I’m sure this has been asked on this forum before, but I couldn’t locate a thread…
Please help with this simple Q:
-Can foreigners buy property under their own names, WITHOUT a Taiwanese “sponsor/co-guarantor”?-
Thanks!
Yes
Anywhere I can go online to see it in print?
I am being told by a Canadian friend that it is absolutely, utterly not possible.
He sounds so convincing, but I’m sure I know a few Americans here that own not only the houses they live in, but also the businesses which paid for them.
(This friend also swears up and down that foreigners cannot 100% own businesses…?)
[quote=“dood”]Anywhere I can go online to see it in print?
I am being told by a Canadian friend that it is absolutely, utterly not possible.
He sounds so convincing, but I’m sure I know a few Americans here that own not only the houses they live in, but also the businesses which paid for them.
(This friend also swears up and down that foreigners cannot 100% own businesses…?)[/quote]
Yes, plenty of foreign nationals own their own homes in Taiwan in their own names with no cosigner or other strings attached. Your friend is wrong on both points. There are tons of threads about these two issues in the Real Estate and Business forums here. Look around a bit more in the forums.
See Article 19 of Taiwan’s Land Act (in translation here: translation available online at land.moi.gov.tw/onlinebill/920-n.doc):
Aliens may acquire land of the following usages for self use, investment and public welfare, but the area and location of such land shall be subject to restrictions imposed according to Act by the competent Municipal or County (City) Government:
(1) Residences.
(2) Business place, office buildings, shops and factories.
(3) Churches.
(4) Hospitals.
(5) Schools for the children of aliens.
(6) Diplomatic and consular buildings and office buildings of organizations for the promotion of public welfare.
(7) Cemeteries.
(8) Investments helping important construction in the country, the economy as a whole, and agriculture and pasture, which have been approved by the central authority in charge of the business.
A regulation governing the procedure for application, documents to be attached, the method of examination and other regulatory matters shall be enacted by the Executive Yuan.
Yeah, I thought as much.
Thanks very much!
Wow, cool! I didn’t know we could own cemeteries!
Yeah, I always hated the locals bothering me when I was dead! 
Roto is right, dood. A lot of people seem to confuse owning property and getting financing to buy property, the latter of which will require a co-signer or a guarantor, unless you have a very good relationship with your bank or a substantial amount of collateral. Perhaps this is why your Canadian friend is confused.
I think that’s a very good point, and probably quite true for a lot of people.
In this friend’s case though, I kinda think he just made up his mind and doesn’t want to be confused with the facts. :aiyo:
I really didn’t know, SO I posted and asked for something concrete/in writing.
Thanks for all the help!
I know three Brits who have property here in their own names.
I know two Canadians and one is myself. 
Can a foreigner be alone in a household registration after he/she buys the house?
It depends on what you mean by “household registration”. If you mean “huji” 戶籍, I think that foreigner nationals do not, and cannot, have a household registration unless they are a married to (or adopted by?) a local, in which case, by definition, they will not be “alone” on the household registration. However, I don’t know of any reason why a foreign national would want a household registration. (A single foreign national simply needs to inform the NIA of their domicile address and have it printed on their ARC or APRC.)
I was just wondering. Because my ARC is JFRV, and the house is bought under my name, I wanted to know if I could get it.
Curious,
what is JFRV?
Only know two Canadians?
Man, I thought Taiwan was like another Canadian province! Can’t escape them!
No. But the registry can be in your spouse’s name and the property (deed and title) in yours, afaik.