wife’s family book) is recognised in NZ.

Affidavits do not seem to be accepted from NZ citizens, since NZ has a national register of marriages. But NZ cannot issue me a marriage certificate!!

If I leave Taiwan and return after my ARC expires it would appear to be more difficult to obtain a joining family resident visa than it was first time round.

37

You have not mentioned if your ROC spouse will still be in Taiwan when you are back in your home country for a few months. If so, your spouse could renew your ARC for you.

In my experience, renewals of ARCs are usually accepted at most 30 days in advance of expiry date.

38

My spouse would most likely be with me. However, even if she was still in Taiwan, and renewed my ARC, it would still not get the rentry permit into my passport.

39

If your wife or some other close relative was still here in Taiwan, I am thinking that you could DHL your passport to them, and after they got the renewal, they could DHL the passport back to you.

Of course you do not need your ARC to re-enter the country, so they could keep that here until you return.

(Note: if you get permanent residency, the so called APRC, then you DO need your APRC to get back in the country. Holders of an APRC are not given a re-entry permit to my knowledge.)

40

OK - so far - assuming it is difficult to arrange my ARC and it expires - to to get my second joining family resident visa - do I need to prove that my Taiwan marriage is recognised in my country of citizenship - despite having been married in Taiwan. That seemed to be Kyle’s initial problem - simple for him - affidavit - maybe not so simple for me.

Or maybe it was a very “local” interpretation of the rules??

Slightly different subject - but connected:

Consider this situation - I have done every thing to be ready to renew my ARC - if everything is in place it takes a few hours in Taipei and maybe 2 days in Jilong - but I have not done it. I need to go overseas suddenly because a very close relation dies - my ARC will expire while I am away - Do I get them to put off the funeral, so I can renew my ARC before I go, to avoid 2 months of bureaucracy on my return?? - Am I a “prisoner” in Taiwan on the aniversary of my ARC??