If you can, just get a lawyer and file for a criminal lawsuit. Article 240 and 241 definitely cover one of the parents.
And she also stole your stuff didn’t she?
Another thing occured to me. Someone advised you to get yoursekf sorted with a job and your own arc. That is extremely important and without the ability to show that you can financially support the child in Taiwan you might not have a leg to stand on. The judge is likely to favor the mother and the paren’t that provides an economic base. Obviously you are not the mother, but a job shows you can provide the base. And combined with evidence that the mother is not stable in her behaviour that could put you ahead.
I am unable to hire a lawyer as I have no money or source of income. I have to apply to the Legal Aid Foundation for a lawyer each time a new step in the process comes up. I have looked into getting a job, residency visa, etc, and I do not believe I would be able to. For example, in order to work I would need a work permit, which an employer must apply for. However, I do not have a college degree, so, it is unlikely I will find a potential employer who would want to sponsor me. Without a job or work permit, I cannot get a residency visa or an ARC. I hope that the judge is not foolish enough to base my ability to provide for my child on if I can stay and work in Taiwan, as my entire goal is to take my son back to the US, where I will be able to provide a much better life for him. If the judge were to base the custody on my financial situation in Taiwan, then that would be wrong, I think. Not only am I not planning on staying here or keeping my son here, but I am only in my current situation due to my wife. So, rewarding her custody based on that is, essentially, rewarding her for taking my son and screwing my over as much as she possibly could.
You don’t have any money in America either? If you want to get the custody, you’re gonna need money to hire a lawyer who speaks good English. Yes, she’s mentally unstable and she abducted your son, but she has all the resources, even though the judges never side with the kidnapper, you still need someone who knows the system to help you.
And do you really not have any idea where your wife might be so that you can confront her directly? Don’t you have any friend here? What kind of legal status do you have here if you don’t have an ARC? I might be able to give you the nubmer of lawyers who could help (again I can’t guarantee anything, but I can ask) but I need more information.
I have had family from back home offer to send money, but, she took the bank cards and I no longer have access to the accounts. I am working on setting up a new one, now. I was being quoted NT$500,000 for a lawyer, though, and I honestly would not be able to afford that. I would need to have enough money sent me that that I could cover the cost of a lawyer, pay for a place to live for an unknown amount of time, pay for food and other expenses, pay for a new visa (or multiple) depending on how long this takes, etc.
I think she is staying with her brother, but, I cannot get up to the apartment as I am not sure of the exact number (I just know the building) and there is security at the door that will not allow me up. I asked the cops to help me to get access, but, they refused. Again, they say that it’s not their business. I have a few local friends who have been helping me with translations and asking their friends and family for guidance. As far as my legal status, I am here on a visitor visa. The Visa expires in April of 2017.
If I read your posts correctly, your child has been here since he was 7 months old and is four years old or thereabouts now. I wouldnt imagine a judge giving custody of a child to a parent who plans on taking him out of the country of his habitual residence against the wishes of the other parent.
This story is starting to sound a little like the ‘despairful consultation’ thread.
I have got to agree with this. I hate to stereotype, but for an ex-army soldier with no college degree, the OP can really write well. That’s not usually a skill that’s highly prized in the US military. If the OP is genuine, then I wish you all the best. Your situation sounds pretty tough.
I’m usually the skeptical one but there’s no reason a US army recruit couldn’t have excellent English skills. Might not be common, but there’s no reasons it couldn’t happen.
Well it sure sounds like another tough break for a foreign spouse. The situation is difficult.
I would say do not under any circumstance at present look like you are going to run away to America with the kid.
How to gain residence working permits without degree is difficult , search on here for previous threads on the matter.
If you have a Taiwanese kid you can apply for residence through the kid although might be difficult to arrange in present circumstances. This applies even if you are divorced or widowed.
Yeah, but if his stated intention is to book and take the wee one back to the US??
I sincerely doubt any judge (in Taiwan) is going to award custody if the parent’s intention is to immediately beat cheeks out of here upon receiving custody…
Any further contributions I have would involve leveling judgement on the OP’s past actions, and that doesn’t help anyone, so, you know…
Ok. Definitely do that first. I have no idea how the visa thing works though, you should ask the others for that.
[quote=“MyInkIsMyArt, post:25, topic:156684”]
I think she is staying with her brother, but, I cannot get up to the apartment as I am not sure of the exact number (I just know the building) and there is security at the door that will not allow me up. I asked the cops to help me to get access, but, they refused. Again, they say that it’s not their business. I have a few local friends who have been helping me with translations and asking their friends and family for guidance.
[/quote]I can ask if there’s any possibility for you to get into her brother’s place.
Ahem. (Hi, I’m the moderator of the Legal forum.) All users are kindly reminded that (1) the purpose of this forum is not to criticize anyone’s English as too good or too bad, and (2) in general we cannot verify claims made by users, so by default we give people the benefit of the doubt.
Thank you all for your co-operation. 
Your family sent money to your Taiwan bank account, and now only your wife has access to that account? Did you ask the bank to cancel your card?
