Getting a permanent arc without marriage - can it be done?

I love my girlfriend and all, but I really don’t feel like tying the knot at this stage. I’ve been teaching for 3 years in Taipei and now I’d like to have the freedom to work elsewhere at the same time, and to try and start up a little side-business.

Being eligible for a local credit card would be nice, too, and I hear with more than 2 years validity on an ARC, this can be done. Annoyingly, my employer only issues 1 year ARCs.

Is it possible to get a permanent ARC as an investor? If so, what kind of money are we talking about and what’s the process like? Or could I just apply somewhere for a permanent ARC? Is there anything that an immigration agency can do for me other than take fees?

[quote=“wudjamahuh”]I love my girlfriend and all, but I really don’t feel like tying the knot at this stage. I’ve been teaching for 3 years in Taipei and now I’d like to have the freedom to work elsewhere at the same time, and to try and start up a little side-business.

Being eligible for a local credit card would be nice, too, and I hear with more than 2 years validity on an ARC, this can be done. Annoyingly, my employer only issues 1 year ARCs.

Is it possible to get a permanent ARC as an investor? If so, what kind of money are we talking about and what’s the process like? Or could I just apply somewhere for a permanent ARC? Is there anything that an immigration agency can do for me other than take fees?[/quote]

You should be able to get a credit card at Citibank. Chinatrust also, I believe.
If you’ve been teaching legally for three years, you’ve got four more until APRC eligibility. Save all your tax and working papers for documentation!

There are some threads in the Business & Money forum regarding credit cards. And AFAIK you can only get a PARC after 7 continuous years in Taiwan. Again there are already some threads devoted to this topic, so please use the search function.

if you tie the knot and reside for 5 years, you can get a PARC as well.