[quote=“stavang”][quote=“Northcoast Surfer”][quote=“stavang”]This is the case:
I will start working in Taiwan in October. My wife will move to Taiwan with me. We both are Europeans (German/Norwegian). I have got a marriage certificate certified by a ROC official, my work permit and two resident Visas (for me and my wife). I thought everything was ready for ARC for both of us.
Now suddenly my employer in Taiwan says I need a criminal record for my wife. I thought this was only necessary for Taiwanese citizens? If both foreigners → no criminal record. If one Taiwanese → criminal record for the non-Taiwanese wife/husband. Can someone clarify this?[/quote]You mean that your employer requires a criminal record CHECK on your wife, right? Not that she needs to have a criminal record!
Employers don’t need to see criminal record checks unless it is part of a stipulated hiring process. I’ve applied for jobs in the US where a criminal record check was required for me, but not required for my wife as she wasn’t being employed there.
In Taiwan, it’s the NIA that requires criminal record checks for the following.
- A foreigner is applying for a JFRV. (marriage to a Taiwan national).
- A foreigner is applying for an APRC. (permanent residency)
- A foreigner is applying for naturalization.
So far, the NIA doesn’t require a criminal record check to get a work-permit and the employment based ARC.
I would regard this as highly irregular and a bit suspicious if YOUR employer is requiring a criminal record check on your wife. She’s not being employed by the company you are working for, right? Are you working in a top-secret / national security /military / contracting company that requires a criminal background check on you and your dependents?[/quote]
Haha, that was pretty incoherent from me. What I really meant:
My employer told me that my wife needs to bring a criminal record check for her ARC application, because she is not working in Taiwan, but “joining family”. I thought that the “criminal record” rule only applied if I was a Taiwanese citizen. I know that I don’t need any “criminal record check” for my ARC, but I also thought my wife did not need one neither.[/quote]Oh…yeah…your wife is going to get her ARC through you via the JFRV. Then it would be the NIA that requires the criminal record check for your wife in order to give her the JFRV. I would recommend calling the NIA or better yet, going to the NIA and asking them about this to make sure it’s required for you. Make sure you stipulate that you both are foreigners and that your wife’s ARC will be sponsored by you via your employment based ARC. It seems kind of strange that your wife would need the criminal background check for the JFRV. I understand why the spouse of a Taiwanese would need one as they are probably going to become a long term resident or a permanent resident and it’s reasonable to require the criminal background check for these reasons. But for you, you’re just a foreign worker who wants to bring his wife along for the temporary job and will most likely return to your home country after your job is finished.
Here’s something that’s really stupid. You can be a raging criminal pedophile, but get an employment based ARC and live in Taiwan for years and have access to loads of children as an English teacher without requiring a criminal background check. But, you can’t be the wife of that same criminal with a clean background and get the JFRV and live in Taiwan without first getting the criminal record check.
Here is Taiwan! :loco:
[/quote]You’re very welcome. And thank you for calling the NIA and finding out the straight scoop. I’ll write that down in my notes for future issues if they come up.
. Of course our photos made for our VISA (following the standard for German biometric passports) were not good enough for the ARC, because the background was gray and not white. So we visited the photo box (or what its called in English) right across the street, took some pictures, and voila, the NIA were instantly gratified.