i did a quick search but didn’t turn up anything and i think this was answered before.
I’ve just got my passport renewed and obviously it doesn’t have any visa stamps in, when i travel in February do i have to travel with my old passport as well or can the immigration folks renew an arc before the usual maximum time of a month?
Any other ideas?
Cheers
You have one of those relatively new plastic ARC cards, not the old laminated-paper kind, right? The new ARC cards allow you multiple entry into Taiwan. You don’t need a re-entry stamp in your passport anymore for that. So you shouldn’t worry about taking your old passport too, unless it already has a visa in it that you’ll need for some other destination during your trip.
But you probably should take your embarkation card (yellow slip) out of your old passport and put it in your new one.
EDIT: See my post below.
great thanks for the advise. yeah i have a plastic arc, so all should be ok
Thanks for asking this question. I will be renewing my passport in a few weeks. I hope someone can help me further clarify the situation with passports, resident visas and ARCs.
A lot of folks seem to say that your ARC “is your resident visa” and I totally get that the ARC allows you travel in and out, etc, but then my question is still: What is the point of needing to get a resident visa from BOCA for four thousand odd dollars before you are able to pick up your ARC?
Basically, when I get my new passport, am I required to go to BOCA/MOFA and have my paper resident visa transferred into my new passport? Can anyone cite a law or regulation on this either way?
And how does it work when applying for a new work permit? Which passport will I need to copy for the CLA? It seems to me they always want to see the most recent landing stamp, resident visa, and information page, if not every single page of the passport. But if you only have a new passport (for example say you lost your old, cancelled passport) and hadn’t been to BOCA to get the resident visa put in there, then the only useful page you’ll have for work permit applications will be the information page. Is this sufficient?
Thanks guys.
Did your passport number change with your new passport? If it did, that number won’t correspond with the passport number on your ARC. My number changed and I had to get my APRC replaced to reflect the new number. I don’t know if they check this at the airport, so it may be better to contact the NIA and just make sure.
[quote=“A-ha”][quote=“StuartCa”]great thanks for the advise. yeah I have a plastic arc, so all should be ok[/quote]Did your passport number change with your new passport? If it did, that number won’t correspond with the passport number on your ARC. My number changed and I had to get my APRC replaced to reflect the new number. I don’t know if they check this at the airport, so it may be better to contact the NIA and just make sure.[/quote]A-ha is correct. I renewed my passport, the new passport number was different than the old one, so I had to go to the NIA to have a new APRC made so that the new passport number was on it instead of the old number. Be careful, check with the NIA to see if you can use your new passport with the old ARC or if you can bring your expired old passport and that will work or not.
In the days of re-entry permits in expired passports, this worked fine. But call and make sure and let everyone know.
NCS, you are right, because in the case of an APRC, you could face a huge fine if you do not update your card after getting a new passport. This was never the case for an ARC when I had one.
I just checked with the NIA about this. The person I spoke with said that if you officially update your ARC with your new passport’s information you don’t need to take your old passport with you. But if you haven’t updated your ARC yet, then you’ll need to take both your old and new passports with you.
Either way, bring your ARC, of course.
Sorry to have misled above.
Not sure if the previous posts are answering my question or are of similar situation so here is my case.
Recenty i got my ARC (first time application) expiring in July 2011 just like my current passport. However, this Christmas i plan to travel back home for the vacation and renew my passport (do not have an embassy here in Taiwan, the closest one is in HK which means i should fly there 2 times for all the paperwork and pick it up after 1 month…). If i do that this means that my new passport will have a different number than the number on my ARC. I was wondering if when i am back in the airport in Taiwan if i will have any problem in the passport/visa check points. I assume i will also have my old passport so the clerck there could cross-check my old passport no. - ARC no. - new passport.
Any suggestion?
I guess from what you said before here, that after i come back in Taiwan i should go back to the NIA and have a new ARC with my new passport number… in this case will i have to pay again 4.000NTD :eh: ?
Thanks in advice.
Curious about the cost as well, since I need to renew my passport in the next couple of months. I can’t have it done here, due to the new biometric crap, but I can have it sent to the Swedish trade office here at least and collect it there. But what’s the cost of updating the ARC apart from some new photos? Is there a reduced fee, or is it the full whack again?
TheLostSwede, i did not write it before cause i am not 100% sure but i think i read (do not remember the source though and con not find it again) that the renewal is something like 1.000NTD… however duw to teh fact that there will be a new passport number (at least in my case) i do not know is they consider it as a whole new ARC… If someone knows…
None has ever been in simila position? 
Any updates on this? I have to sort out my ARC now as I’ve gotten a new passport and got told at the airport that I need to renew it with the new passport number, as otherwise they can’t see it on their computers.
Just curious what the cost will be, considering it’s Taiwan I’d expect the full whack, rather than a discounted fee because I’m having something changed.
If nothing else, I’ll report back when I’ve had mine done for future reference.
I just had mine renewed for another year and also had the address changed. They tried to hit me with a 2000NT fine for not reporting my move and address change, I was able to wiggle out of it though. Anyway, given that they still had to change information on it and the charge was 1000NT, I think that is the price you can expect as well.
Also, when trying to get my work permit, they asked me for my old passport. I got a new passport in 2009, then used it in 2010 to get my work permit and ARC. I thought it was silly to be asking me for the old one in 2011, turns out it was and I didn’t have to produce it.