Can I get work visa attached to my wife's visa?

Any help you could give me with this would be much appreciated.

My wife and I (both British), arrived in Taipei two weeks ago. She has a teaching job already, and I am looking for work as a copy editor.

I was advised by the Taiwanese Representative Office (TROUK) in the UK that once my wife has a work visa, I can get a dependency visa which will allow me to work as well.

I’ve had a couple of job interviews so far, and everyone I mention this to thinks I’m crazy. Most seem to think dependency visas only allow you to work if your spouse is Taiwanese.

I did tell the TROUK that my wife and I were both British. And that she would be teaching, but I would be looking for work as a copy editor.

Have I been given bad advice? I’ve double checked with the TROUK and they insist that I should be able to get a dependency visa no problem.

I can’t tell you anything about how to get it, but a friend of mine has his work visa through his (also foreign) wife as you are describing, no problem.

[quote=“chinamac79”][color=#FF0000]My wife and I (both British), [/color]arrived in Taipei two weeks ago. I was advised by the Taiwanese Representative Office (TROUK) in the UK that once my wife has a work visa, [color=#FF0000]I can get a dependency visa which will allow me to work as well[/color].[/quote]I believe that this is NOT true.

However, things change so quickly and so often it’s really hard to keep up. I recommend going to the NIA and asking them what the current policy is.

Here’s how it used to be and still is as far as I know. A foreigner with an employment based ARC (your wife) can qualify to get a dependent ARC for their spouse (you). However, that doesn’t give the dependent spouse any work rights whatsoever. The dependent ARC only gives the right to reside in Taiwan with their spouse, NO working to include freelancing, self-employment, 1 on 1 teaching, etc. If a foreign spouse with a dependent ARC of a foreign spouse wants to work, they have to go out and find a Taiwanese company to sponsor them for a work permit in their own right. Self-employment and freelancing are still NOT allowed. The only people who have unrestricted work rights based on a dependent ARC are JFRV holders who must be married to a Taiwanese spouse.

Basically what NC said

A resident visa and a work permit are 2 separate entities for everyone except for those married to Taiwanese.

It can get to the point as follows under a hypothetical situation:
My wife dies, but I maintain my JFRV due to our children that I raise in Taiwan. Under those circumstances my open work permit would become void. If I were caught working without a work permit, my children and I could be forced to leave Taiwan under duress.

YMMV