Bad news about getting an APRC for dependents

I’m getting close to qualifying for an APRC, and the goal was to have my wife apply right after I got it so she could work as well. That seemed to be all well and good according to the law:
https://www.immigration.gov.tw/5475/5478/141465/141808/152932/

According to 4(5):

Today, when I went to the NIA office, I was told that my wife would NOT be able to apply for an APRC soon after me. It’s not clear from the English text, but I was told by three people (one was referred to as the APRC officer, and who was very nice) that the law meant that after I got my APRC, my wife would have to wait an additional 5 years to get hers. She has already been in the country for 4 years, so that means another 6 year wait. The only remedy seems to be if she has funds or property amounting to 5 million NT, an impossible amount for us, or to have an income, but she can’t work because she’s my dependent.

I can’t find the Chinese text so maybe someone who reads Chinese well can compare them, but it seems quite sure she will not be able to get her APRC. Unfortunately, that’s likely the only way she could work. She’s from a country where English is a national language, but she only has an associates degree. She doesn’t have any other skills or experience that would allow her to work here.

The previous paragraph states:

But as @tando says below, that refers to to someone who can apply for a plum blossom card, and that’s not me.

The only other possibility I see is for her to go back to school, but, other than MBA programs, I can’t find any universities in commuting distance with an all-English program. We don’t have the money for that anyway, or for Chinese classes. There’s some hope for a scholarship, but this really isn’t the point we wanted to be at now.

Am I missing anything? She really just wants to stop being dependent and to help her family and she doesn’t want to work illegally, so we’re pretty devastated right now. I don’t see a lot of other options. NIA today pretty much shot down everything but having 5 million NT. I’ve been planning to stay here long term, but now I want to go. There’s just no place for us to go unless we want to be apart for a long time.

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Is it the one in the instruction for the APRC application on NIA site?

(4)Where a foreign skilled professional applies for permanent residency under the provisions of Article 25 Paragraph 3 Subparagraph 2 of the Immigration Act, …

I think it means a foreign senior professional, who can apply for a plum blossom card.

Articles 4 and 15 of Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals mention on application for permanent residency under the provisions of Article 25 Paragraph 3 Subparagraph 2 of the Immigration Act.

Usual English editors may be foreign professionals.

You’re right. I updated the first post with everything I’ve learned since.

That’s terrible, in a similar situation to you, was hoping my wife will get aprc with me.
For me the children issue is also pressing, wouldn’t want to leave in a few years when they are no longer minors but can’t get a visa.

O.T. yes

I’m not sure that your wife’s credentials disqualify her from teaching English in a cram school, provided she has or can get a TEFL certificate some kind (I think they have a rule against an online TEFL certificate, but I’m not sure. Please see this post further down in this thread).

Here’s a link to a post that @tempogain wrote on the subject of two-year degrees (which is part of a thread on that subject):

Here’s a link to a post that @tempogain wrote about the official language requirement:

This appears to be an English translation of the pertinent law or regulation:

This is the URL of the English translation:

https://law.moj.gov.tw/ENG/LawClass/LawSearchContent.aspx?pcode=N0090031&norge=42

This is the Chinese version of the above:

(boldface added by me)

This is the URL of the Chinese version:

This is more or less something I wrote a while back:

The Chinese version of “Qualifications and Criteria Standards” uses the phrase “大專以上學校畢業” (“dàzhuān yǐshàng xuéxiào bìyè”), which I think means something like “be graduated from junior colleges or above.”

About the word 大專, cdict.net says:

cdict.net/?q=%E5%A4%A7%E5%B0%88

Yahoo Kimo (奇摩) Dictionary’s first definition of 大專 is:

Yahoo’s dictionary also says “junior college” as well as cdict.net’s “three year college.”

tw.dictionary.yahoo.com/diction … 7%E5%B0%88

Dr.eye’s website translates 大專 as:

yun.dreye.com/dict_new/dict.php? … winfotab=1

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Right, so if you have graduated from a college, but don’t have a bachelor’s degree, that is, you have an associate’s degree, you can still teach if you have a “qualification certificate for language teaching”. They don’t like online certification for that if I remember right.

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Yeah, I either forgot about that, or more likely, “wishfully-thought” ShaoLeFen’s post said that his wife had one. I’ve just checked, and he didn’t mention it, so I sneaked a mention of the certificate into my earlier post. I wonder if she could easily get one from her home country.

Edited to add:

I can’t vouch for the information below, but I thought I’d add it in case it might help (but I hope it does no harm):

This sucks overall. I feel for you guys in that I read the law exactly the same as you - that spouses could apply at the same time.

This needs to be 100% clarified. Is it foreign Special Professional, or Foreign Senior Professional? It would be worth figuring out what applies to the spouses of both.

