Resident visa for studying Mandarin / ARC issue

Legal Visa & Residency
1

Hi, I have a visa question that I was hoping somebody here might help me with. I’m currently enrolled in a Chinese language center, and it’s one of those where I wasn’t eligible to get a resident visa straight away, but only after 4 months of study (I’m staying here for 1 year total). I started studying on September 1st, so I assume I’d be eligible to apply for a resident visa on January 1st (or 2nd, seeing as the 1st of Jan falls on a Sunday this year). The MOFA website says that resident visa application takes 7 working days, so I should get my visa on January 9th/10th.

The problem is this: I’m flying to my home country on January 19th, which leaves me 6 working days in which to apply for & obtain my ARC and multiple-entry permit to allow me to return to Taiwan. This is nowhere near enough, because I’ve got some friends where it took them closer to 14 working days to receive their ARC.

What is best to do in this situation? I was thinking that maybe I could apply for the ARC, fly home, re-enter Taiwan on the resident visa, and pick it up later (how many days do you have to collect the ARC after it’s ready)? I’ll be away for 16 days. Should I apply for a multiple-entry resident visa? Or will it be already ‘used’ if I am applying within the country as a conversion from a visitor visa?

tl;dr: how long does it take to get an ARC on average? Is an ARC necessary to re-enter Taiwan if you’ve got a resident visa? Is there any way I can apply for a resident visa earlier, to avoid this whole issue (maybe apply after completing one semester, instead of four months - at my language center, one semester is three months).

Any help would be extremely appreciated :slight_smile: thank you!

2

Your circumstances appear to be similar to this:

http://www.forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.php?f=67&t=155226

I suggest going to the NIA and discussing it with them, they are usually very helpful.

Also, Jan 2nd is a public holiday, so the earliest you can start the process is Jan 3rd.

3

Thank you, that’s exactly what I was looking for! I will discuss it with NIA also.

Thank you for reminding me about Jan 2nd, too :grinning:

4

Hi… I am new to this forumosa thing and don’t know where to ask questions. But I have a question regarding the ARC,; Is it possible of I go to the immigration on Monday to pay it? and what will happen if I overstayed for 13days for I have just realise that my ARC expires on the 28th of August and immigration closes tomorrow on the weekend and will open on Monday. What is it that I need to support me from this situation?

5

Go to NIA when it is open. Earlier is better.

Fyi

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