After long deliberation, researching, and many phone calls I have found some very useful information for:
Language Center students wishing to stay in Taiwan for 1 year with no visa runs
This will take some forethought and effort before you arrive in Taiwan. This is aimed towards people who have not yet arrived in Taiwan.
[color=red]Step 1:[/color]
Apply to a language school that is
Derek, hate to rain on your parade but obviously if you are a legitimate student of Chinese there should be absolutely no need to do a visa run.
HG
[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]Derek, hate to rain on your parade but obviously if you are a legitimate student of Chinese there should be absolutely no need to do a visa run.
HG[/quote]
There has been A LOT of confusion recently about “non-university” language schools. New laws taking effect that these schools would no olnger be renewing visa’s period. To combat that, TLI and CLD have taken action and have or are in the process of getting affiliated with universities.
This was just intended to help clarify an already very confusing situation.
Before you’d have to jump from post to post (some of it confirmed some not, some old some new) and put together all the infor I have here. Hopefully this will help make it easier for new arrivals. 
Oops! 
Erh, well done Derek!
HG
It should also be pointed out that if you leave Taiwan for a holiday before you get your resident visa, the clock goes back to zero when you get your new visitor visa. So you need to spend the full four months in the country without leaving.
Get ready for the “Taiwan Experience.”
Good work, Derek. You definitely deserve to see a monkey now. 
Ahem thanxs for the great info but how do we apply for this 16 hours work permit thing???i am not very clear about it…can you please tell!! 
Keep in mind that I have not done this myself. However, the consensus is that if you have been a good student for 6 months consecutively at a University or University affiliated language institute you can work for 16 hours a week on a special work permit. (wow that was a run on sentence if i ever saw one!)
How do you get it? Best bet is to ask your school admissions / information office. I called National Sun Yat Sen University and National Kaohsiung Normal University, both confirmed that you can get the work permit through the school.
Also: iff.npa.gov.tw/enfront/life.php?id=234&tr_id=6
*Scroll to the bottom and read this:
Application for Work Permits
Foreign students, overseas Chinese students, and ethnic Chinese students can apply for a work permit to Council of Labor Affairs, or each school’s office. Students can apply collectively for work permits at Council of Labor Affair, and Council of Labor Affairs will issue the work permits back to school by mail.
(more details: evta.gov.tw/foreign/eanswers-2.htm)
Good luck!
[quote=“derek1978”]
Keep in mind that I have not done this myself. However, the consensus is that if you have been a good student for 6 months consecutively at a University or University affiliated language institute you can work for 16 hours a week on a special work permit. (wow that was a run on sentence if I ever saw one!)
Good luck! [/quote]
Not quite right. It’s six months (or one semester) if you are enrolled as a university student ie not language centre student. If you are a language centre student (even if the centre is affiliated to a uni) it’s one year (or four terms).
Also, it’s unclear if you can work 10, 12 or 16 hours a week, as different laws and regulations state different time periods.
You need to download the form at www2.evta.gov.tw/evta_wcf/chi0008_page01.htm#
Fill it in, get the stamp and signature from your place of study, get the stamp from the place you want to work, get your documents together (listed on the back of the form) and head in to the Council of Labor Affairs. From here in, you’re at the mercy of the desk clerk!
It sounds very nice, but policy and practice vary in Taiwanese government offices. Are there any people who have actually made it to the point where they can get a work permit, and what were they doing when they did get some work? Will they be able to teach English, or will they need to find other types of employment?
I’m doing it at the moment. I’ve been a student at university-affiliated language schools (and universities) for 11 months. This means I should be able to get a work permit on Feb 16. I’m applying this week and will post all about it when I’m further through the process.
I’m applying to teach IELTS, but I don’t think that there’s any limit on the type of employment.
I just discovered something new that puzzles me. (Obvioulsy it doesnt take much to turn my mind into a jigsaw quandry :saywhat: )
The Seattle US TECO website (http://www.tecoseattle.org/) has been updated and shows that it is possible to obtain a [color=darkblue]multiple entry resident visa for studying at a language school [/color]prior to arriving in Taiwan.
This used to not be the case. The way it reads on their site would lead me to believe that all one has to do is pay for 4 or more months of classes, show them your enrollment forms, and voila…instant resident visa.
Sounds too easy to be true…have I been looking at the pc screen too long, are my eyes deceiving me? 
Someone please help clarify, take a look at their site and tell me if you read it to mean the same thing.
Thanks.
I’ve been in Taiwan since August last year and I began studying Chinese at a University in September. After 4 months I applied for a Student Resident Visa and a Student ARC. Both I got without any trouble but it was made clear to me durring the process that the old regulations (which derek1978 described in a previous post) are still in effect.
I think the Seattle US TECO office have made a mistake. Could it be to lure foreigners to Taiwan on false conditions. Who Knows.
No, it is possible, but I’m not sure why they give it out. I arrived here last year as an exchange student at Taida and I was given a resident’s visa before I got here.
I don’t understand the ‘multi-entry’, ‘single entry’ distinction on a resident’s visa, because as soon as you get your ARC you get a reentry permit which is valid for as many reentries as you want. Or at least that’s my experience.