I’m a Californian trying to get an ARC. I’m married in ROC to ROC wife, but in USA until I can get my renewed passport, and next, hopefully an ARC in it. I have a health certificate from Taipei (they took blood and feces but not urine) and the notarial marriage certificate and the household registry and a Chinese name. I guess its easy once you’ve done it, but I’m still a bit confused, if anyone can help. Also I have some interesting info about Police Certificates (from USA) below.
Do you think the SF ROC Trade Office will give me the visa?
Then I report to the notorious police station in Taipei County and get a 1 year ARC, for $NT1000?
Do I need to have been married and spent a year in Taiwan already?
And be sure I request multiple entry?
Do I need to tell them if I leave ROC for a month?
What did you guys use for Police Certificate; I see 4 possibilities:
from your local police department (but only covers that one city)
$25 one from California DOJ. This one is not for Visa use though. The consulate said, oh its ok, you don’t GIVE it to us, you just LET US LOOK AT IT.
$32 one from California DOJ. However, like 2. this only covers California. You have to phone them at 916-227-3835 to get the packet, they do not put enough of the forms on line.
FBI Identification Record. Covers entire USA. Call 304-625-3878, or go to www.fbi.gov, then click on How Do I…, then “Request an FBI Identification Record, or rap sheet” Unfortunately, it says “Allow approximately 5-6 weeks for processing, upon receipt to the FBI” You’ll also need a standard fingerprint form (FD-258) with ink prints from your local cop shop, and a money order for $18.
Jim
PS The fee table at Ren Ai hospital had a blank for male spouse ARC health certificate. Now that’s what I call a patriarchy. Cost was $NT630.
Make sure that all documents issued in the USA are certified at the nearest Taiwan Overseas Representative Office. In your case, that appears to be S.F.
I know many people who have successfully used the CCRD from the California DOJ in Sacramento. The Taiwanese consider it to be valid for three months from date of issue.
BigJim…I just went thru this coming from Cali. The TECO office in so cal, in LA, was absolutely useless. I came here and had none of the required paperwork for ARC. I have done it all from here in Tainan.
Regarding the “Clean Paper”, on the advice of the AIT office in Kaoshiung I went the FBI/DoJ route. It worked, but with a lot of hassle. After all was done, the TECO office in LA told me I should have just went to my local police station and requested a signed and notarized records check statement from them. A very simple thing.
Remember, you have to get the SF TECO chop on this “clean paper” to make it valid in Taiwan.
I reccomend the local PD route. Easier and faster. Then take it to SF TECO and have them put their chop on it.
I’ll try to consolidate some other threads into this one. It sounds like my biggest problem is that the health certificate is only good for 1 month. (from date of issue or date of test?). Also the advice is that as far as what level of background check, its variable. I’ll visit the SF TECO as soon as I get a full deck of papers (I doubt the state or federal criminal checks will come through in time, but I got the local one on the spot). At the very least, they can stamp the background check. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience about the following, which they claim is already the way European TECOs are supposed to be doing things, I wonder if it is true for USA. In my situation it would be good. Probably what will happen is the SF TECO will tell me they’ve never issued an Resident Visa in their life, then I’ll rush to ROC, only to be told I have to go out of the country per the new regulation…
New tightened procedure currently in place:
Foreigners have to obtain a Resident Visa instead of a Visitor Visa at a Taipei Representative Office overseas. The Resident Visa application procedures takes longer than Visitor Visa, at least 24 hours (by express service). Also, a Resident Visa for requires a medical report which takes a few days to complete, and the applicant and family members need to stay in, for example, Hong Kong waiting for the medical report in order to complete the Resident Visa application procedure.
Upon return in Taiwan, Foreigners can use the Resident Visa to apply for an ARC and Re-entry at Foreign Police station.
As far as the criminal record check, the local was available on the spot, was fastest and cheapest, and most shallow. The California DOJ one requires you to call up and get the application packet, make sure you get the $32 one not the $25 one, you need the packet to get the right fingerprint form which nobody stocks or keeps on line. The FBI one you can get all the info and forms on line but they state 5-6 weeks, we will see. Whichever you have, the advice is to get your TECO to piss on it.
So far the SF TECO does not actually answer email, and only grudgingly gave some advice over the phone. Maybe they need me to come in so they can assess my skin color as part of the process.
Note that actually the health certificate from Ren’Ai hospital in Taipei said on the bottom in both English and Mandarin that it was good for 3 months.
The letter from my local police department was adequate to get the visa. I wonder though if this is always enough, or if it depends on the overall facts of your application. Incidentally, it cost $15 to authenticate this, plus another $100 for the visa.
The visa looks just like my old visa, but says “Resident” instead of “Visitor”. Also for some reason it says “Single” entry instead of “Multiple”. Is this problematic? I had checked Multiple on the application, not sure what went astray. Did you get a Visa that says both Resident and Multiple?
