Changing child's status from taiwan passport to ARC

bit of an unpleasant surprise today when i found out my daughter needs a valid taiwan visa in her foreign passport in order to attend an international school. i assumed wrongly that her foreign passport would be enough. she was among the early kids who got a taiwan passport once the law was changed in 2000. the option was available to get an arc then but it simply seemed more convenient to use the taiwan passport when entering taiwan and she’s always done so since then.

in order to get the visa she has to leave taiwan, apply for the visa overseas and return on the foreign passport. the ministry of foreign affairs outlines all the necessary procedures for this specific situation so i don’t believe there will be any problems. still has anyone done this and have any experience to report? it would be much appreciated.

Just curious, but which school is this?

taipei american school.

Well, as a dual national she is here legally.

Her “Taiwan passport” is her proof of legal status here.

You should suggest to TAS that the Taiwan governing authorities are in charge of deciding whether or not someone needs a “valid visa” in their passport in order to say here legally. Such a determination is not up to the officials at TAS.

But … stepping back for a moment … in regard to this matter, it seems logical to me to say that TAS wants some sort of proof that the foreign passport holder is “legally resident in Taiwan.”

I would assume that one could get a suitable document from some Taiwan government dept. (Ministry of Interior perhaps?) attesting to this.

However, I cannot see that TAS has any legal right to claim that the only way to prove such a fact is to show a “valid visa” in a foreign passport. (Certainly, in many countries there will be many categories of people who do not need visas to live there legally, etc., etc. anyway …)

The TAS web site claims that due to their operating status they are only permitted by the government to admit students holding a foreign passport and valid visa. I had been aware that such ‘foreign schools’ could only admit those with foreign passports but the visa requirement is one I had not been aware of.

[quote=“Hartzell”]Well, as a dual national she is here legally.

Her “Taiwan passport” is her proof of legal status here.

You should suggest to TAS that the Taiwan governing authorities are in charge of deciding whether or not someone needs a “valid visa” in their passport in order to say here legally. Such a determination is not up to the officials at TAS.

But … stepping back for a moment … in regard to this matter, it seems logical to me to say that TAS wants some sort of proof that the foreign passport holder is “legally resident in Taiwan.”

I would assume that one could get a suitable document from some Taiwan government dept. (Ministry of Interior perhaps?) attesting to this.

However, I cannot see that TAS has any legal right to claim that the only way to prove such a fact is to show a “valid visa” in a foreign passport. (Certainly, in many countries there will be many categories of people who do not need visas to live there legally, etc., etc. anyway …)[/quote]

i believe, though i’m not 100% sure, that it is a government regulation. jlick mentions the sentence appearing on their website. i don’t know, but they made it clear that there were “no exceptions.” they did mention something about students being required to use the foreign passport on any school trips.

i did find out today (from MOFA) that if for some reason the hk office declines to give her a “resident visa,” i can still get a “visitor visa” and have it changed to a “resident visa” in taiwan.

I find myself in the same position as Tempo Gain. My daughter has been admitted to Taipei American School but she does not have a valid visa in her US passport because we have always used her Taiwan passport to enter Taiwan. (She has both valid US and Taiwan passports)

I was wondering how things worked out for your daughter or if anyone else has a similar experience and how they resolved it.

An update on our situations since others may be in the same boat.

We ended up going back to the US over the summer break and getting a valid visa for Taiwan in our daughter’s US passport. We then got an Alien residence card for her when we got back to Taiwan.

The bottom line is that you need to show up on the first day of school at TAS with a US passport that has a valid Taiwan visa.

Hi all, I know this is an old topic, but I was wondering if those of you who successfully did this had to remove your child from the household registry in order to get the ARC, or if you just left the country and came back on the child’s foreign passport without having to change the registry.

Thanks!

The registry has to be amended. The ID number changes for one thing. They still will have to be on the registry to get a Joining Family Resident Visa. I forget the exact timing of those changes. I think you have to visit the household registration office both before leaving and after re-entering. If you’re in Taipei, visit the people in the basement of the building on Guangzhou Street where you go to get your ARC done. I think it’s the Bureau of Entry and Exit. They are the people who know the deal for all this kind of stuff. The Household Reg. people can be much more confused.

