Dependent Spouse ARC

This is what I think right now. I will beleive it when I see their visas. YMMV.

Thanks. Good luck to you, too.

Sorry for my slow reply! We still have no resolution on this unfortunately. BOCA and the various TECO offices keep shuffling us back and forth between them. Luckily my husband is eligible for the NIA’s extensions. Will keep working on it and update when we have something.

Hi, I just stumbled across this thread and am probably a bit late! I am from Australia too, married in Taiwan to a Taiwanese citizen.
When you apply for your ARC you are exempt from providing evidence of the marriage being registered in Australia as this is not possible because overseas marriages are automatically recognised in Australia.

Also the reason I stumbled accross this thread is because my 1 year is nearly up and I will need to renew my ARC. Do I have to resubmit all the documents again or do I just turn up with my ARC and sign the form for an extension?

Sorry for my slow reply! I don’t use this site often. Where did you learn this about Australians being exempt? For us the problem is that BOCA say that this “Australian marriage document” as they call it is required to get a resident visa that can then be converted to an ARC.

The only exception to this rule I’ve heard was from TECO in Sydney, who said if you apply for the resident visa there you don’t need it. They stressed that this rule is only for resident visa applications made with them. That’s not an option for us though the costs of my partner flying to Sydney and back, plus quarantine hotels at either end would probably be around $8k AU.

BOCA did suggest flying to another country to get a visitor visa that can be converted to an ARC, as this doesn’t require the AU marriage document. I asked the NIA about this and they said in that situation ARCs are issued on a case by case basis. Hopefully some travel bubble opens up that makes this easier to do.

It’s Taiwanese law and specifically mentioned on a the government websites that “for citizens of countries without marriage registration are exempt” also I applied for my marriage ARC and was married in Taiwan and I didn’t need to provide any marriage proof from Australia.

Taiwanese government agencies are often terrible at their jobs. You should show them the BOCA website which lists the requirements.

I got my ARC at the NIA in Miaoli, but generally you have to go to the closest one to where you live. The man who works at the Miaoli office is great!

Also what visa does your husband have now? I originally had a studying Chinese visitor visa. I never went to BOCA to apply for a resident visa, I went straight to NIA who were able to issue my spouse based ARC without the resident visa.

I think you normally only need the resident visa if you are applying from outside Taiwan.

https://www.boca.gov.tw/cp-166-281-b948e-2.html

https://www.boca.gov.tw/cp-166-280-9f808-2.html