I am a male, Taiwanese citizen, born after 1994, and currently a first year college student living in Taipei. I was recently approved for a family-based immigrant visa, and now have less than 6 months to enter the United States based on the given expiration date. I have not served my military requirements yet, and there does not seem to be enough time to do so before the immigrant visa expires.
My questions are: will I be allowed to leave Taiwan/enter the US without having served in the military? I had originally planned to serve after completing my degree, but I now plan to finish my schooling in the US. Am I able to still defer service because I will still be a full time student?
Another route, is it possible to postpone entering the US in order to complete my military service before leaving? I will be confirming with the consulate as to what my options are, but was looking for any help in the meantime.
It seems under Article 4, the following would best fit my scenario: ‘Any draftee applying for studying in a foreign country is required to be admitted by a school.’ If I show that I have been admitted to a school in the US, then I should not have issues.
I am wondering though, since I already have in my hands a Visa, does this not count as a form of approval for an application to exit? Or will there be other processing or documents that I need before exiting Taiwan?
unless you renounce taiwanese citizenship, you still have the duties of the citizen, no matter what country gives you another citizenship. And, you cannot renounce taiwanese citizenship before you complete the conscription. Imo, the visa to immigrate to US cannot be a reason to exit the country, but you should confirm the exact rules at NIA.
Conscription-eligible citizens cannot give up ROC citizenship (國籍法第11條).
With foreign citizenship or permanent residence, you should be able to defer military service until you age out. This is very different than ignoring the conscription notice which is in violation of law (妨害兵役治罪條例), approximately a deserter. There is a prison term and a statute of limitations involved, it doesn’t just magically go away.