Getting a marriage-based ARC after a visa-exempt entry

Hi!
My husband and I are planning to visit Taiwan.
I am a Taiwanese citizen.
My husband is from Greece.
My husband is planning to enter into Taiwan via the 90 days exempt visa.
As of now, we are only planning to visit my family but may decide to live in Taiwan longer.
If we decide to stay longer, will my husband be able to get an ARC without leaving Taiwan?
Thank you, any info/guidance would be much appreciate it!

Anyone on this?

@sitara555shakti, if you get no reply here, contact to Bureau of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China, or TECO in your region.

This is not a complicated question. They will give you a certain answer.

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There are different reports of the possibility to convert a visa-exempt entry to a resident visa.

Some forumosans claimed that it was possible for them.

I made a different experience. After I entered on visa-exempt and married here, I was told at the immigration office that visa-exempt can not be converted to resident visa. I had to leave the country and apply for resident visa to be able to get the ARC.
The immigration officer said that he thinks that is a stupid rule but he has to go by the law. :man_shrugging:

In my case it was even more annoying as it could not be done in Hong Kong. One of the requirements for resident visa was an official registration of our Taiwanese marriage in my home country (this process was terribly bureaucratic). :man_shrugging:
This was not doable in the time frame of visa-exempt (slow marriage office in home country + international mail delays).

I would also contact the immigration office at the location where you plan to reside in Taiwan and ask them this specific question, as they are the ones who will issue your husbands ARC. May be your family can help and pay them a visit.

Unfortunately in Taiwan different immigration officers will tell you different things about immigration regulations.

In worst case your husband has to do a visa run to Hong Kong to get the resident visa.

Also check out the requirements for resident visa. Do you have a Household Registration?

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According to BOCA’s website:

“Visa-exempt entry cannot be converted to visa-based stay, unless any of the following applies:
Foreign nationals entering the ROC on a visa exemption may only apply for conversion to a visitor visa within the permitted duration of stay at the Bureau of Consular Affairs or MOFA branch offices in the event of situations that prevent them from leaving the ROC, such as severe acute illness, natural disaster, or other force majeure reason. In addition, white-collar professionals who have obtained a work permit within their permitted duration of stay(Brunei, Philippines and Thailand are not included) may apply for a work visa together with their spouse and minors (under age 20) who entered the ROC at the same time.”
Link can be found here

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Thanks for the info! I will register for Household Registration upon my arrival and then we will see if it makes sense to change my husband’s 90 days exempt visa to Residence Visa. If he needs to go to Hong Kong or Thailand to apply for residence visa, do you know how long normally the process will take for so we could anticipate how long he will need to stay outside of Taiwan? Thank you again!

if you prepare all the required documents, 2 days should be enough.

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Just start getting all the required documents for resident visa right away. 90 days can pass very quickly, when you have to get all documents, translations, etc.

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Almost all the foreign doccuments should be authenticated by the TECO at the place where the documents are issued. So, it is better everything is ready before you leave there.
If you need some document from Greece, and it is not where you live now, you need extra time.

The processing time of the visa application itself is not much long.

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Got it, thank you!

“One of the requirements for resident visa was an official registration of our Taiwanese marriage in my home country”

does anyone know if this is the still the rule?