Extending visa-exempt stay in Taiwan (Canadian)

Did you read the bottom of the link i linked you to and said to read the bottom of?

I see nothing about Tax?
5.1 The applicant cannot cover his/her expenses for the duration of the stay.
Enough funds in the bank their opinion or another Country Income.

5.2 The applicant’s purpose of stay remains unclear from an objective standpoint. For
instance, in the past year, the applicant has already stayed in Taiwan for more than 6 months.
Cannot have stayed in longer than 6 months or violating Visa.

I have outside income and say I’m in a relationship.

Are you referring to point 5.2? If so, the past few times I applied for an extension, not once was I being questioned about my long stay (over 180 days in a year). When I submitted my application, the person at the desk made sure I had all the required documents and then told me to pick up my passport a week later. That was it.

How often do you apply for an extension?

Before end of first month of 90 days.
180 days Visa run do it again.

So every 6 months?

Yes. It’s free not much bother I don’t want to leave every 90 days, plus don’t think my girlfriend would trust me to.

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Hahaha… it’s good to know. I thought they would only let you extend once a year but apparently that’s not the case. Since I had left Taiwan in January, they might let me extend my stay in April (even though I had an extension in last December).

To clarify the language: are you saying nobody asked you, or that you had actually stayed that long and they still gave you the extension?

Those that have done this, was it done in Taipei?
I assume you also had a flight ticket out of Taiwan?

I’ve lived in Taiwan for 7 years. I’ve always entered visa-free with a 90-day visa-exempt stay period. Before the 90 days is up, I either do a visa run or apply for an extension. I usually plan a trip around the time I have to do a visa run so I only apply for an extension once a year or so. I’ve done this in the past 7 years with no problem. I guess as long as you don’t violate any rules, including working in Taiwan, and don’t overstay the allowed duration, then you’re fine. I’m retired and have proof of financial support that allows me to live in Taiwan so they never questioned me when I applied for an extension.

Yes, I applied for my extension in Taipei, and yes I had an onward ticket out of Taiwan when I submitted my application.

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I see from the link above that you have to do it 30 +5 working days before the 90 day visa-exempt visa expires.

No, I tried submitting my application a month before the expiry date and the person at BOCA told me it was too early to apply for an extension. I usually do it 10-14 days before the expiry date. It only takes them 5 days to process the application.

One of my UK friends has been doing visa runs for donkeys years (10+ years) and he was thinking of doing it. He has never done it before. He was always wondering how they would react if he tried it.
I have thought about doing it myself too what with the virus affecting some destinations and flights.

It’s a very straightforward process. It takes about 10 minutes to submit the application (assuming that you have all the required documents)… and it’s free.

I am picturing it being something like the Hong Kong visa office where they give you a nasty interview. In my case (many years ago) they made me sign a piece of paper stating I would never apply for a visa again in HK (after the second time).

Hahaha, nothing like that. It’s more like:

  1. Complete the application form online and print it out
  2. Gather all the required documents (it helps to have a recent cash withdrawal receipt and the ATM card that you used to make the withdrawal)
  3. Bring everything with you to the BOCA office and head to the visa counter
  4. Take a number and wait (shorter wait if you go in the morning)
  5. Give your application form and documents to the person behind the desk. He/she will make sure you have everything in order and will give you a receipt to pick up your passport in 5 days
  6. Go back to BOCA to pick up your passport 5 days later (it takes 1 minute)

That’s it. :smile:

Thanks for the clarification. Looks like I misread your original post. Seems like you’re asking whether you can do a second extension (I.e. you entered for 90 days, got it extended by 90, still haven’t left, and want another 90 without leaving) and the answer to that is to call them (or go in with plenty of time to buy your ticket) and explain your situation, but based on what the website says you probably will be declined.

There are lots of other countries nearby you can use for visa runs. Maybe even do a mini vacation and pick up some toilet paper or something.

Actually I did leave after my last extension in Dec 2019. I left Taiwan for 11 days in January and came back on Jan 23. My new 90-day visa-exempt duration will expire on April 21. I was just wondering if I could get another extension so soon after my last one as I really want to avoid air travel with the coronavirus situation.