Is it important to first apply to a school in your own country, wait for the admission papers - apply for a VISA for studying and then go. Or is it possible to first go to Taiwan on 90 days VISA exemption as a tourist, travel around and apply for a University directly on Taiwanese ground - get the admission papers on the spot - go to Hong Kong for a new VISA and then go back and start study.
I am planning to study 1-2 years and want to do it right from the start. I won’t apply to a private school, rather i will choose one of the universities that is offering Chinese language courses. So is it OK to come as a tourist first and apply on the spot?? That is my question.
I would also like to know this so I’m bumping this thread.
However, I’m also interested to know how to go about with registration and visa when you’re currently living in PRC… as I am.
Studying Chinese here but have every intention to pack my bag and hop across to TW and continue my studies there. From what I’ve gathered it’s a piece of cake to have everything set up from outside of PRC but I’ve found nothing about the procedures from within, so is my only option to head over to Hong Kong and waste a lot of money for lodging and what not until the university in TW can send me the admission papers, then go to the embassy there and wait for my visa before I can actually travel to Taiwan?
It would be SO convenient if I could just get over there on a 90-days landing visa and register at the uni in person and change the visa… 
Ok so this dude might be on to something: livelearnteach.com/getting-t … omment-120
Maybe I can get a tourist visa from HK, hop over and have the uni change it to student visa. 
[quote=“Odengard”]Ok so this dude might be on to something: livelearnteach.com/getting-t … omment-120
Maybe I can get a tourist visa from HK, hop over and have the uni change it to student visa. [/quote]
You cannot change a tourist visa to a student one. The purpose is different, so they will make you do another visa run to get the correct visa.
You need to apply to the school from where you are, doesn’t have to be your home country, and get them to send you an acceptance letter that you bring into the TECO office to get a student visa.
Alright, so if I just get the acceptance letter I can head over to HK TECO office and apply for a student visa.
So is the postal service between TW and mainland working alright? Anyone know how long I’d have to sit around HK waiting to pick up the student visa?
That link is out of date. You should pop into the Visa & Residency Issues subforum to get more up-to-date information.
[quote=“Odengard”]Alright, so if I just get the acceptance letter I can head over to HK TECO office and apply for a student visa.
So is the postal service between TW and mainland working alright? Anyone know how long I’d have to sit around HK waiting to pick up the student visa?[/quote]
You would apply to the school and they would give you an acceptance letter. They could mail or fax it to you in PRC. Then you are right, you head over to the HK TECO office and apply. Usually it takes a few days, but in the Philippine office they had a rush visa option where it was ready in (if I remember correctly, 2 days) but you had to pay a bit more.
This is one Mandarin study school in Taiwan, Zhongshan university. Here is the link. It will give you some idea of what they need and what you need to do.
www2.nsysu.edu.tw/CLC/en/enrolment.htm
“Students applying from abroad who have received a formal letter of admission should apply to the nearest office of Taiwan Foreign Affairs, consulate or representative agency for a visitor visa. Extendible and non-extendible visitor visas are issued to students. Most visas allow the holder to remain in Taiwan for sixty days. The former may be extended twice for a maximum stay of up to 180 days. If the visa is non-extendible or when no further extensions will be granted, the holder must leave Taiwan for a short time. If the visa is not valid for multiple entries, a new visa must be obtained from abroad. Student should pay close attention to the date stamped by customs upon entry into Taiwan. Since visitor visas are limited to 6 months (180 days), students who plan to study for two terms should be aware that the expiration date may fall before the end of the term.”
And so forth…
If there is nothing unusual about your application, your visa would be extendable. It would be a student visa, for the purpose of study only.
No worries… Hope it all gets sorted out easy for you 
