My husband is in Japan teaching English while I stay behind in Taipei for at least another year or two. I am loathe to move out of my lovely apartment, so I advertised on Tealit and Taiwanted and promptly found myself a roomie.
Problem is, she needed to apply for an ARC and the ARC requires a lease. My landlady, who is generally very chill, said that she’s fine with a subletter but she will not sign a lease with the subletter. “I will only deal with you,” she said. I think that despite all my assurances, she’s afraid that I’ll bolt for Japan leaving her with tenants she doesn’t trust but can’t kick out.
Roomie, understandably, found housing elsewhere.
Has anyone been in this situation before? I would really rather rent to foreigners because they’re willing to pay more.
I called the immigration people. The lady on the phone said that they’ll be fine with a lease that I sign as a xiao landlord. However, she added some stuff about how the legality of that lease on the housing law front is out of their jurisdiction that worried me somewhat.
My girlfriend signs all our leases and there was also one time when we lived with some of her friends. In each of those cases, I’ve just made copies of the lease and included them with my documentation. There has never been a problem.
Ive had to show mine every time. As did my wife. Even when I didnt have a place in my name. I just gave a friends. I was going to say this is where i live, but i didnt need to. They understood right away.
Just let your friend borrow your lease, no need to have one in her name.
Don’t know whether to laugh or cry. At least my mind is put at rest for when I get another roommate. I’ll just send him/her off with a copy of my lease to show the place where they’re going to live and all should be hunky-dory, no?
Wait. I’m confused. I called the immigration department hotline for waiguoren living in Taiwan and asked the same question again to confirm and the lady was adamant that a lease is required and that the lease have to have the person’s name on it. I feel like I’m going nuts!
Will call more senior immigration people later in the afternoon. Grrr…Have also scheduled appointment with Cui Mama foundation probono legal advice. Ack!
The more questions you ask, the more likely you are to be confused. The immigration folks just want something that shows your address, so don’t worry too much. I just walked a new teacher through getting his ARC. He brought an old power bill that he found in his mailbox, and that was good enough.
The first time I applied for an ARC renewal under the “lease requirement” rule was three ARC renewals ago. I didn’t have a lease and couldn’t get one, so I just went down to the Immigration office with my other stuff and said something like, “I don’t think I have everything that I should have, but this is all I have. Can I get an ARC?” The person behind the counter renewed my ARC.
The second time, I had messed something up or forgotten something having to do with my paperwork (I don’t remember what it was), so I couldn’t get the ARC processed that day anyway. As I was about to get up and leave, the person behind the counter informed me that I would also need a lease. I told him that I didn’t have one, and he told me that I had to get one, and that I should come back and see him specifically. I didn’t get a lease, but I came back the next day, and instead of seeing the guy from the day before, I took a number and wound up seeing a person who happened to be having an animated, friendly telephone conversation while she processed my paperwork. She didn’t ask to see my lease, and I got my ARC renewed.
The third time, which was about a week or so ago, I showed up with some kind of statement from my neighborhood leader, or block leader (I’m not sure what the right term is), saying that I lived at such-and-so address. I also had a bunch of electricity bills for the same address (although they were not in my name). I had those things out so that the person behind the counter could see them, and my boss had already discussed the issue with someone at Immigration. The man behind the counter probably saw the statement and the bills, but he never asked for them or examined them. He just examined my work permit, passport, etc., and stamped the back of my ARC.
Like all adminsistrative issues in Taiwan, it depends on who you are dealing with. Look nice, ask nice and show them just about anything with the address on it. This crap started about 3 years ago. The goal was to stop forum shopping for an ARC. Some jurisdictions were being more lenient than others and so - new rule -show a lease. I have only been asked once to show proof of residency in that particular jurisdiction. It was just after a move and the staff, then FAP, didn’t know me. I had a lease and showed it but friends have had the same problem and solved it with just about any letter or bill either naming them at that address or anybody else at that address. My conclusion, possibly false, was that they are simply complying with their training and some sort, any sort, of proof of residency is required. If you can’t get anything else, try getting a Costco card, RT Mart card, Geant card, etc, and give them the new address. 10:1 it works great. You are not deceiving, after all, it is your address and you are showing them proof that you live there.
The last time I renewed an ARC which was in February 2006, they wanted the whole shebang, however they relented when I showed them a picture of my kids. I am not kidding.
Having argued with officer A for some time and ended up gaining a one year extension, I then went to officer B and asked how to get a PARC, as I had done enough time to get one.
He did not give a rats backside about my address or my lease.
I would show them something, anything, and hope that the officer in question did not argue with his or hers spouse that morning.
I heard back from the legal advice people from Cui Mama. She gave me some good news – I can sign the lease as a second landlord legally as long as I understand that I’m taking all the responsibilities of being a landlord blah blah blah.
So that’s my problem sorted. But I’m still kind of amazed by this stupid rule and how inconsistently it is applied.
