My Canadian friend just arrived in Taiwan with a 30 day landing visa. She already got a job and is waiting for the health check to return so she can apply for her ARC.
But now heard that you actually need a visitors visa to get an ARC and not a landing visa?
oh masters of Forumosa…is this true, and if so, what can be done?
thanking you in advance
[quote=“Battery9”]My Canadian friend just arrived in Taiwan with a 30 day landing visa. She already got a job and is waiting for the health check to return so she can apply for her ARC.
But now heard that you actually need a visitors visa to get an ARC and not a landing visa?
oh masters of Forumosa…is this true, and if so, what can be done?
thanking you in advance[/quote]
Yeah, I think it’s always been that way: that you can’t convert a landing visa directly into a work visa. I might be wrong though. I don’t know too much about this stuff.
I may be wrong here, but I’ve recently had to consider which visa to get and to my knowledge, you actually need a resident visa to get an ARC, not just a visitor visa. A visitor visa can, with reason, be extended up to 180 days but anything beyond that and you’ll need a resident visa. You can change a visitor visa into a resident visa at the Bureau of Consular Affairs, though. Bring all the required paperwork, of course.
One thing I’m pretty sure of is that a landing visa cannot be converted into anything else from inside Taiwan. Your friend would have to leave the country to get a visitor visa, and come back on that.
Do you mean a visa-exempt entry? There is no visa to extend/convert.
If your friend arrived on a landing visa, last I knew, she would have to leave the country and apply for either a resident visa with the paperwork in hand or a visitor visa, which could be converted to a resident visa here.
As things here change regularly, perhaps she should make a visit to the proper authorities and ask. A forum like this may be a good source for advice, but I wouldn’t take information here as definitive answers…
From my knowledge, only a 60-day visitor visa becomes eligble for applying ARC
Well a valid visitor visa issued prior to arrival. My son required one and as I knew I needed to apply for his ARC I knew he could not enter on a landing visa and then apply for an ARC.
So for the OP… you friend will need to leave Taiwan, apply for a vistor visa when the friends can then use to enter Taiwan on, and then after that change over to an ARC.
Thank you so much for the info …
How about going to Hong Kong and applying for a working visa ? Has anyone ever done that?
[quote=“Battery9”]Thank you so much for the info …
How about going to Hong Kong and applying for a working visa ? Has anyone ever done that?[/quote]
There’s no working visa but you can certainly go to Hong Kong and get a visitor visa or a resident visa (both of which enable you to get an ARC). You will need paperwork providing purpose of visit, ie. proof of employment or enrollment at a university. Additionally they may or may not insist that you show them there’s a certain amount of money on your bank account (I do not know how much - they didn’t insist in Sydney) and that you show them the itinerary of a return flight, although for the latter I do not know if it is required if you plan and could stay for a very long time.
But others may correct me if I am wrong.
Well, if you apply for a 60 day visitor’s visa, you’ll have to convert that to a resident visa in Taiwan, which costs something like 4000NT (at least it’s that much for Americans). If your friend’s work permit is issued by the time she has to do a visa run, she should be able to use the work permit to apply directly for a resident visa on her visa run and not pay that 4000NT. Moreover, if you have the work permit, you won’t need to show any outbound flight itineraries, bank account statements, etc.
There is absolutely NO possibilty of changing to a work visa. It just does not not work that way. Even if you tell your so called embassy that you are going to Taiwan to look for a teaching job and maybe see some sights, you will be rejected. You come here on a work visa or you find a job while you are here on a landing or visitor’s visa and then leave with your paperwork, usually to HongKong. I know of so many people who have been misled by their prospective schools and ended up spending alot of time and money for no good purpose.
All that being said, it sounds like a good way to go is to line up a job before you come here. They offer things like free airport pickup, inexpensive housing, at least one free meal at lunch and a friendly enviroment.
In English that means that they will spend a few hundred NT $ to get you to their school, where they will usher you to a windowless, non-air-conditioned hovel with enough room for a bed (maybe) and expect you to live there. Many will expect you to pay them a partial payment per month which is usually double the actual cost of the room. The free food turns out to be that you are the food monitor at the school. You control all the little lovely ones, give them their food, wipe their chins and their noses and when everything calms down, you can shovel in a few grains of rice. (cold). (and while you are ducking and dodging the leftovers thrown at you.) (Little bastards)
This is probably the wrong string for this - ya - I know, it sounds like a rant, but not so. Advise!
Don’t get taken for this crap. It seems like I hear every month of one or two folks who have had the problem.
Come here on a landing visa.
Look around and decide what area is for you.
Negotiate rent with a landlord usuaing body language or a friend you have met.
If furnished, fine, If not go find what you need at the many furniture stores.
While you do the furnishing, check out forumosa wanted at the top of this web page. BTW, You might also find a roomy.
When you meet with the landlord, try to have a Chinese speaker with you but it’s not absolutely neccessary. Expect to pay 2X the rent in a deposit. When you leave, all you need to do is put the place back into the same number of rooms that you found it. Damage is frowned upon but, since I am used to the U.S. system they get it back better than I found it.
Next, get your job lined up and get the Work Permit Docs. You need the health check, as mentioned elsewhere, a pocket full of passport photos and a couple thousand NT.
Once you have the Work Permit Docs, take them to Immigration near your home. Present them with pics and your passport. They will call you back in a few days to give you a little plastic card that says your “A cool dude”. Now, go to work. Do it again next year but then you’ll be an an old hand and telling everybody else how to do it.
Enjoy the experience.
Damn, it only cost me NT$1200 to become an ROC Citizen… why pay a visa fee? :roflmao: :roflmao:
[quote=“Satellite TV”]
Damn, it only cost me NT$1200 to become an ROC Citizen… why pay a visa fee? :roflmao: :roflmao:[/quote]
Not recommended for the casual visitor…