[quote=“jimipresley”]Please take a ticket and be patient until someone attends to you.[/quote]Now serving number 666, number 666 please step forward! :roflmao:
Before I attempt to answer your questions with what little knowledge I have regarding this matter, you must first remember the following postulate.
1. There are no laws, no rules, no guidelines, and no standards of conduct in Taiwan that are important enough that they can’t be disregarded for any reason.
Now that we’ve got that little tidbit out of the way. Here goes.
[quote=“karmaGfa”]I would like to know if the approval (or lack of opposition) from a Taiwanese spouse is mandatory for a foreign spouse to successfully pass from an “Join Family ARC” to an APRC.[/quote]The simple answer is NO. It is not mandatory for a foreigner on a marriage JFRV to get permission or approval from their Taiwanese spouse in order to apply for and be granted permanent residency (APRC).
The not so simple answer: In order for JFRV holders to apply for an APRC they need to provide some information/documents related to being married to a Taiwanese national.
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Taiwanese spouse’s ID card: If the Taiwanese spouse refuses to allow their foreigner spouse to have access to this document, it can make it very difficult to apply for the APRC or even renew a JFRV ARC. I have run into this situation quite a few times. Every time a foreigner needs to renew their JFRV ARC they need to take a copy of the ID card with them. The people I’ve dealt with usually sweet talk their spouse into surrendering their ID card in order to renew their JFRV ARC and also when applying for the APRC. Many Taiwanese spouses are not opposed to their foreigner spouse renewing the JFRV ARC because it just continues the “indentured servitude” for another three years. However, applying for the APRC gives the foreign spouse complete freedom (except for marriage/divorce issues) and many will oppose it. It’s best to NOT indicate applying for an APRC if an applicant feels it would be opposed by their Taiwanese spouse. In fact, some applicants I’ve assisted borrowed their spouse’s ID card without their knowledge and took the card to the nearest 7-11 to scan it and then surreptitiously returned it without their spouse’s knowledge. I recommend that all foreigners on an JFRV ARC make a 300dpi scan of both the front and back of their spouse’s ID card so that it never becomes an issue when either renewing their JFRV ARC or applying for the APRC.
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Household registration. An APRC applicant needs a current computerized print out of the Taiwanese spouse’s household registration showing the foreigner as an added member of the household. For me, I have never had a problem walking into my local HHR office here in San-Zhi and requesting a current household registration from them. They know my wife, they know me, it’s no problem. However, if there is a law or policy that states that only the head of the household is legally able to request this document it could be a problem because foreigners are not allowed to be listed as head of the household on the household registration form. I don’t know what the legal policy is regarding obtaining this document. Perhaps others on this forum could comment more clearly as to the ease or difficulty of obtaining this document without the assistance or cooperation of their Taiwanese spouse.
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Annual income/Tax report. APRC applicants must provide documentation of income and taxes paid in order to show sufficient income and legally paid taxes. If an applicant and their spouse file taxes under the designation of married/filing jointly and if an applicant’s Taiwanese spouse is listed as the primary tax payer , the Taiwanese spouse is the only person who can get this document from the Tax Bureau. There have been many stories written here on Forumosa about foreigners not being able to get this document without the assistance/cooperation of their Taiwanese spouse. Forumosan spaint comes to mind as having had this issue when he was applying for the APRC. See him for more details. The Tax Bureau, absolutely will not provide this tax document to the foreign spouse if their Taiwanese spouse is listed as the primary tax payer even though the foreigner is listed on the tax form! However, you never know what you can accomplish if you don’t ask. See the postulate highlighted in red above for more information and guidance.
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APRC interview: Some offices will request/require an interview with both the applicant and the Taiwanese spouse when finalizing the application. Why? Well, because the NIA wants to make sure that the marriage is actually real and not on just on paper to provide convenience of employment and/or immigration opportunities. Who? Well, that’s kind of an arbitrary selection. If the foreigner APRC applicant is from a “designated” country that has a history of illegal immigration or scams, then the NIA will require an interview. I know that some applicants from Nigeria and also from eastern European countries like Russia, Latvia, Lithuania have been required to have their Taiwanese spouses present for their APRC interview or had a home visit in conjuction with the APRC application. I’m from the U.S. and my spouse wasn’t required to be interviewed. On all other applicants I’ve assisted, the NIA requested the spouse to be present for the interview, but the applicants didn’t bring their spouses, due to marital strife, but their applications were approved anyway. When asked about where their Taiwanese spouse was, they just replied that they were unavailable to attend.
[quote=“karmaGfa”]I am asking this question because after a conversation with an immigration agent, I was kind of shocked to hear that the Taiwanese spouse’s opinion would matter.[/quote]I’m guessing that there was a miscommunication between you and the NIA agent because this is not accurate. The NIA will not reject an APRC application simply because a Taiwanese spouse’s opinion is, “No, don’t give my foreigner spouse an APRC!”. I would like to know which NIA branch office you got this from and specifically the name of the NIA agent who gave you this impression. Also, was this the NIA agent who is in charge of processing APRC applications or was it just a run of the mill NIA agent at the information counter?
[quote=“karmaGfa”]Is it the same for foreigners on a company’s sponsored ARC? (In which case it would mean that the company can keep the ARC status as a permanent way of pression on the employee … which is shocking too, it would sound like a fairy-tale of slavery).[/quote]This is much more black and white and the answer is NO. When a foreigner has a work-permit and an employment based ARC, their employer has no power or say over whether they are approved or denied an APRC. The NIA will not contact or seek any input of any kind from an APRC applicant’s current or past employers. The only way an employer could make difficulties is by refusing to furnish the applicant with past work-permits, tax withholding documents, employment contracts, etc. However, everyone SHOULD already have all these documents without the need to ask their company for extra copies. There is absolutely no excuse to not have all original work-permits, employment contracts, tax withholding statements, etc., in your possession and filed away in a safe place. When I applied for my APRC, I didn’t need anything from my current employer as I already had everything that I needed.
I hope this helps. 
