Visa help for Expat teaching English

Taiwan Moving to Taiwan
1

My girlfriend and I are South Africans who intend to teach English in Taiwan by June 2017. We both have degrees and are tefl ceritified. We need advice and guidance on what visa to obtain and what the best route to teach in Taiwan is. I have a U.K. Passport, my girlfriend has a South African passport.

My questions are:

  1. What visas will we need to apply for in order to enter the country, and what visa will we need to apply for once in Taiwan in order to teach?
  2. Are we able to look for jobs before we arrive? Or should we only seek jobs once in Taiwan?
  3. Any other advice on the logistics of getting from SA to Taiwan to teach as soon as possible?

Thanks so much

2

UK passport should be visa free for 90-days. Just have a ticket out of Taiwan.

South African passport requires a visa to go to Taiwan.
http://www.dirco.gov.za/consular/visareqsapassholders.html

From what I understand (I’m not an English teacher), it’s best to arrive, then look for a job, but you can apply beforehand .

If you arrive visa-free and you find a job and get a work permit, you will need to convert it to a visitor visa, then get a residence card (ARC).

3

Thank you for your response. This does seem like quite a lengthy process. However, it seems that most people don’t seem to have much of an issue.

4

If you’re wanting to teach as soon as possible at a buxiban (cram school) kind of place for an hourly wage, it’s better to be here when job searching. If you want to teach at a much higher-paying international school, it’s better to wait for the right job to come along and be hired as an “off-island hire” so you get a housing supplement in addition to your salary. If you want to teach for a local school, the Taiwanese government may have programs to hire people who have degrees from approved universities in English-speaking countries such as SA. I know this used to be the case, but am not sure if it still is.

5

@ThaiJuan Thank you. This is really helpful. I have budgeted to stay there for 2 months whilst looking for a job and getting the right documents. Do you perhaps know if I can go to Taiwan on an exempt-visa, find a job whilst there, then get the right visa to start working.

Also, how are Buxibans?

6

:runaway: :runaway: :runaway: :runaway: :runaway: :runaway:

7

You can do that, yes, but why are you so anxious to get started?
Oh, wait. It’s the viable option for you two to live together, right? It’s not viable for your girlfriend to life with you in the U.K. and it’s not viable for you to live with your girlfriend in SA. And you’re anxious to be together just you two on your own as soon as possible. I’m on the money, right?

8

Not really. We live together already. I am South African, but hold a British Passport. Never even been to the UK. But understandable assumption. I am anxious as I have never travelled and the whole visa/legal side of moving to Taiwan seems so complicated. So many things to factor in