From a piece in the Taipei Times today:
the government stupidly bans spouses of ARC holders from working for five years.
[The subsidy reflex - Taipei Times]
The five years part is what surprised me. I didn’t think there was any expiration to the “ban.” Does that (the expiration of ban) apply only to spouses of foreigners holding certain categories of APRC (gold cards etc.)?
It’s hyperbolic, and inaccurate to some degree. A spouse who does not obtain their won work permit cannot legally work. After the ARC holding spouse gets an APRC, they can get an APRC and open work permit, and thus work legally, after 5 MORE years. I didn’t read the whole article, but if he’s writing about himself and his own wife in that paragraph, Turton presumably has an APRC by now and misunderstood or incorrectly reported the actual law.
In some classes of professional workers on certain ARC programs, it may be possible for the spouse to get an APRC earlier. I know in one category the entire family can apply together, but that may have changed or not been enacted.
I was in almost the same situation he described, and I also thought when I got my APRC, my wife could also after she had been here for 5 years. We were shocked to find that the English version of the law did not make it clear (apparently, it was in Chinese) that the dependent spouse had to wait 5 years AFTER the working spouse got an APRC, and I told an NIA officer, “That’s it, I’m leaving” once again. I didn’t, and my wife will get hers in a couple of years.
He also in another article went on about how he can get citizenship without renouncing because he’s so special and all… but refuses to do so but he feels so bad for us plebs.
I think he just said work was offered.
It’s an opinion piece, and the ones the publish are usually rants. Taiwan “News” has the worst ones, mostly by one guy who constantly misunderstands things.
Yeh it seems like that but I really think it sounded like she finds illegal work easily. Either way… I retracted my words.