So we’ve all heard that news that the NIA (National Immigration Agency) now provides a 6-month grace period for white collar workers finishing their contracts and seeking new jobs.
My questions:
• For white collar workers; is this ARC extension only for people who finish their contracts? Or is it available to people who also voluntarily leave their jobs?
• Has anybody on this forum been through this procedure yet? Is it troublesome?
• How long does it take?
Thankyou!!
I left my job voluntarily. I was unaware of the 6 month extension rule. In fact I was also unaware of the fact I had to inform the NIA immediately and failed to do it for over a month. When I eventually realised… I went to the NIA in person…they informed me about the extension rule. I filled out the form there and then and they processed it for me. In fact, they fast tracked to processing because I was leaving Taiwan the following week for a short trip.
Just go there, be polite and you will find them very helpful.
[quote=“TheTruthIsOutThere”]I left my job voluntarily. I was unaware of the 6 month extension rule. In fact I was also unaware of the fact I had to inform the NIA immediately and failed to do it for over a month. When I eventually realised… I went to the NIA in person…they informed me about the extension rule. I filled out the form there and then and they processed it for me. In fact, they fast tracked to processing because I was leaving Taiwan the following week for a short trip.
Just go there, be polite and you will find them very helpful.[/quote]
Awesome.
Ill be applying for it in about 2 weeks.
I think they said a photo, a letter explaining why you want the extention, (travel for example) copy of passport, give them the old ARC, and I think there was something else which I forget.
A week or so later they give you a new arc valid for 6 months, with no purpose written on it.
The nice thing is that it does not interrupt your PARC eligibility
I was offered a six month extension of my teaching job last year. I chose the entire year for financial reasons but it was great to find out that six months was being offered. May give it a try in late October as the only thing I’m certain about is that I will be traveling for a couple of months once my contract is up.
Thanks so much for everyone’s prompt and helpful replies.
I’m going to go down to NIA and try it tomorrow.
I heard the letter needs to be about your reason for resigning? Anyway, I’ll put both of these things on the letter ^^.
[quote=“dan2006”]Ill be applying for it in about 2 weeks.
I think they said a photo, a letter explaining why you want the extention, (travel for example) copy of passport, give them the old ARC, and I think there was something else which I forget.
A week or so later they give you a new arc valid for 6 months, with no purpose written on it.
The nice thing is that it does not interrupt your PARC eligibility[/quote]
Other than your required income for the last few years, maybe ?
[quote=“shiadoa”][quote=“dan2006”]Ill be applying for it in about 2 weeks.
I think they said a photo, a letter explaining why you want the extention, (travel for example) copy of passport, give them the old ARC, and I think there was something else which I forget.
A week or so later they give you a new arc valid for 6 months, with no purpose written on it.
The nice thing is that it does not interrupt your PARC eligibility[/quote]
Other than your required income for the last few years, maybe ?[/quote]
I heard that you can plunk money in the bank in lieu of the required income. Not sure if this really is the case.
Do I need a signed termination of my old contract to do this 6-month thing?
OK, just so you all know, you DO need a termination of your old contract; i.e. a 離職證明書.
You can ask them to accept your application and fax it in later, but they won’t start processing your application until they receive the fax, so there’s kind of no point.
Keep me posted on how the process goes. I’m planning to do this same thing. I don’t have a contract termination letter yet, but tomorrow I’ll go to the NIA in Kaohsiung to ask and confirm what documents they need.
Clarifications:
The NIA asked me for:
1 colour passport photo
The NIA’s multipurpose application form, completely filled out
The letter (mentioned earlier in this thread)
A leaving job certificate (離職證明書)
$1,000nt
Current ARC (to be converted).
I needed to show them my passport but they did not need a photocopy of my passport. They definitely will take your old ARC so be prepared for that. Also, they will not start processing your application until they have the abovementioned certificate and your final day on the job has transpired. So if your official last day (as per the certificate) is the 1st September, they will not start processing your application until at least that day.
Hope this helps somebody.
I got it today. So for me it took 7 business days starting from my date of resignation on my certificate.