On a side note, what is with the 5 Million NT$ ?

dependants of a foreign senior professional can apply for APRC at the same time.

Ok, how about foreign Special professional?

And can someone explain the 5 Million NT$ clause?

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It seems foreign Special professionals are treated as a part of foreign professionals as for APRC application.

She doesn’t, but that’s something I’m looking at now. She has an Associates Degree in her country. As I’ve seen, the minimum requirements are to have an Associates Degree and a TEFL certificate (not sure about the type, hours, etc of the certificate) and be from a country where English is a native language.

Some little time ago, I said the applicant had to be from one of 7 countries and either @tempogain or @yyy sarcasm’ed me into agreement. The law does seem to suggest there is not a list of countries, HOWEVER THE LAW ALSO SUGGESTED THAT SHE COULD GET AN APRC NEXT YEAR so I DON’T KNOW.
I asked here about the APRC for dependents issue, but didn’t ask NIA. I just told the wife for the past year that she can get a job next yet, so today’s drama could have been avoided with a phone call.

Hess seems to accept teachers with an AA+TEFL, when I started filling out an application just to test I got this:

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Which only means that’s their rule.

So basically, yeah, she can get a buxiban job. But the odds of her getting a decent job somewhere not in the sticks are low.

It’s the one that gets the plum blossom card. There may be two translations for the same thing. One could just be from the news.

Proof of assets. It’s weird to ask that of a dependent, but I guess a couple could get divorced and one becomes destitute but continues to live in Taiwan. There’s also a rule that the spouse can be working at twice the minimum salary, but since she’s not working that’s a non-starter.

These are two different categories of workers. Foreign professionals are most ARC holders who are working. To get the plum blossom ARC you have to be super-special (I was told). Few have this.

there are foreign professionals, foreign special professionals, and foreign senior professionals.

As for APRC application, foreign special professionals seem to be a part of foreign professionals.

This really sucks for you guys. I feel for you, in that it could have easily have been my situation in a few years. I hope you can figure something out here.

The only thing that might be different for my situation is that we will probably have between 5 -7 Million NT$ in investments ( thus my interest in this part of your story). Not that you were really paying close attention to that part necessarily, but did they expand what they meant by assets? (Would equities/stocks or bonds in her name count? Or would it have to be cash in a Taiwanese bank account for a specific period of time?) I am trying to figure out a plan of attack here, to work the system as best as we can to make things work.

Apologies if this is stupid for whatever reason, but can she get an ARC with work rights by virtue of her relationship with you as an APRC holder?

Maybe, it’s not relevant at this time. Being neither helps in this situation. I’m not going to get a plum blossom card anytime soon, so that’s out.

I’m not going to make guesses. All they told me was have $5 million and “prove treasury” and some mention of real estate. I don’t even know if it can be in cash. This is the law:

The link to the full text is above. You can probably just call NIA and ask. They were very helpful, one might say sympathetic. I’m sure they’d tell you the full verification process. Stocks might fall under ‘chattel’. Congratulations on your investments. I’m not so good at saving.

I did not think to ask that, but that’s the sort of thing I’D likely ask YOU. I’ve not seen anything about it so far, though, and it seems unlikely as ARC follows a work permit, not the other way round. An ARC is granted for a reason to be in the country, like work, study or dependent. And I did say to two of the three people she wanted to work (with a sad face) and they didn’t indicate it was possible. If there is some separate law, maybe regulating the dep’t of labor, regarding work rights of dependents of APRC holders, NIA may not have information about that since they only collect work permits but don’t issue them. I know spouses of citizens can work at some point, but there’s no compelling reason to give the same rights to the spouses of APRC holders, so it seems unlikely.

Reposting this (but again, I can’t vouch for it):

Yes, some schools seem willing to accept only people from the seven countries.

Back in 2012, I had a co-worker who was from Singapore. As far as I know, he was hired as a foreign English teacher. I don’t think he was paid as much as a typical foreign English teacher, and I also think he was hired under special circumstances. Additionally, I think he had a U. S. Bachelor’s degree. I don’t recall seeing his work permit. However, one day we got inspected (I don’t know whether it was local or national), and afterward, if I recall correctly, he confirmed to me that his work permit was for a foreign teacher. He even remarked that the inspector was surprised and that she said that it was the first one of its kind that she had ever seen.

I think this was around the time that Forumosa was having a dispute about whether one had to be from one of the seven countries. I didn’t mention my co-worker during that dispute, because I didn’t want to drag him into it. However, as far as I can tell (from Facebook), he passed away in 2018, so I guess it’s okay to mention him now.

Employment Service Act doesn’t say spouse of APRC holder has work right.

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