Earning a living wage on a student visa

Work Working in Taiwan
#1

Is it possible?

I’m currently a college student, and I’m headed to Taipei at the end of May, and will be studying there until December. I’ve previously spent a year living in Taipei after I graduated high school, so my Chinese is conversationally fluent and I know the city of Taipei really well. I’m hoping to be able to self-sufficiently live in Taipei this time around, but I only have about US $1000 saved for the trip, meaning I’m going to have to find some sort of way to make money while I’m over there. I know it’s technically illegal to teach English without a work visa and having graduated from college, but is it possible to do odd tutoring jobs and/or find a buxiban who is willing to employ me and make enough money to live comfortably?

Right now I’m still looking for places to live but I may have found a very small room that will be free if I teach one of the tenants English for a few hours a week, if the room turns out to be a bit too crappy to live in I’ll be looking for another place, but is it feasible to find a place in a decent location for around 5000 NT a month?

Thanks

#2

Yes, it’s illegal. Yes it’s possible to work illegally, many does, but I would not recommend it. Some buxibans employ teachers illegally, maybe because it’s too expensive/too much trouble to apply for a work permit, they don’t have to pay tax/medical insurance, etc. for employees, and because they pay illegals less than legals.

Decent location for NT$ 5000? I doubt it very much.

The key is to have realistic expectations, and since you’ve been here before, you should no what I’m talking about.

Good luck.

#3

:snerk: Having lived in Taiwan a few years ago, I’d say everything the OP proposes is eminently possible. Living in my favorite hostel costs NT$200 per day, which works out to NT$6000 per month–but I imagine you could work out a discount to bring that closer to your target of NT$5000.

And as for working illegally, I can’t imagine why anyone would “not” recommend it. Yeah, there’s no insurance or taxes paid, but unless you’re planning to settle down here, why sweat it? Barring the very infrequent raid or crackdown by the police–usually very helpfully announced through various channels well ahead of the event–the only real trouble I’ve heard that people encounter involves the national tax office. If you stay in the country for more than half of the year, they will assume you worked and that you owe them tax. So have a good cover story–evidence of your own funds, a letter from a friend attesting that he or she had covered your room and board, etc.

Caveat for all of the above: do correct me if I’m wrong and things have changed massively in the past couple of years. But if you simply consider it naughty to work on the sly and naughtier still to discuss the issue frankly, then :raspberry:

#4

You can find 1 on 1s on myu.com.tw. I recently just moved to the first place I have lived in in Taiwan that has been over 5,000 nt.

#5

Thanks for the helpful responses.

SuchaFob: Where had you been living for under 5000 NT a month? I’d like to live in the Jingmei area because I think it’s a decent location, and kind of in between the two places I’ll be studying. Also I lived there during my last stay with my host family, and I’m a huge fan of the Jingmei night market as well as how quiet the area gets at night.

Also, am I best off just doing 1 on 1 things? I’d imagine it’d be more efficient to work ~20 hours at one place rather than 20 hours in all sorts of different places. Is it difficult to find illegal work in buxibans? I’m not a huge fan of breaking the law if I don’t have to but considering my situation I’m virtually compelled to. I don’t mind being paid less than your average teacher due to lack of experience and not having my Bachelor’s as of yet, I’d just like to make enough money to be able to live in a cheap place and pay for food and fun. Is this possible?

Thanks again.

#6

Working illegally in Taiwan. Right. Many do. Then when you have to leave with minimal funds and short notice, we will all be hearing the sob story. Why not just do it right and be a student with a real work permit and visa. It seems so much simpler than hiding in a closet when the school gets a visit. They WILL get a visit and you WILL leave Taiwan under less than honorable circumstances. All this has been said so many times that I feel like I am singing a well-known song from the 60’s.

#7

Never happened to anyone I knew personally in Taiwan, and I’ve known quite a few. A few friend-of-a-friend rumors, but nothing that impacted one’s daily life . . . or so I’ve been told.

Let’s say a very close friend of mine . . . let’s call him Shonen Bat . . . worked for several schools throughout the late 90s and early 2000s. Yet he never once saw a policeman visit his school.

