Hi Hayashi,
For applying overseas, you can read my notes which I think are mostly here: Reasons for NWOHR getting TARC
It’s a little more complicated, but I felt it was a more stable choice for me than assuming once I landed in Taiwan the application process would go off without a hitch and not require papers from other countries, which would be easier for me to handle while maintaining my existing day job and daily life at the time. The least straightforward part is the medical exam, because the form technically asks for things like the administrator of the hospital system to sign your single person’s medical exam. It was probably written long ago when hospitals may have been less complex. That said, you may be able to get them to accept other signatures since they probably understand how crazy that is for a large hospital system, or if that doesn’t work out you could spend the time getting it done in Taiwan.
I agree with Tando that it probably is better not to assume perpetual renewal doesn’t have its own challenges. I think at the very least, it will look strange to government workers to see someone perpetually renew a resident visa without ever residing for several cycles, and it’s hard to predict where that will lead. I think there are also costs involved, and other expirations like Lain mentioned document authentication expirations, if I recall correctly. What if the law changes and everything before a certain year is invalidated and must be re-prepared? What if China takes over Taiwan and doesn’t care what a TARC is? These are extreme examples, but they could affect your plan. Sometimes doing things “just in time” or close to when you actually need them is best, as your actions will best reflect current conditions and requirements. Or you could try to just get the 1 year out of the way now. I’m not saying it’s 100% better not to do the multiple renewal route, but it’s less documented and you should check every angle carefully down to expiration of documents and there won’t be a lot of people doing the same thing to lend notes about their experiences.
Your plan to visit for a short trip is interesting. I think Fridays are okay, and it sounds like you already know that the immigration office may be closed on weekends and you’ll want to check the holiday schedule also before buying your plane tickets.
@Lain it would be great to hear more about the end part of the process with updating the HHR, whenever you do that. Also, if you have any useful links to info handy that would be great (I can dig them up later if it’s not convenient since I’m probably just too lazy+busy). I’m a little behind on researching that part, and everyone made it sound like you just need to have x number of days per y calendar years being within the country and then magically you can establish (or get added to) an HHR. However, in other cases like deceased parent(s) or cancelled HHRs, who knows what other conditions could exist without checking carefully.