Dependent Spouse ARC

I am about to renew my work contract and ARC in the next couple of months. I want to add my soon-to-be husband as a dependent on my ARC, so he can get a dependent ARC. My partner and I will be getting married in Taiwan before I apply for my ARC renewal. We have all the required documents from from home to prove that we can get married in Taiwan, but I am struggling to find information about the process for getting him a dependent ARC.

Does anyone know if he needs a proof of address for a dependent ARC application? Our rental lease is only in my name. I know I have to supply a copy of my ARC when he applies for his, so would that be accepted as proof of address?

Also, do I have to list him as a dependent when I get my ARC renewed? And then he applies for his? Or do we do it at the same time?

Thanks for your help!

he needs to get a resident visa as your spouse if he has not had a resident visa yet, then he gets an ARC.

Resident Visas for Foreign Spouses of R.O.C.(Taiwan) Citizens Without Household Registration, Foreigners, Hong Kong Residents, Macau Residents, or Mainland Chinese Citizens
https://www.boca.gov.tw/cp-166-281-b948e-2.html

If he is in Taiwan on visa exempt, i think he cannot do it in Taiwan.

If he already has another type of resident visa (and ARC), he needs to modify the purpose of his residency.

How does a foreigner renew or apply for an ARC?(Serial No. 0902)
https://www.immigration.gov.tw/5475/5478/141465/141808/141970/

4.Related documents for residency:
(1)Joining family (Including a foreign national with application for modifying reasons for residency pursuant to Paragraph 2 of Article 23 of the Act): Proof of family relationship such as Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Household Registration Transcript issued within three months, Household Certificate, ID Card, or ARC, but foreign documents shall be authenticated by Taiwanese offices abroad. Foreign spouses who are the first time petitioners shall be accompanied by their Taiwanese husbands or wives.

Proof of marriage and proof of your address (ARC) are enough.

no.

yes. If you don’t apply for resident visa at the same time, I think your ARC should be valid for more than 6 months to support his residency.

2 Likes

Thank you so much for this information! It’s very helpful!

He is already in Taiwan, on 90 day visa exempt entry. From the link you posted about the resident visa it seems that he indeed cannot apply for this visa in Taiwan. I take it he can just go any country with a TECO and apply there? We are from Australia. With travel restrictions changing so quickly we are going to have to choose a destination carefully. I doubt the situation will improve anytime soon.

We might try asking BOCA if he can apply for the resident visa in Taiwan due to the spread of the virus and the travel restrictions, but based on past experiences with BOCA I don’t expect they will allow him to.

I was in Taiwan on a Visa Exempt last October when I was married here. I was in no hurry to get the right Visa as I was due to go back to Australia for a month in February. What I did in the interim was get the documents all sorted, the Medical Check here, Household Registration updated, already had the Australia Police Check. Went back to Sydney on February 3, lodged the Resident Visa application at TECO Sydney the next day, and paid the fee (AUD94 I think it was) and came back 4 days later and collected my Passport with the Visa in it. Arrived back in Taiwan 3 days ago, and off to Immigration on Tuesday to lodge the ARC Application.

Yes, try them out regarding the current situation, but its probably a trip out before the 90 days is up - no travel restrictions for a trip to/from Australia at present as long as he hasn’t been to one of the no-go places in the past 14 days. Just make sure its direct on China or Eva, transits can trap the unwary. The ticket will cost more than going to one of the closer places, and he will need to pay for Accommodation for a few days, as well as deal with any risk that traveling to another Asian country might entail when he returns to Taiwan.

1 Like

Thanks for your reply! I agree that a trip back to Australia to apply probably makes more sense than going somewhere else in Asia and risk having issues coming back to Taiwan. I’ll give an update on what BOCA say when I visit them this week.

Just an update in case anyone else is seeking similar information. BOCA told me today that despite the current situation with COVID-19, my partner would still be required to leave Taiwan, apply for a resident visa at a TECO, then return to Taiwan on that visa and apply for his ARC. They said they understood that leaving Taiwan is not ideal but it is not possible to change from visa-exempt to a resident visa in Taiwan.

And just to update my situation, today I collected my nice new ARC from the NIA. Only valid for 1 year at first, but I was told that when renewal time comes around I can get 3 years.

My partner says that the ARC indicates that I can work…hmmmm…not that I am looking, but interesting.

Sorry to bring up my old thread again. My husband finally has his police check, which took 9 weeks to arrive in the post from Australia thanks to COVID.

Does anyone know how recent the police check needs to be for a dependent spouse ARC application? The foreigner information line told me 1 year, but a colleague from work says BOCA told him the police check has to be from within the last 3 months. I am struggling to find this information on the NIA’s website.

Also, would he require a Taiwanese police clearance too? A document my work gives to employees about this suggests that he would need both to apply for the ARC but this is from 2013 so I don’t know how accurate it is.

You are a foreigner on ARC, right?
Does he need the police check for his resident visa?
Is it to get his work permit as an English teacher, or for covid special visa?

Yes that’s right, I’m a foreigner with an ARC. I could be wrong, but I don’t think he needs a police check for his resident visa, at least not from what BOCA told us. But I was told he would need one for his ARC application after he gets his resident visa. He hasn’t applied for the resident visa as yet, BOCA are saying he needs to leave Taiwan to do that.

NIA said so? Their instruction doesn’t say so, iirc.

I don’t think you need a police check on a dependent resident visa/ARC.
He would need the police check if he got a job and applying for employment ARC.

@tando
Is Resident Visa = ARC?

I’m applying through the link you gave in TECO Seattle (Bureau of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China(Taiwan)-Resident Visas for Foreign Spouses of R.O.C.(Taiwan) Citizens Without Household Registration, Foreigners, Hong Kong Residents, Macau Residents, or Mainland Chinese Citizens).

Do they still need to convert to ARC in Taiwan?

No, a resident visa is the visa part (BOCA), and it gives you the right to apply for an ARC(NIA).

Thanks. Will you need authenticated marriage/birth cert if you already have resident visas?

If so, I might want to get it while im here.

Yes.

https://www.immigration.gov.tw/5475/5478/141465/141808/141970/

Hi Marceline!

I’m so glad that I found this thread. My girlfriend (currently living in Taipei) and I (currently living in India) are also planning to get married in Taipei at the end of this year. She’s English with an ARC up for renewal in Dec and I’m Indian planning to visit her on a visitor’s visa in Nov (if lord COVID permits).

I believe my situation would be similar to your husband’s in terms of

  1. Getting married in Taiwan
  2. Applying for Resident Visa
  3. Applying for dependent ARC

It’s my understanding from all the info that step 1 needs to be done at HHR (Household Registration department) with all the necessary documents from the relevant embassies.
Is it possible for us to get married in Taipei while I’m on a visitor’s visa (2 months)?

I was married last year while on Visa-Free - not that they bothered looking beyond the details page of my passport anyway. I don’t think it matters. They basically are using your Passport as a form of ID.

They did, but it was relayed to me by a colleague who called them. Will check with them myself and see what they say. You are correct that none of the NIA instructions about this say that he will need a police check.

I am in the process of applying for a JFRV while in the US and the local TECO office here also said I need the FBI background check.