I am going to be studying Chinese at CLD NTU for one semester (3 months), and I was wondering should I apply for a Visitor Visa? I am from America, and I know I can stay 90 days with just my passport. I plan to study for at least another semester, so I could potentially be there 7-8 months. Should I get a visitor visa? Or just go to Taiwan with my passport and renew the 90 days by leaving the country and coming back? From what I have read, the main benefit for me getting a visitor visa would be that it is the only way to become a resident and work in Taiwan correct? Otherwise if I wasn’t planning to work there, would it just be easier to not get a visa? What should I do?
Does anyone have any experience in this? If I could get any advice that would be greatly appreciated!!!
You can get a resident visa based on your Chinese classes but cannot work on it.
You can get a resident visa sponsored by a teaching job and work on it and if you want you can take Chinese classes.
The biggest benefit is that you get an ARC card and NHI. The ARC card is useful for applying for local DL, buying vehicles, opening bank accounts, renting apartments, etc… A few of these things can be done without an ARC and some have claimed that it is possible to get a Taiwan ID number and do all of these things but it is based on a website instead of personal experience.
But you really want NHI. It is a good system to be part of and the health care in Taiwan is pretty good even if isn’t perfect.
[quote=“Abacus”]The biggest benefit is that you get an ARC card and NHI. The ARC card is useful for applying for local DL, buying vehicles, opening bank accounts, renting apartments, etc… A few of these things can be done without an ARC and some have claimed that it is possible to get a Taiwan ID number and do all of these things but it is based on a website instead of personal experience.
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You definitely don’t need an ARC to open a bank account or rent an apartment (personal experience). Just go to the NIA and apply for an ID number. It’s free and quick. Occasionally, service providers (phone companies etc.) think you need an ARC, but they don’t actually know their own regulations, so you just have to talk to someone else at the company.
You shouldn’t need an ARC for most things. But you do need one (or an equivalent certificate like an APRC) for NHI.
Thanks for the info! I have another question. Say I don’t get a student visa, how many times can I refresh my landing visa by leaving the country and going back? If I can do it many times, and I plan to leave within one year then I don’t really need a visa correct? Do you recommend getting a student visa or just refreshing the landing visa? I suppose I can only stay a max of one year with the savings I have.
[quote=“iceman887”]Thanks for the info! I have another question. Say I don’t get a student visa, how many times can I refresh my landing visa by leaving the country and going back? If I can do it many times, and I plan to leave within one year then I don’t really need a visa correct? Do you recommend getting a student visa or just refreshing the landing visa? I suppose I can only stay a max of one year with the savings I have.
Thank you.[/quote]
Infinity. They don’t care as long as you never overstay.
I recommend having health insurance. If you have health insurance through other means then the visa/ARC aren’t as big of a deal if you don’t mind the visa runs.
[quote=“yyy”][quote=“Abacus”]The biggest benefit is that you get an ARC card and NHI. The ARC card is useful for applying for local DL, buying vehicles, opening bank accounts, renting apartments, etc… A few of these things can be done without an ARC and some have claimed that it is possible to get a Taiwan ID number and do all of these things but it is based on a website instead of personal experience.
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You definitely don’t need an ARC to open a bank account or rent an apartment (personal experience). Just go to the NIA and apply for an ID number. It’s free and quick. Occasionally, service providers (phone companies etc.) think you need an ARC, but they don’t actually know their own regulations, so you just have to talk to someone else at the company.
You shouldn’t need an ARC for most things. But you do need one (or an equivalent certificate like an APRC) for NHI.[/quote]
I have heard about some landlords being picky about renting to foreigners w/o ARC’s. Bank account is not a problem but a local DL or putting a vehicle in your name might be. There is wording somewhere on some gov’t website that makes it sound like it is possible but until people have done it and reported back successfully then I have my doubts about such a website. But really these are minor things if someone is only here for 9 months. They will get by just fine w/o owning a scooter especially if they are in Taipei.
I’d suggest that you get the visitor visa for the purpose of studying Chinese rather than just using landing visas IF you will be here for more than six months or so.
If you stay for more than six months, you will need to make more than two visa runs and that will end up costing you more than getting an ARC after four months of study. You can’t get an ARC if you enter visa free.
An ARC also makes some things like renting etc easier.
You can work for up to 16 hours a week after you study Chinese for one year. It’s a great way to improve your Mandarin even if you don’t need the money.
But if you can afford to take visa runs, coming here without getting the visa will work just fine. And you can always get one later on a visa run if you change your mind.
Thank you so much for the replies and recommendations!! I definitely have a better understanding now.
I have another specific question. I know the visitor visa can only be extended twice, or a max stay of 180 days which is 6 months. If my plan is to study for two semesters, including the break between semesters, it would be over 6 months. If I plan to leave right after the 2nd semester, would I still need to apply for an ARC for that short time after 180 days? Or is there any other way around that? What happens if I stay past the 180 day visitor visa without applying for an ARC? If I were using my landing visa and just did refreshed it, I wouldn’t have to worry about this correct?
You would need to change your Visitor Visa to a Resident Visa before you can apply for an ARC.
You can’t change a visa exempt entry to a Resident Visa.
If you don’t leave Taiwan, you would need to get an ARC to stay in Taiwan for more than 180 days, including a short period. Start the process early in month five.
If you stay past 180 days without applying for an ARC, you will have over stayed your visit. If it is a short over stay of a few days, you will be fined and lose visa exempt entry privileges for a year. If it is longer, you will get an entry ban of 1-3 years. I strongly recommend that you do NOT overstay under any circumstances. It will be on your record and could haunt you later should you decide to come back to Taiwan or stay longer.
If you made a quick trip to a neighboring country just before your six months expires, you can make a visa exempt entry and stay in Taiwan for an additional 90 days if you are from one of the countries on thislist unless you are from Malaysia or Singapore (30 days). Note the special rules for the UK and Canada.
Just as a note - they don’t always give visitor visas with extensions. It’s possible that if you apply for a visa they will only give you a 60 day non-extendable visa which is worse the 90 day visa exempt. I think you might be able to ask for an extendable 60 day visa (extendable twice AFAIK) with the correct correspondance from the school that you will study at. This is something you will want to ask of the TECO office when you apply.