Going from Taiwan's Gold Card to Taiwanese Citizenship

Or Afghanistan :thinking:

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I was making an example with a comparable “strength” passport, but ofc.

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Your story is all over Taiwan Twitter, and the response has also been overwhelmingly positive.

https://twitter.com/foreignersinTW/status/1615544205841174528

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Had a conversation with a TV host yesterday. They’re normally crazily busy, but they took the time to read the whole article and really liked it. I think they might want to talk with you after the new year if you’re willing :slight_smile:

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AFAIK, some of those “Foreigners in Taipei/Taiwan” groups are moderated by ex-forumosans who were kicked out/removed/left the flob and if I may take a wild guess, some are still “lurking” here using different identities and won’t allow you to cross post what you’ve posted here onto “their” sites.

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My other passport ranks higher (UK) in terms of visa-free travel.

And Canadian consular services blow!!! If I ever got in trouble, I would expect the bare minimum from Trudeau’s fluffers.

Sampson nurtured an abiding bitterness against the Canadian government, which he felt had abandoned him. Consular officials visited him in prison several times but only with guards present. They apparently knew he was being tortured but didn’t go public for fear he would be abused even more, the Star reported.

He complained to a House of Commons committee in 2003 that Canadian diplomats offered no support and that it was the British government that eventually secured his release,
William Sampson, falsely imprisoned and tortured by Saudis dies alone in Britain still looking for redress (yahoo.com)

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Thank you, @fifieldt Of course, it would be my pleasure to talk to them.

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How embarrassing for them

Responses—positive ones—are coming in. Here’s one example.

NB If formosans do not read Chinese, google translate can help. :slight_smile:

https://twitter.com/catielila/status/1616762462086496258

Guy

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Thanks for sharing. I have seen these. Most comments have been positive on Twitter.

Just to balance things out, here’s some more interesting commentary on the opposite end :slight_smile:

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Jeez… But I would be naive not to know people with those opinion are not present in Taiwan. We have the same in Italy, actually many more.

People who never got out of their county (not country, county), they don’t know any better.

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Story making rounds :+1:

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Just waiting now with renewed enthusiasm for this story/article to reach the desks of the heads of NIA, MOFA and the MOI to see what, if any, corrective measures, recommendations, changes etc they will take to try to make this naturalization process easier, smoother and without any “wtf” moments (ie : asking a 6mth old for a single certificate :sweat_smile:) and hopefully, there will be steps undertaken to make sure all these departments share info and be more co-ordinated in the future. Better yet, I hope the local TV news channels pick up on this “外國人在台的困擾” story… It’ll make a lot of officials in the higher ups to lose face :grin:

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I have gotten so many positive messages from journalists, Taiwanese professors working in this area, others working on reforms from various Taiwan groups/organizations. Some people reached out to me to help guide them in getting a Taiwan Gold Card. There were others who wanted to ask questions about how to become a citizen. Overall the response has been mostly positive.

Unfortunately, no one from the government has reached out to me or responded to the article. I do hope this has come to their attention. In the long term, if they can make some improvements for others who want citizenship, that’ll be great. I know not everyone wants to naturalize in Taiwan, but some foreigners do. I hope this helps their case.

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I have not read the medium post yet, but I recall following portions of your saga and I’m so happy for you to have reached this stage now.

I’ll eventually get around to reading and sharing.

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LOL I had some members here ask if that was me you referred to. I posted his blog on sites I moderate and on other FB groups. So who else would people be thinking of?

Reviving this thread to link an excellent balanced piece recently published in Commonwealth Magazine on how Taiwan is an attractive place to live and how it definitely can do better in attracting and retaining talent especially from the global South.

Guy

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Thanks for sharing this. I was asked to write about migration from the global south because I am from the south :sweat_smile:. Personally, I’d rather talk about all foreigners, but I also don’t want to give up an opportunity to raise awareness about issues we all face.

By the way, if you want to read the original draft (before I cut it down), you can read it on this link : Medium (only sharing on Forumosa)

I prefer the original because it has more soul.

So I just want to say, I wrote this thinking about all foreigners. I don’t like the idea of separation. As far as I am concerned, we are all in the same boat. No matter whether it is migrant workers, white-collar ARC holders, or Gold Card holders, I want us all treated fairly.

TBH, I don’t like how Taiwan takes (what should be considered) basic foreigner rights and wrap them up as VIP privileges to give to Gold Card holders or above, while everyone else waits for things to trickle down to them at some point.

  • 12-month parent visas,
  • Right of work for a spouse (only through a special application),
  • Getting APRC together with your spouse,
  • No bank account rejection at First Bank / Bank of Taiwan etc… (due to special deal)
  • Dual-citizenship (for those even more special), etc…

This is pathetic. This is basic stuff in some countries for foreigners.

All foreigners in Taiwan should get these basic rights, and then Taiwan can come up with something truly special for the world’s top talent/professionals to entice them to stay in Taiwan rather than xyz country.

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Yes agree with everything. One thing, dual citizenship isn’t a right. Never has been. The worlds top talent though get to naturalize without renunciation or be required to use a TARC before HHR and ID.

Maybe someone who has renounced can challenge the require for renunciation and tarc based on discrimination as others are not required to get a TARC. I would love it if Taiwan allowed dual citizenship and dropped the renunciation requirement and the TARC.

The smart foreigners have been using the FSC Financial Ombudsman and the MOI to file complaints. This is why many banks have changed a lot of policies they had towards foreigners before. There are lot’s of hurdles as you know. I had to apply when you have to renounce before naturalization and was stateless for around 9 months. Not an easy period of my life. Lot’s of rules which people say defy common sense in Taiwan for naturalization and also that ARC numbers are not able to be used as the us citizens with ID cards can use online services.

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It’s funny how certain dual-citizens tends to emphasize that a lot…

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