I’m new to the forum and I basically wanted to find out some information about obtaining ARC’s in Taiwan. My situation is quite complicated but I was wondering if anyone could help explain some things to me.
I’m a 25 year old British citizen (only hold British passport) and I have recently entered Taiwan on a 90-day visa exemption. However, I would ideally like to find a job out here as my father was a Taiwanese citizen, before he passed away a few years ago, and some of family still live here.
I understand that foreigners can apply for an ARC if they are a child of a Taiwanese citizen, but I was wondering if I would still qualify considering my father is no longer alive? Furthermore, if I do still qualify under this rule, would I be able to switch from my 90-day visa exemption directly or would I need to go through a different procedure? Lastly, if I can obtain an ARC by being a child of a Taiwanese citizen, will I be eligible to work or would I need to switch my ARC once I find a job?
I would really appreciate any information any of you have!
You probably can’t get an ARC for the reason of joining family…if you are basing your reason on your late father…
But you might be able to get citizenship if you can get proof of your father’s citizenship.
I’ve spoken to my older brother, who is a Taiwanese citizen and lives in Taiwan at the moment, and he also said I would probably be able to get citizenship through our father, however the problem with that is I would obviously need to serve in the military.
So I’m really only looking at the ARC option for now. Aside from applying through ancestry, I’m also looking into applying through work. The only problem is I’m finding conflicting information on here about the criteria needed for applying for an ARC through work, as some websites and threads on here say you need to have 2 years of work experience after you’ve graduated and others say you can still apply without that stipulation.
To obtain a work permit for English teaching you just need a Bachelor’s degree (in any subject). For obtaining a work permit for other white collar jobs you need either: a) Master’s degree (no work experience required) b) Bachelor’s degree + 2 year’s post graduation related work experience c) high school diploma + 5 years related work experience. This is as far as I remember.
The work permit does not belong to you. It belongs to the company. However, both you and the company must conform to certain requisites set by the Government in order for you to be legally hired. They must have a certain threshold for sales/be inscribed properly as an education center/have all taxes done etc. whatever, while you must have the qualifications to perform the job in question, which the Government sets the limit at least with a college degree and relevant experience in the field. Other details to be legally hired include that you must be paid at least double the minimum wage, for instance.
Most importantly, the work permit is never yours. The company that hired you can rescind it any time, and is in no obligation to inform you. hence, you are effectively linked to them, as without the work permit, your ARC is null, invalid, as your reason for being here -work- is no more. So this is an important detail. Many people rely on the date printed on the ARC. That date is for reference purposes only.
One silver lining: as a holder of a British passport, you are one of the few who are not forced to leave when changing from visa free entre to work visa.