No, I take that back. One time, Shonen was sitting in a classroom with a one-on-one student, with his handy copy of Side By Side right there in front of him. All of a sudden, there’s a knock at the door, and a policeman enters, trailed by the director of the school. Said policeman walks right up to Shonen . . . and straight past him, as he goes to the window fire escape. He checks whatever fire code compliance item he’s supposed to be checking, and walks straight out again.

Moral of the story: the police don’t care. Until they’ve been told to care, probably in a very high-profile fashion. Then they care. A few foreigners get caught and deported, and next week back to not caring again.

Unless your buxiban director has neglected to pay his “respects” to the boys in blue, or has otherwise crossed them somehow. Then I suppose all bets are off.

Again, maybe things have changed dramatically in the past few years . . . but from the looks of things, I tend not to think so.

#8

You seem to be missing a small detail. I’m still a college student, thus according to Taiwanese laws, unless I’m mistaken, I can’t teach English legally even if I HAVE a work visa. The situation is that I’m going to Taiwan, and plan on supporting myself financially while I’m over there. If there is a legal way to earn enough money to live in Taipei from June until Mid December, I’d love to hear about it.

#9

If you’re still a college student you can’t legally work. Simple. If you plan on supporting yourself you’ll need to spend a fair amount of time working. Possible, but unlikely that you’ll be able to muster enough privates if you’re arriving fresh off the boat, so it’ll be illegal kindies you’ll be looking at, probably. They DO get busted on a regular basis, hence the regular postings on here from distraught busted teachers with a week or two to pack their things, buy a ticket and get out of the country.
So balance out lil slugger and Enigma and the answer is: yes, you can work illegally. Possibly you won’t get caught. Possibly you will. Whether you think the risk is worth it is a decision you’ll need to make yourself. If you don’t really care about whether you stay here or are barred from re-entry for several years then fine, go for it. Nothing to lose. On the other hand, if you think you might want to come back here at some point or stay here or whatever, then remember – these places DO get raided. Frequently. And those caught working there DO get deported. Also frequently.

#10

Edaren, look in the thread about finding a place. There are several links to online webpages to look for a place. They are all in Chinese, though. When I was last looking for a place I saw many in JingMei area.

#11

[quote=“sandman”]If you’re still a college student you can’t legally work. Simple. If you plan on supporting yourself you’ll need to spend a fair amount of time working. Possible, but unlikely that you’ll be able to muster enough privates if you’re arriving fresh off the boat, so it’ll be illegal kindies you’ll be looking at, probably. They DO get busted on a regular basis, hence the regular postings on here from distraught busted teachers with a week or two to pack their things, buy a ticket and get out of the country.
So balance out lil slugger and Enigma and the answer is: yes, you can work illegally. Possibly you won’t get caught. Possibly you will. Whether you think the risk is worth it is a decision you’ll need to make yourself. If you don’t really care about whether you stay here or are barred from re-entry for several years then fine, go for it. Nothing to lose. On the other hand, if you think you might want to come back here at some point or stay here or whatever, then remember – these places DO get raided. Frequently. And those caught working there DO get deported. Also frequently.[/quote]

Okay, so my best bet would be these 1 on 1’s, then. I have at least one set up as of right now, I have a deal with my landlord that I teach his younger sister for a few hours a week and I get to live there for free. It’s not a very nice place but it’ll do for now. I wouldn’t say I’m exactly “fresh off the boat,” I lived in Taiwan for a year as an exchange student two years ago, so I have many friends and hopefully a few connections from that. I’m also a double major in Asian Studies and Chinese Language so my Chinese is decent, which will probably make the whole process a lot easier. I arrive in Taipei on May 31 and I don’t think classes at NTU start until mid-June so I’m hoping this gives me enough time to get a few teaching jobs. Also I guess I can make the $1000 last a decently long time if I need to.

So…yeah. I’m going to try and make it 6 months without asking for financial support from my family, which should be interesting because I’ll be a full-time student at Cheng-chi University in the fall. Hopefully I can make it the entire time without getting deported since I eventually would like to do Cross-strait Relations type work, and being deported for illegal teaching probably wouldn’t help my case.