Am I understanding this correctly? Are you saying that a child who has gone through this procedure then has both “foreign resident” and “citizen” status in Taiwan simultaneously? Or is she required to give up her Taiwan passport during the process?

I’m curious, because my daughter may face this situation one day, although for the time being we’re planning on going the local school route.

[quote=“Rotalsnart”][
Am I understanding this correctly? Are you saying that a child who has gone through this procedure then has both “foreign resident” and “citizen” status in Taiwan simultaneously? Or is she required to give up her Taiwan passport during the process?

[/quote]

You don’t lose your Taiwan nationality by doing this and can take full citizenship up again easily before a cutoff I think at age 20. Even after that I think there are a few more hoops but not impossible. You do lose your full citizenship and passport for that time.

I had a friend who wanted to home school her dual citizen daughter. She wasn’t allowed to do that as a Taiwanese, and had to taker her daughter off island and back with a visa and get an ARC. She didn’t lose her passport or citizenship. Or maybe she did, but no one bothered to take up the passport? When it was time to re-enter a Taiwanese school, she simply took her daughter, with her Taiwanese passport, and enrolled her. Not sure if that was legal or not. Maybe no one thought to check?

But apparently, Taiwanese aren’t allowed to home school. And maybe I should ask my friend about this, just to make sure her daughter won’t lose citizenship in Taiwan permanently.

This is so confusing to me, as we were told (by Immigration) that our Taiwanese son is REQUIRED by Taiwan law to enter and exit Taiwan on his Taiwanese passport every time (he also has a US passport). We had tried to apply for an ARC for him, and were told it wasn’t possible. The AIT website makes mention of this requirement as well. I’m wondering how this will affect us when he is old enough for international school (he is currently in a local public preschool).

[quote=“kermit238”]Hi all, I know this is an old topic, but I was wondering if those of you who successfully did this had to remove your child from the household registry in order to get the ARC, or if you just left the country and came back on the child’s foreign passport without having to change the registry.

Thanks![/quote]
Visit/call your district’s 戶政事物所 before you do anything. Ask them this question first. (Then visit/call them again on a different day just so you get the same information both times. :wink: )

As I understand it, child needs to exit taiwan on taiwan ppt. Return on the foreign ppt. I don’t know how many days you have to 除戶 at the district 戶政事物所, but they will let you know. I don’t think you have to do it during the time the child is outside of taiwan, I think you can also do it after child is back in Taiwan but obviously not months later. This could also affect child’s Nhi coverage.

But one person can not have a hukou and be in Taiwan on an arc at the same time.

There’s definitely differences between boys and girls for military reasons. How old is he? Took a quick look and it seemed the cutoff was 15 for some purposes.

My wife’s cousin has done it successfully with two kids. They’re only ROC nationals though.

[quote=“EddieG”][quote=“housecat”]But apparently, Taiwanese aren’t allowed to home school. /quote]
My wife’s cousin has done it successfully with two kids. They’re only ROC nationals though.[/quote][/quote]

Wow. I remember my friend going through a lengthy and difficult process, part of which having to change her daughter’s status. As with many things in Taiwan, I guess the rules apply case by case.

Thanks for the responses. Just to follow up, we were able to get our son’s ARC by leaving the country on his Taiwan passport and re-entering on his US passport only. We did not have to get a visitor’s visa abroad. We removed him from the household registry after re-entering, and then applied for the ARC. We got the ARC in about 10 days.

I think the point of this rule is, they want the international school to be used by international students, not just wealthy Taiwanese who think the local education system is rubbish and fancy their kids doing IB instead.

I could be wrong, but what other reason could there be?

Having two passports proves the child’s residence status.

They are trying to guarantee this child is a genuine overseas student, rather than the product of a month long birthing holiday to San Francisco seven years ago. That is, not really foreign, but still in possession of a foreign passport.