Getting married in Taiwan, seeking your advice

Hi all. First of all, I want to thank you for all of the help that you gave me when I was in a Youbike-scooter accident back in April. That situation was thankfully resolved, and I truly appreciate all of your input.

So here I am seeking your advice again. I am engaged with a Filipina working as a caregiver in New Taipei City. I would like to get married, but the problem (as far as I can tell) is that a marriage is not completed until registered with the Household Registration Office. I don’t have household registration because I’m living here on visa-exempt status + extensions, and I don’t think that she can register the marriage in her district as there’s no way in hell I’d be allowed to live in the house of her boss (an 88 yr. old senile Taiwanese man). Can’t get married at the U.S. embassy because embassy officers are not allowed to perform weddings.

I’m planning on bringing her to the U.S., and I’d like to get this taken care of before leaving early next year as fiance visas mean more paperwork, larger fees, generally more complicated overall. However I also don’t want to fuck up getting married and find that the marriage isn’t valid when applying for her U.S. visa because I didn’t register it with Household Registration Office.

Advice?

iiuc, you don’t need a household registration to register your marriage. Two foreigners can register their marriage at any HHR office with required documents.

FYI

2 Likes

Congratulations!

1 Like

If you’re planning on living in the US permanently, seeing how your relationship goes when you move to the US might not be such a bad idea. Where you live can have a big impact on a relationship, especially when you’re dealing with different countries, cultures, and distance from family.

Marriage is a big deal. IMHO more paperwork and larger fees shouldn’t take priority over the relationship itself.

5 Likes

Just an a little bit off-topic question: I understand caregivers work 24/7 and typically only have one day off per month in Taiwan. So does that mean you actually met with your girlfriend typically only once per month? That must be difficult.

1 Like

No - she has at least one day off per week and is free to do as she pleases every evening.

2 Likes

@tando - thanks. I’ll probably go with my bilingual Taiwanese friend to the Household Registration Office and let him ask and translate.

Occasionally it works out.

Thought I’d bump just to see if someone might have any insight. Contacted a couple of lawyers and even they don’t have a clue.

Contact the tv show 90 days fiance, they might be struggling finding new couples for the upcoming season. It’s trash TV but I really enjoy watching it and would love to see you in the show.

@Matthew513 are you Taiwanese? I think more important than the HHR is the marriage certificate.

If she is Filipina, then you need to make sure that she has all of the relevant documents from her country. You will probably also need to register the marriage in the Philippines.

I think this post tells what you should do.

@keoni - I’m American without an ARC.

what is so difficult?

Iiuc, both of you go to any of HHR office with each passport and single certificate, then your marriage can be registered. Isn’t it?

If you’re not planning to stay in Taiwan, why not consider getting married in the Philippines so that she can make sure her government has your marriage on record?