That loving feeling and sense of relief when you finally have it in your hand.
When I was at the HH office when I walked in they are like we don’t deal with foreigners here. I am like here is my letter from MOI to come get my HH and ID card. I squeeze over the counter to see the last numbers are 797. I’m like nah I want to wait for the 800 number as last digits. They let me have it lol
No need to change it not served. I do not recall getting any exemption notification.
That would be fascinating
Please do
Here it is. Another thing when I moved to Taiwan they were shocked that I did not have an ID card. So they asked for my drivers license and were shocked to see it did not have a photograph. Also as I served in foreign service for Australia I was allowed to use the dept address on my license. One time in a traffic stop in Australia the police asked my why no photograph or home address. I just replied even if you wrote me a ticket and I contested it, that it would be illegal under Australian law to identity me. I shoed the police my Australian Diplomatic passport with my photo in it just to prove my identity. In Australia in some occupations it is illegal to identify that person as a member of that government organization. Was just winding the cops up but they accepted it.
Also when my son was born this woman at the FAP in Taichung was insisting my son needed to apply for an exit visa, got to HK, get a visitor visa and re-enter Taiwan to apply for his ARC. She claimed she had no record of his entry into Taiwan. I said well he has a birth certificate, his passport shows place of birth Taichung. She is upset with me says my son will overstay and have to pay a fine.
I yell at her, how is he going to overstay if you say he never has an documented entry into Taiwan. I yell so loud her boss comes out from his office, asks what the hell is going on. I tell him I want to add my lad to my ARC. He asks do you have parents ID’s passports Marriage certificate HH etc. I am yup here they all are. He just directs adds my sons name to my ARC.
This FAP woman had caused many families to travel to HK with their kids born in Taiwan who were not citizens at birth. There were a lot of angry people when they found out it was unnecessary.
See my ARC Organization. Not allowed to work in Taiwan. I owned a business which had an income. Income paid to wife. I was listed on my wife tax docs as a dependent. Anyone here long enough knew about being required to get an exit visa and an entry visa for Taiwan. That’s right cannot leave without an exit visa. Show us you paid your taxes.
I go to tax office to get tax document. Woman at the counter asked about my income. I say this is the new age, I’m poor white trash married to a rich Taiwanese woman. She takes care of me and I am a house husband, take my son to the park and play everyday. Working is for plonkers. Of course back in 1991 this was not politically correct. A man must make a living and support the family. She was this is just so wrong. lol I tell her lots of Taiwanese women marry for money why can’t I? I’ve spent years meddling with their noggins about what is socially acceptable lol
Yeah! I still remember the first time I received it…I was staring at it for like 5 mins and thinking to myself, “I’m finally in their system now, I’ve hacked into their Matrix and now I’m officially one of them, the things I can do now…Oh!! the possibilities are endless LOL” 
Lucky for me, back when I first got my ARC in 2001, it was also of paper but a much smaller size, similar to the paper license we still use now.
You censored the DOB on one document but not the other.
Thanks. Never mind not a secret really. lol It’s not like you would have fun stealing my identity in Taiwan.
I remember when I got my HH and ID card. One young lass at the counter was Oh you are single? I asked her if that was her asking me for a date. All the office staff cracked up laughing. Poor lass blushed and was embarrassed.
U just made my day with this, thanks so much for posting!
Yeah good to be back on these threads. The attitude towards citizenship here has changed with a lot of the foreigners. When I naturalized Australia did not allow dual nationality anyway so applied for a document to that to needed first to send to your own government saying you are approved to ask for renunciation. So I had no Australian citizenship nor Taiwan nationality for a long time. I know what it is like to be stateless. I made the hard choice to renounce knowing at the time I would neither have PR in Australia or be able to resume citizenship. I took a long time to make the decision. Also when I naturalized the rule was 7 years of residency.
Best decision I ever made was naturalizing here as this is the country I will spend the rest of my life in. I don’t need a foreign passport to live in Taiwan.
I forgot, I was delayed by a month getting my ID, so it’s not April, it’s May. I got my first Taiwan ID on 23rd May last year. The current stamp is dated 22nd May, 2023.
@Fuzzy_Barbecue A few questions out of curiosity.
During the whole process from Gold Card to citizenship, how many times did your unique ID number change?
Did you have any issues having it updated in banks, contracts, etc.?
Did your credit history change over smoothly or did you start over again?
NHI records?
I am curious how well they can roll over a persons old data to a new ID.
Great questions!
