It is way easier to find a “fixer” to process a Visitor’s Visa than a residence visa in the Philippines.
But a lawyer route could leave some records that could be used for future cases, while the politician route wouldn’t, no?
That is, assuming both ways can get it done.
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I wish I had talked to you earlier. Totally agree with what you said. I have had similar experiences over the last 5 years. i.e. If you get refused at one branch office, just try another because there’s a good chance the person there follows a different interpretation of the rules. I have had such experiences at Banks, Telecoms, NHI offices, even TECOs etc…
One of the recent bad experiences I had was when I joined a new company in 2018 and they asked me to open an account at Taiwan Business Bank for receiving salary. I had already been in Taiwan for 4 years by that point and was shocked when I was turned away by the a big branch office due to my “nationality”. My local colleague was with me there, so there wasn’t any language issue. The guy at the bank was super rude and commented to him, “what if he does money laundering or sends money back home for criminal or terrorist stuff”. My colleague even showed him my Gold Card ARC (I am practically the only one from my country who has that in Taiwan) and told him that I was his manager. The bank still refused. Went to another smaller branch office just a couple KM away and they accepted instantly (no questions asked)…
Thank you for your offer. I will definitely take you up on that as I am still fighting for a couple of issues.
Regarding my wifes ARC, I had tried almost everything. After she was first rejected, I tried to get her every other type of visa too. They rejected every single type because they had already identified her by that point and told her that they knew that in reality she was going to Taiwan to be with her husband so she needed to apply for the “spousal” residence visa and follow all the stupid conditions that go with it.
I had even secured her an admission in NCKU and got an admission letter for that. They wouldn’t even give her a student visa. Real bastards, those guys!
The only way we survived those 8 months was due to the Philippines 14 days visa-free entry. In that way she could bypass the TECO and come visit me for 2 weeks at a time, but due to the costs I could only afford it once every 2 months or so. At one point she couldn’t even come visit me because TECO refused to return her passport, accusing her of lying to the embassy about purpose of her visit ( student visa in that case ).
I was nearly driven to madness. I know I am not allowed to say illegal stuff here but can I at least say that I “thought” of these things… Here’s are some of the extreme actions I considered :
- Getting her here by an illegal boat (no clue how , though)…
- Quit my job and go into hiding together next time she came via 14 days visa-free entry (& destroy my career and future in the process)
- Quit my job and leave Taiwan forever, and be with her in some other country (face possible long-term joblessness…)
Thankfully I was talked out of these thoughts by friends (and even some people here on Forumosa). But this is what Taiwan does to you. They say they want you, they need professionals and foreigners, they want diversity etc… but somehow they don’t make you feel like you are welcome.
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Just so you know, in the Philippines, as it is in many civilized country, it is illegal to withhold a person’s passport. You could have lodged a complaint in the Philippines Foreign Affairs office, and the person who withheld the passport would have been in trouble, or imprisoned.
As to the bank account issue, you could have told that guy in the bank to call his manager and let him know that it was your new company, who I am assuming releases the payroll thru their bank who is requiring you to open the account. I am sure the manager would not want to lose a big account (your company’s). I am pretty sure if the manager was involved, that guy would have been reprimanded.
Unfortunately there are still a few bigoted Taiwanese who sees as foreign people as taking the jobs that was meant for them. I have been working here in Taiwan since 2000 and got my APRC in 2009, then the Taiwan ID a year later.
If you’re planning to apply for citizenship here, I suggest you to take the language exam which is done quarterly in your Household Office, as early as you can . This way, if you don’t pass, you can wait another 3 months and take the exams again. I took the written exam and passed on my first try without understanding any Chinese characters. That was a lot easier than taking 200 hours of Chinese language course 
Again, if you need help or any info, just DM. Thanks!
How’s that possible?
Weren’t the questions in Chinese?
is it still quarterly in southern taiwan?
Yes. I believe this is true for the whole Taiwan. Just ask in the Household Registration office where you live.
Questions were in Chinese. Answers are multiple choice. 
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at least in Taipei city, people can take the exam anytime during their office hour.
自104年2月1日起，採隨到隨辦方式，於本市各區戶政事務所辦公時間（週一至週五，8:30-17:30）向任一戶政事務所報名申請測試。
Yeah, but if you fail, you need to wait 3 months to retake it, I believe. It’s been so long, I already forgot the particulars.
I had a massive blowout with the Philippines TECO office about 5 years ago. Extremely rude staff at that time. I was given wrong info by Taipei so I told them to call them to clarify. Was told ’ we don’t care what they told you, this is our branch office here and if we say no that’s it.’
I had to cause a loud angry uproar in their office until they finally allowed me to see the consulate manager who finally agreed to give me a visitor visa with no extensions granted stamped in it
Utterly ridiculous. But this is the game we’ve learned to play to get things done here, be it banking, phone contracts, etc. I hope as the years go by I hear fewer and fewer of these incidents.