Guide for Taiwan born Overseas Chinese returning to TW

Legal Dual Nationality
1

After I decided to relocate to Taiwan from California, I spent quite a bit of time researching information on how to properly secure the proper and most optimal paperwork to be able to live and work in Taiwan. During my searches, there were oftentimes conflicting information on this and other forums and on other governmental sites that really made a mess of what turned out to be very simple procedures for myself.

I will now summarize my experience to hopefully guide some of you in similar situations. Please note that I am over 36 years old; therefore, I am no longer obligated to perform any military service for Taiwan.

Who am I:

I am a 37 years old male naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Taiwan. I left Taiwan when I was 10 years old and have stayed in the States ever since then.

A new Taiwan R.O.C. passport:

I used to have an overseas Taiwan R.O.C. passport that did not have ID number on it. When I renewed the passport, the nice lady at TECO LA was kind enough to type in my ID number. My proof for this ID number was a 20+ year copy of a copy of my old houkou book. I didn’t know that Taiwan ID number was assigned as soon as someone is born in Taiwan and is entered into his parents houkou.

Entry into Taiwan:

To re-establish my houkou, I had to enter Taiwan on my overseas Taiwan passport.

The quest for two I.D.s:

As soon as I arrived, I went to the local houkou office with my aunt. There were actually two ways to reestablish Houkou: I can simply add my name to my aunt’s houkou or I could establish a houkou of my own. I obviously just wanted my own houkou. There was an additional criteria in order to have your own houkou. One of several conditions(proof of property ownership, proof of rental ( rental agreement, utility bills) or having the cops come over and check out that you actually live there) had to be met. My aunt had her deeds with her. So I was able to establish my own houkou with that. In about one hour, I left with my very first Taiwan ID card.

Since I wanted to do everything in Taiwan with my Taiwan ID card, I ran into a few problem regarding the Island’s infamous rule of two. Apparently, personal identifications (ones with photos) must come in twos. The three accepted photo IDs for a Taiwan citizen are the Taiwan ID card, Taiwan Driver’s License and the National Health Insurance Card. I had hoped just the Taiwan ID card alone would be enough for me to open a bank account, but the two banks I tried would not have it.

National Health Insurance Card is a little hard to get. I either have to be employed and have my employer apply for it, or I have to wait four months before I can apply as an unemployed Taiwanese.

Driver’s License is a lot easier to get. Since I have a Taiwan ID card, I can exchange my California driver’s license for a Taiwan DL. Having the Taiwan ID card also meant I didn’t have to worry about any reciprocity rules. The only hard part was getting the license notarized by a TECO office or AIT. Tomorrow, I have a notarization appointment at the AIT. Hopefully, I’ll have my Taiwan DL by tomorrow night. With it, I’ll can pretty much do anything in Taiwan that requires two official IDs.

I did run into a little problem regarding my new cell number. There was apparently a lapse between the issuance of a Taiwan ID and distribution of that information onto the official databases. When the cellular store manager tried to verify my Taiwan ID (They were willing to accept my houkou book as Secondary ID), he could not find the information. He told me that there might be a 3-4 days wait before their computers pick up that information. So new cell phone was a no go. He tried to submit my U.S. passport (expired) and my California DL, but that plan was foiled because of the expired status. So I guess I’m waiting for a few days.

I was actually a little surprised that the process is as simple as what I described above. I had read somewhere that overseas Chinese must jump through hoops (health exam, criminal background check, guarantor) before becoming eligible to apply for houkou & id card AFTER one year of jobless residence. Thankfully, I’m not one of them, even though I have a passport that says I’m an overseas Chinese.

For people in situation like mine, you can all relax. Apparently, we never left, and can start our new/old life as bonafide ID carryin’ Chinese citizen in Taiwan immediately.

2

Good information, thanks.

I’m in a similar situation, except that I’m not 36. A few questions – would love to get your thoughts even if you don’t have the answer.

  1. so you were able to establish your “independent hukou” even with your aunt’s deed? You do not need to own or rent on your own?
  • can I establish hukou under anybody, and not just a relative? Can I show my girlfriend’s deed for example and establish an independent hukou?

  1. if I don’t work in Taiwan, I wonder if I can still get a health card. Is there some sort of residency requirement?

  2. if I’m close to 36 but not yet there (like almost 35) I wonder what the risks are of me going through this process right now. Previously when I’ve entered Taiwan on my ROC passport I’ve had to get an exit permit. That became too troublesome especially given they extended the length of each stay for a US citizen to 30 days.