I had the original ID number for many years, but I changed to the new format while I was on my Gold Card. After getting a Taiwan ID, I got a completely new ID number. So, in total I have had three.
- Original ARC number
- New format ARC Number
- Taiwan ID number
P.S. My HHR certificate references my last ARC number in the remarks section.
It was a pain, to be honest. Some issues still ongoing :
Let me start with the banks and NHI :
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CTBC said my bank account couldn’t be converted. They closed my old account and made a new one. Now my account history is just one year and shows one large sum of money coming in. Also, I lost a few “saved international accounts” where I’d wire money overseas e.g., TECO agents in PH, Dubai, HK, my parent’s account, siblings, my wife’s PH account, etc… I forgot what it called, but for each of these accounts, I had to go to CTBC in person to add them to the “online approved” list so I could wire money online. It took me years to build this list, and it wasn’t transferred properly. I still got some bugs in my online account. Can’t save any frequent utility bill/other bills information for easy payment. Used to work before.
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My CTBC Credit Card remained the same, but it was troublesome for them to connect it to my new account. They had to involve CTBC Taipei, I think. My last credit card bill was deducted twice, once from my old account (before it was closed) and then from the new one. I had to visit CTBC to fix it. I am glad I have always enabled online statements and have kept a record for every month for all these days.
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Cathay Bank. Visited them in person once. I emailed them multiple times. It really took a long time before they changed my ID number in the system. (meanwhile, the credit card always worked).
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Taiwan Business Bank kept calling me to “visit them” to change my information. I emptied whatever I had there and abandoned that account.
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Added new Debit Card to Paypal. New LINEPAY account.
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I had to get a new NHI card. I lost my medical history at a couple of the hospitals I frequent. I mean, it’s there, but maybe I need to talk to them to connect the two. I don’t know if it’s possible, but I don’t want to deal with this now.
Other stuff I had to change :
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Chunghwa info internet and cell phone contract.
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Car and scooter license information and two driving licenses.
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E-Tag, I mailed them but they kept asking me to visit, which I didn’t want. Somehow found an online page that allows automatic E-Tag transfer online for new owners of used cars (with existing e-tags). So essentially, the “foreigner” me sold the car to “Taiwanese” me, and I was able to change the e-Tag ID online.
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Costco information/new card. The Costco app stopped working when my ID changed. Complained for 6 months, but they couldn’t fix it. They made me wait until they updated their APP, after which it started working again.
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New membership at IKEA. Decathlon and Carrefour conversions were easy but required a visit.
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Sony/Playstation TW account is not fixed yet. Blizzard Taiwan doesn’t answer to fix my membership information.
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I think Taiwan HSR membership isn’t fixed either.
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TW Crypto BitoPro membership. They canceled my account and made a new one and made me go through the verifications process again.
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PChome account is not resolved yet.
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Not sure, but I think I have changed my citizen digital certificate (the one used e.g. for collecting invoices/receipts).
That’s all I can remember for now. But let’s just say I discover new stuff I need to fix every other month or so. I gave up on many accounts/contracts because of the hassle. My problem is that I have too many memberships/accounts in Taiwanese businesses/online platforms.
One of the biggest issues has been my phone number, which is often bound to online accounts that are connected to my ARC number. So when my account cannot be converted, just making a new account doesn’t fix things because the phone number is still attached to the old one. One thing I have learned now is that for Taiwanese citizens, a phone number is like an ID number. The number has to be in your name for you to use it for certain services, e.g., Taiwan Pay.
An important factor to consider is my bad Chinese and inability to communicate effectively over the phone. So, perhaps someone with better Chinese will have a much easier time dealing with this stuff.
Does it change when you get the TARC?
You can call them. I updated mine over the phone
The TARC ID was the same as my Gold Card ARC.
My TARC and ID number were different as ID number issued when you get your HH and ID. Tarc is returned and cancelled. Unlike old ARC you cannot keep it.
My Tarc ID was not same as my ARC number. So shows things can change.
Also Phones etc back in the 1990’s you did not have all these online apps. NHI came after I naturalized as did so many things. Yes personal bank accounts I just closed old ones opened new ones. Amex were like how can you change your nationality so in the end I stopped using Amex. I don’t use an Etag. Not needed really can just pay for tollways at any 711 with your car details.
My phone number I have had the same number from ARC to citizenship. I was with fareastone and later switched to Changhua telecom when they allowed transferring phone numbers between carriers.
Drivers license was easy just visit DMV and change ARC number to ID number. Already had Chinese name so nothing else to change. Then again later had to get new licenses when they moved to unlimited lifetime licenses.