They stapled in a piece of paper; as we know, I have to check in with the police within 15 days to use my Resident Visa to get an ARC. And then obtain a re-entry permit. Question: am I now like on step 1 of some rain-dance bootstrap process: 1. get Resident Single Entry Visa 2. Go to police station and get 1 year ARC 3. Leave and get Re-Entry permit 4. Eventually somehow get 3 year ARC with multiple entry? What do I need to bring to the police station, should I bring all my paperwork I used to get the visa, like the health certificate, household registry, pregnant Taiwanese wife, etc? And I ask for some kind of multiple re-entry permit from the police station?
I’m not sure I can add anything to the recent discussion of the new procedures for having to leave Taiwan to get a resident visa, since I happened to already be abroad (in San Francisco). It felt to me like I was doing something normal that somehow existed before and after the new regulations, though in any event the new regulations would only have helped my particular situation. In my case it worked out that needing a new passport and my Taiwanese wife’s pregnancy coincided, the latter I would assume being good justification for a resident visa.
Jim…as I posted earlier…I just went thru all this. Came from socali to Tainan, where I now live, married to a Taiwanese woman.
You should not have to leave the country for VISA reasons now. You have the ‘RESIDENT’ stamp. No problemo there.
Mine also says ‘SINGLE’ in the entry area. Don’t worry. You will now need to:
Make sure you are registered AGAIN with the houseold registry people as having your RESIDENT VISA.
Go back to Police Station and AGAIN register with them now that you have the RESIDENT VISA. They will put a paper in yr Passport that will allow multiple entries - no problem.
This time you will also be applying for your ARC. It will take about 1 week, you will need to leave your passport there at the police station. And you will need to return to pick-up your ARC. They will not mail it to you. Also…take passport size pic’s with you. 2 of them I think.
Your 1st ARC will cost, I think $NT1000 or $NT1500, I forget which, and it will last 1 year. The next one will be for 3 years.
This was my recent experience. After 4 months you will be qualified to sign up for National Health Insurance.
[quote=“BigJim”]Also for some reason it says “Single” entry instead of “Multiple”. Is this problematic?
Go to police station and get 1 year ARC 3. Leave and get Re-Entry permit 4. Eventually somehow get 3 year ARC with multiple entry? What do I need to bring to the police station, should I bring all my paperwork I used to get the visa, like the health certificate, household registry, pregnant Taiwanese wife, etc? And I ask for some kind of multiple re-entry permit from the police station?[/quote]
Your resident visa is only used once, so there’s no such thing as a multiple entry resident visa. Once you have the Resident Visa you apply for an ARC and a Re-Entry Permit. The Re-Entry Permit and your ARC is what you will use to enter the country from now on. These are good for as many times as you want to come and go until they expire. You can apply for the ARC and Re-Entry Permit at the same time. My ARC took only one day and I did not need to leave my passport, but things change all the time.
What’s the ruling if you leave the country at the end of your contract but intend to return. Does the ARC process have to start again? I’m planning on having a month or a little more off after leaving my job then returning as I have a finanacial goal that will take another year here to reach.
[quote=“jlick”][quote=“BigJim”]Also for some reason it says “Single” entry instead of “Multiple”. Is this problematic?
Go to police station and get 1 year ARC 3. Leave and get Re-Entry permit 4. Eventually somehow get 3 year ARC with multiple entry? What do I need to bring to the police station, should I bring all my paperwork I used to get the visa, like the health certificate, household registry, pregnant Taiwanese wife, etc? And I ask for some kind of multiple re-entry permit from the police station?[/quote]
Your resident visa is only used once, so there’s no such thing as a multiple entry resident visa. [/quote]
My wife was able to get a multiple entry resident visa from the KL TECO office. That cost us RM 420 + additional fees. It is good for 90 days starting from the day you put down for when the visa is good for.
Things change pretty frequently and each office does things differently with their own rules. The one department that doesn’t change its rules frequently is the Household Registration Office. I suggest you go there first to find out what you would need to do.
[quote=“jlick”][quote=“BigJim”]Also for some reason it says “Single” entry instead of “Multiple”. Is this problematic?
Go to police station and get 1 year ARC 3. Leave and get Re-Entry permit 4. Eventually somehow get 3 year ARC with multiple entry? What do I need to bring to the police station, should I bring all my paperwork I used to get the visa, like the health certificate, household registry, pregnant Taiwanese wife, etc? And I ask for some kind of multiple re-entry permit from the police station?[/quote]
Your resident visa is only used once, so there’s no such thing as a multiple entry resident visa. Once you have the Resident Visa you apply for an ARC and a Re-Entry Permit. The Re-Entry Permit and your ARC is what you will use to enter the country from now on. These are good for as many times as you want to come and go until they expire. You can apply for the ARC and Re-Entry Permit at the same time. My ARC took only one day and I did not need to leave my passport, but things change all the time.[/quote]
However (at least for work-relatd visas) you only have fifteen days from the time the visa is issued in order to apply for the ARC/reentry permit. If you don’t do that within 15 days of being issued the visa, you will have to go back to step 1 and start all over again. Again, this is the requirement for work-related visas; spousal visas may be different.