#12

Two thoughts:

  1. Don’t know what you’re going to be studying at Chengchi U., but Taiwan’s Ministry of Education currently has a policy of encouraging foreign students, and my impression is that any foreign student who matriculates in a degree program now has a very good chance of getting a nice scholarship (something along the lines of at least NT$20k and up per month, tuition free). I suggest you do some online research and ask people involved with the program where you’ll be studying about this. If you’re studying language, you’ll probably still have to pay tuition for at least the first year, but will likely be eligible for a scholarship in the second year if you have good grades.

  2. Until recently, I was under the same impression as others contributing to this thread about the legality of studying and working at the same time in Taiwan, but just learned (and perhaps this is a new policy) that foreign students are eligible for a limited open work permit in Taiwan. This is limited in terms of the number of hours that you can work, but it is open in the sense that you can work for multiple employers. So it is actually a better deal than most foreign workers get in Taiwan. I don’t have the details at hand, so check the websites of Taiwan’s Ministry of Education and Council of Labor Affairs. If there really are no details there, PM me and I’ll see if I can dig up some related info for you.

#13

Two thoughts:

  1. Don’t know what you’re going to be studying at Zhengzhi U., but Taiwan’s Ministry of Education currently has a policy of encouraging foreign students, and my impression is that any foreign student who matriculates in a degree program now has a very good chance of getting a nice scholarship (something along the lines of at least NT$20k and up per month, tuition free). I suggest you do some online research and ask people involved with the program where you’ll be studying about this. If you’re studying language, you’ll probably still have to pay tuition for at least the first year, but will likely be eligible for a scholarship in the second year if you have good grades.

  2. Until recently, I was under the same impression as others contributing to this thread about the legality of studying and working at the same time in Taiwan, but just learned (and perhaps this is a new policy) that foreign students are eligible for a limited open work permit in Taiwan. This is limited in terms of the number of hours that you can work, but it is open in the sense that you can work for multiple employers. So it is actually a better deal than most foreign workers get in Taiwan. I don’t have the details at hand, so check the websites of Taiwan’s Ministry of Education and Council of Labor Affairs. If there really are no details there, PM me and I’ll see if I can dig up some related info for you.[/quote]

Thanks for the information Rotalsnart. Unfortunately I’ll only be at NCCU for the fall, it’s an exchange program with my university in the US, and only foreign students who are in Taiwan for at least a year get access to scholarships from the government, much to my dismay. I will definitely look into that new work permit, I’m still waiting on my new passport to arrive before I can work on visa things, but I suppose working odd jobs legally beats doing the same thing illegally.

#14

looking at an on-line or other application form recently i saw something about a “working vacation” visa. i’ll try to find it again later, but anyone know anything about it?

#15

Employment Services Act Article 50 allows for students to work and specifically exempts them from Article 46’s list of jobs allowed to foreigners. The drawbacks are that it only allows a maximum 16 hours per week and I understand it’s hard to get a permit until you’ve been enrolled for a while.

#16

I think this idea of working and studying is a great idea. I don’t think many of us here new that it was even a possibility. Great if it works. I guess I am just in a pessamistic mood but like so many other great ideas that are implemented, I can’t help but wonder if this is just another short lived idea. Unfortunately, I, and others, have found that government officials here seem to like to make new rules. It is what “manager” are supposed to do. Make new rules and and policies. Of course, when the rubber meets the road, nothing works like the new manager planned. I hope I am wrong but I for one would surely not put too much credence in this new policy.

As an aside, my wife just served me enough beef on a platter to serve 8 people - damn!
Now she is pissed because I can’t eat a 9 pound roast. - Such is married life in Taiwan.
Back to the topic. Sorry!

What happens when you want to convert this new visa? To a work visa? to a sudy visa? to a visitors visa? Nobody yet knows. I would go to the new immigration office and simply ask. If you can get 16 hours of pay and still study on a sudent visa, I will buy you a beer of your choice. PM me and we will take care of the reward. In the meantime. Tread lightly