Thanks.

3
  1. Here’s the relevant info from any Houkou office regarding establishing your own Houkou:

遷徙(含住址變更)單獨立戶者，應備下列書件：
a. 遷入本人、配偶、直系血親或姻親所有房屋或無償借住他人房屋者，憑房屋所有權狀、最近一期房屋稅單、最近六個月內之買賣契約書或其他足資證明之文件辦理。
b. 遷入租賃他人房屋者除提憑經法院公證之租賃契書外，如提憑未經法院公證之租賃契約書者，應同時檢附出租人之房屋所有權狀、最近一期房屋稅單、最近六個月內之買賣契約書或其他足資證明所有權之證明文件辦理。
c. 遷入工廠、商店、寺廟、機關、學校、其他公共處所者，憑戶長或主持人或管理人之同意書辦理。
d. 有居住之事實而無法提出上列證明文件者，得經警勤區佐警或戶政事務所人員查實後辦理。

Only one requirement needs to be fulfilled. Part a. includes 無償借住他人房屋者 or quite literally a loafer living rent free in someone’s house. So my interpretation of it is that, as long as you can get your hands on a deed or other proof of ownership(property tax bill) of any property in the houkou district, you can establish your houkou there. FYI, they never asked for proof of aunt/nephew relationship. I could have walked in with anyone’s deed. Since it’s Taiwan bureaucracy, your mileage may very.

  1. If you don’t work in Taiwan, there is a three or four months wait to apply for the health card. I was lucky enough to get a temporary interpreting job within one week of my arrival. Within a month, I received my health card.

  2. If you are 35, you were born prior to 1984. Therefore, you would only get in trouble if you stayed over 4 months. I’d assume that you would still have to be cleared to leave each time.

4

When you come back to the US with US passport, what passport do you use to get out of Taiwan? Would have issue with the airline?

5

Thanks Efuma, very useful.

I’m going to go through the process of getting my ID tomorrow, so I’ll you know how it goes.

6

I am in similar situation here. But why do you need to go to AIT to notarize your driver license? And plus, the documents of notarization are in English. Does Taiwan Motor Vehicle Administration accept that?

I am trying to convert my DL too. I already have ROC National ID, ROC passport with Overeas Status, and hu-kou.

Thanks!

7

I am in similar situation here. But why do you need to go to AIT to notarize your driver license? And plus, the documents of notarization are in English. Does Taiwan Motor Vehicle Administration accept that?

I am trying to convert my DL too. I already have ROC National ID, ROC passport with Overeas Status, and Hukou.

Thanks![/quote]

ait.org.tw/en/uscitizens/driving.asp

8

just got to taiwan last night 10:40pm.

as of 11:00am today, i have my taiwan national id[50NT] and my household registry relocated[30NT].

thanks Efuma!

9

Welcome home :smiley: :smiley:

Yes isn’t it nice we get our documents all processed in a jiffy for a few paltry NT$. :discodance:

10

3Q, SatelliteTV!

Just got to wait for AIT to open on 2/2!

p

11

I am in similar situation here. But why do you need to go to AIT to notarize your driver license? And plus, the documents of notarization are in English. Does Taiwan Motor Vehicle Administration accept that?

I am trying to convert my DL too. I already have ROC National ID, ROC passport with Overeas Status, and Hukou.

Thanks![/quote]

Why don’t you guys just take the driving test at the Motor Vehicle Office? Wouldn’t it be easier than getting (and paying for) an AIT notary?

12

i think efuma may have had an advantage here by being born in taiwan. i also dont understand why youre considered overseas chinese if you were born in tw. my parents were both full tw citizens. my dad did his roc military service. but i was born outside of tw, and have a tw overseas passport. i am trying to get an id card, but have heard i have to live in tw for 1yr.

13

Yes welcome to the club, I had to do the 12 months to get my ID card as well.

14

[quote=“Scott123”]
Why don’t you guys just take the driving test at the Motor Vehicle Office? Wouldn’t it be easier than getting (and paying for) an AIT notary?[/quote]

Words of mouth make it seem like the driving test was a test that if you didn’t go to cram school for 3 months followed by practicing everyday in the specially design hazard course you would not be able to pass.