You can open a new account at another bank with your ARC or your quasi-ARC ID number. If you need to receive money urgently, keep in mind that bank transfers may require extra time and phone calls to clear (anti-laundering and all that), and Western Union is run through the banks, so the days/hours and locations at which it’s available are basically the same – no weekends or holidays – just without the extra waiting time and phone calls. (Don’t trust what their website says.) When doing money transfers, be careful on both ends about whether or not your middle name is used. Taiwanese love consistency, or so they say…
The police expect a concrete accusation of something they can arrest a person for, i.e. a specific article of a specific law. Think about the evidence and be sure about your case before you make an accusation. And bring your own translator!
Civil and criminal courts both have the authority to order preservation of evidence (officially translated as “perpetuation of evidence”). You may even be able to get this done before a suit is filed. The catch is that you need to convince the judge your request is reasonable.
Btw even when the LAF accepts a case i.e. gives you legal aid, you may still need to pay the court fee, but not if you also qualify for “litigation aid”. If you pay the fee and win, the losing side is supposed to reimburse you, but (usually) you won’t be reimbursed for other expenses like lawyers’ fees.
The household registration system has every person’s registered address (not necessarily where the person currently lives), but and there are some conditions for accessing the information.
For the ability to provide for your child, is your family willing to pledge perpetual support? (Or support until the age of majority, whatever that technically is?) And if so, are they willing to pledge flexible support i.e. “we don’t care where we have to send the money, we’ll do whatever it takes to look after our grandson”? And if so, are they willing to produce proof of their income and assets and go through the relevant authentication procedures to satisfy the court?
For the job problem, if you can keep your JFRV (the visa you should currently have based on marriage, which as stated above you may be able to keep or newly acquire through your son since he’s a lineal relative), you can have any job people are willing to hire you for, except when a special requirement exists e.g. you need a teaching license to teach in a public school. Even then, until you get an APRC, there’s a catch. The opponent can claim that as a foreigner you don’t qualify for a non-fixed term (i.e. permanent) contract, so your employment status is unstable. (The argument is that the Employment Service Act automatically limits the term because you’re a foreigner. This is disputed because the ESA contradicts the Labor Standards Act; the Supreme Court is looking into it.)
One more question: who technically owns the dog?
This comes from someone who has been through this all before, OP. Your wife has done nothing that the law will punish or even hold against her in the final decision of the court. My ex did a similar thing but worse, using some heavy guys to snatch our boy from me on the street. That was seven years ago and the last time I saw him apart from 3 hours in a lawyer´s office. She ignored all court orders (obtained at great expense) to give me visitation to him, and then won custody. The status quo is a significant factor in deciding custody.
As for her mental instability- well the kind of dramatic behaviour that some Taiwanese women exhibit could be accepted by the judge as normal anyway. Short of her actually causing serious physically harm to your child, there´s not too much for you to go on there.
And that is if you could get the money together for lawyers, which you say that you don´t have.
And to those who suggest that you try somehow to find where your child is and take him back- this brings back many traumatic memories for me and a shiver down the spine. The poor child. You would have to physically fight her and her family who will all be on her side, and then what ? He has entered Taiwan on a Taiwanese passport and therefore can only leave on the same passport. You can therefore never leave Taiwan with him, and have to survive, on the run from her and possibly the police and courts (yes, they will help her in a way that they did not help you) with no income or job.
Icon knows a few foreigners who won custody of their child. I know not too much about them of them except that one is a naturalised TW citizen, but you can be sure that they were settled in Taiwan with at least some of the following- job, money, knowledge of Chinese, contacts- and access to the child.
One don´t: do not use a private investigator to try to locate your child or take him back. There are some evil (and I really do not use that word lightly) men posing as PI´s who will take you to a much darker place than you are already.
I am struggling to say something positive to help you through this. There are some things like “time is a healer” that will mean nothing to you at this early stage.
The only way that you are going to be able to see your son in any meaningful way in future is to try to get back together with her, say sorry for things that were not your fault and persuade her to move back to the USA with you. Get marriage therapy, make her happy by living in a place where she has contact with the Taiwanese community, find it within yourself to forgive her, love her again. It´s a long shot and I suppose you feel that it is entirely unreasonable, but it is your only chance. And I say this with no little justification because it is also part of another chapter of my story.
Just PM me if you need anything.
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Thanks for your insight, Pgd.
I hope it’s clear that I wasn’t suggesting a physical struggle by mentioning household registration. The information is protected, but in some situations you’re allowed to read it, and the court may even tell you to get your opponent’s tengben before proceeding with a lawsuit.
Yea with the no job no arc no kid, and with the child’s best interests in mind, it sounds reasonable to give up on the idea of getting custody.
Best of luck with your chapter pgdaddy
The last time I checked the USA requires a special form DS-3053 to take an American child out of the country and it must be signed by BOTH parents. And if I am reading all of the threads correctly this is an American citizen brought into Taiwan by his Taiwanese mother. Regardless of the other circumstances how can an American child stay in Taiwan without an ARC. Is that not illegal?
I don’t think theft can be applied within a household/marriage and family.
First, get legal status to be here in Taiwan for longer.
Find out where your kid is and take him to an unknown location. That seems to be legal.
You already learned that she doesn’t have to give the kid to you. You won’t have to give him to her either.
Once, you have the kid, find a way to bring him back to the US.
All the above only, if you are the good guy and she is the crazy bitch.
However, this one you should know best.
Yes it can be, on paper, and there has been cases, though I don’t doubt that the (brainless) police would consider otherwise.