i am a canadian citizen living in toronto and hope to teach english in taiwan. i am still looking for a job and will possibly look for one in person, if i have none lined up before i leave (mid april 09). i have bought my ticket (one way) but my itinerary has a fake return date. i am in the process of submitting my visitor visa form to the TECO office in toront but, i had a few questions i hope you guys can help with:
what is the likelihood of getting rejected for a v.visa at the TECO? anyone have experience with the toronto office in particular?
if i get the v.visa and land in taipei with no return ticket, will i run into any issues at customs etc? my itinerary is fake and i am only using it at the TECO office for v.visa purposes. should the itinerary mention ‘open ended’ regarding the return date?
is authentication of docs necessary for all or most schools in taiwan? i went to college and have my TESL. my school is recognized by the Taiwanese gov’t, but because it is not a degree i have my hesitations since some schools might be picky.
i would authenticate my diploma and transcript however i am worried that if the TECO office remembers my face and that i previously requested a v.visa for ‘vacation’ but and now authenticating potential work documents…can my visa be withdrawn or ‘blacklisted’? if i were to authenticate in toronto the time frame btwn getting my v.visa and authenticating docs would only be 1-2 weeks, so i would assume the likelihood of them remembering my face is high! my friend in tw told me that i can go to the visa centre for foreigners at the Xi Men Ding MRT station to authenticate in tw. is that my best bet?
LONG questions…i know! i appreciate any help i can get!
There is always a good chance of rejection when applying for a visitor visa at any TECO, but I don’t have any personal experience with the Toronto TECO. If its your first visa application then the chances you will get one are pretty good. They will want to see bank statements to prove your ability to support yourself for the duration of your visit in Taiwan and the amount of funds you have will have a direct impact on the duration of visa given. As a visitor perhaps they will give you a 30 Days visitor visa as many offices argue that 30 days is long enough to see Taiwan for tourism purposes, but they may give you 60 days if your lucky. They usually print the words ‘NO EXTENSION’ next to the duration on the Visa. This means you have a NON-Extendable Visitor Visa and once the duration of stay is up you have to leave taiwan. If you get an Extendable Visa then you can apply for an extension when you are in Taiwan up to 2 more times - So a 60 Day Extendable Visa can laet you stay in Taiwan for 180 Days, 30 Day Extendable = up to 90 Days, etc.
Extendable visas are hard to get if you are visiting for the purposes of tourism as they can’t see why anyone whould need so much time for touring around Taiwan.
On arrival in Taiwan you pass through Immigration where you are supposed to have a return ticket out of Taiwan with a Confirmed booking and seat number that will fly out before the expiration of your Visa, I’ve never been asked to show mine (after about 25 trips through immigration) and lots of other people on the forums say the same. As far as the TECO’s go many people don’t get asked for it either or simply submit an itinerary along with the other visa application documents. If you put ‘Open Ended’ on your itinerary then the TECO staff will either reject your application or make it closed ended for sure by giving you a very limited 30 days no-extension visa to force you to leave after 30 days, best not put ‘open ended’ if I were you.
Authentication of Docs is something the Taiwan Govt has really cracked down on in recent times, especially for english teachers. They will not only fine you and kick you out if caught teaching with false docs, but now the schools can be fined really heavily and that scares a lot of them off the practice of hiring teachers who are not qualified as far as Taiwans regs go.
I seem to remember reading through some Taiwan Govt website a while ago, about the rules and regs for Teaching English in Taiwan and reading that College Diploma level qualification + TESL is acceptable (not only Batchelors) but lots of schools and even Govt Departments are not aware of that and insist BA is the minimum requirement. Govt employess are, sadly not always well versed in the details of the law, this goes for immigration, work, tax, etc.
Maybe the schools that belong to the big chains will be better informed and/or willing to do something for you, or you can work as a private tutor and build your own client base.
By the way lots of people enter Taiwan on a Visitor Visa and once there change the visa to a Work Visa (or even Resident Visa) - providing it is the right kind of vistor visa - there are threads on the forum about that.
As for sorting out a teaching job there are websites advertising teaching positions in Taiwan try google, here are some examples: tealit.com/
(Which also has good info about living and teaching in Taiwan)
and adecco.com.tw/
thank you SO much for your detailed reply! i appreciate the help
the TECO office in toronto worries me because their staff is only 3-4 people and i’m sure they will remember me if i go to authenticate my docs after i apply for a visitor visa. i probably won’t authenticate in toronto, just to avoid any ohopefully i don’t run into any problems when i’m in taiwan.
thanks for the links. i’ve been checking tealit.com, but i don’t know if the postings i’m replying to are valid since none of the schools i applied to via tealit.com have gotten back to me at all?
Be careful when authenticating your documents at overseas TECO offices, you should check first about the requirements for authenticating your particular type of document, documents issued by foreign government bodies (foreign meaning non-Taiwan) have to be authenticated by the TECO office local to the issuing govt body. I’m not sure of the particulars relating to Educational certificates, but I know for sure that marriage certificates, certificates of no-impedement to marry, clear criminal record checks etc have to be authenticated by the local TECO (in my case as a UK citizen the HAD to be authenticated by the taiwan office in London, anywhere else and they wouldn’t be accepted!)
You also need to check if there is any requirement for your particular document to be translated into chinese and the translation authenticated in the same way as the original (again i have no personal experience with authentication of educational documents as I am not a teacher)
Perhaps you could try a phone call to the Tronto TECO to clarify.
In my own experience with document authentication I did fine just posting the documents along with the authentication application form and the fee to my local TECO and they posted it back in 3 days, that should help you with your worries about being recognised, check toronto TECO’s website and look for “Authentication services” for the forms/requirements and fees etc.
Also with government issued documents issued in the UK I had to get mine Legalised (authenticated) by the UK Foreign Office first (did that by mail too) before I could send them to the London Taiwan office for authentication. Other countries may not have a foreign office legalisation dept and have to get their documents notorised first instead. I suggest you check with toronto if that is necessary in Canada - or for educational documents (which i’m guessing arn’t issued by a government body?)
If you get pressed by the toronto office to explain the visitor visa application versus your educational document authentication then maybe you could tell them you are seriously considering going to taiwan to teach english but in the first instance you want to visit to sample the Taiwan culture, do fact finding, assess job availabilty, living conditions, etc. before you make you final decision and you would like to have your documentation prepared if you should decide to go teaching. Sounds perfectly resonable to do that and doesn’t mean you have any intention of working illegally. In any case i’ve found it best not to volunteer any additional information until asked for it, as it can only complicate the process.
104.com.tw/
is another job board in taiwan that is useful to those seeking teaching jobs in Taiwan.
giraffe.com.tw/
Is a chain of english schools in Taiwan, you could try them (if you are looking to teach children).
Hess Organizational Education is another large chain in Taiwan (teaching children), see: hess.com.tw/careers/english/
[i]"Current employment qualifications for foreign teachers:
According to the regulation No.0950501673 revised by the CLA on 5/2/2006, Article 42 of he Reviewing Standards and
Employment Qualifications for Foreigners Engaging in the Jobs Specified in Items 1 to 6, Paragraph 1 to Article 46 of the
Employment Service Act? foreign workers who hired as foreign language teachers based on the tem 4, Paragraph 1 to
Article 46 Employment Service Act?should have the qualifications bellow:
20 year old and above.
Graduated from college or above.
The language of the course you teach should be the same as the official language on you passport. Some countries
have one and above official languages like Europe.
Those without a bachelor degree should have certified language teacher training certificates.
"[/i]