15

Maybe a stupid question, but does it matter what country you enter Taiwan from with your overseas passport? My new ROC passport is currently in the US… rather than flying all the way back just to get it and use it to enter Taiwan, could I have it mailed to me here in Taiwan and go somewhere close like HK and then use it to enter? would save me a lot of time and $$$

Also in regards to re-establishing hukou, what’s the difference between adding under my parents hukou versus establishing my own as the OP did? My parents hukou is registered in Taipei, but they currently are living in Taichung. Does this mean I would need to go to Taipei to add myself to their hukou, or can I do this in Taichung?

16

^ I know your question is a month old but if your still checking for your 2nd question, your hukou can affect your access to certain public services, like which libraries you can use.

The other major issue is that banks will often make it a hassle for you to open an account at certain branches if your hukou is not in the same area.

Also, if you own residential property, by assigning your hukou to it and applying for a “personal use permit” (自用住宅) you can save quite a bit on property tax.

17

sorry for bringing back such an old thread but it seems like this situation would apply to me. I am 29 now, was born pre-1984 in Taiwan. Came to the States when I was 4, naturalized in the US at 12. My original passport from Taiwan had both passport and ID numbers on there. I just renewed my passport and waiting for it to get back to me as I am planning on moving back to Taiwan. I wanted to make sure that I was able to obtain an ID card without having to do the 1 year residency deal since I would have to leave every 4 months to avoid conscription. Anyone know for sure that I would be able to get my ID with no problem and not have to stay a year for residency?

[quote=“Efuma”]After I decided to relocate to Taiwan from California, I spent quite a bit of time researching information on how to properly secure the proper and most optimal paperwork to be able to live and work in Taiwan. During my searches, there were oftentimes conflicting information on this and other forums and on other governmental sites that really made a mess of what turned out to be very simple procedures for myself.

I will now summarize my experience to hopefully guide some of you in similar situations. Please note that I am over 36 years old; therefore, I am no longer obligated to perform any military service for Taiwan.

Who am I:

I am a 37 years old male naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Taiwan. I left Taiwan when I was 10 years old and have stayed in the States ever since then.

A new Taiwan R.O.C. passport:

I used to have an overseas Taiwan R.O.C. passport that did not have ID number on it. When I renewed the passport, the nice lady at TECO LA was kind enough to type in my ID number. My proof for this ID number was a 20+ year copy of a copy of my old houkou book. I didn’t know that Taiwan ID number was assigned as soon as someone is born in Taiwan and is entered into his parents houkou.

Entry into Taiwan:

To re-establish my houkou, I had to enter Taiwan on my overseas Taiwan passport.

The quest for two I.D.s:

As soon as I arrived, I went to the local houkou office with my aunt. There were actually two ways to reestablish Houkou: I can simply add my name to my aunt’s houkou or I could establish a houkou of my own. I obviously just wanted my own houkou. There was an additional criteria in order to have your own houkou. One of several conditions(proof of property ownership, proof of rental ( rental agreement, utility bills) or having the cops come over and check out that you actually live there) had to be met. My aunt had her deeds with her. So I was able to establish my own houkou with that. In about one hour, I left with my very first Taiwan ID card.

Since I wanted to do everything in Taiwan with my Taiwan ID card, I ran into a few problem regarding the Island’s infamous rule of two. Apparently, personal identifications (ones with photos) must come in twos. The three accepted photo IDs for a Taiwan citizen are the Taiwan ID card, Taiwan Driver’s License and the National Health Insurance Card. I had hoped just the Taiwan ID card alone would be enough for me to open a bank account, but the two banks I tried would not have it.

National Health Insurance Card is a little hard to get. I either have to be employed and have my employer apply for it, or I have to wait four months before I can apply as an unemployed Taiwanese.

Driver’s License is a lot easier to get. Since I have a Taiwan ID card, I can exchange my California driver’s license for a Taiwan DL. Having the Taiwan ID card also meant I didn’t have to worry about any reciprocity rules. The only hard part was getting the license notarized by a TECO office or AIT. Tomorrow, I have a notarization appointment at the AIT. Hopefully, I’ll have my Taiwan DL by tomorrow night. With it, I’ll can pretty much do anything in Taiwan that requires two official IDs.

I did run into a little problem regarding my new cell number. There was apparently a lapse between the issuance of a Taiwan ID and distribution of that information onto the official databases. When the cellular store manager tried to verify my Taiwan ID (They were willing to accept my houkou book as Secondary ID), he could not find the information. He told me that there might be a 3-4 days wait before their computers pick up that information. So new cell phone was a no go. He tried to submit my U.S. passport (expired) and my California DL, but that plan was foiled because of the expired status. So I guess I’m waiting for a few days.

I was actually a little surprised that the process is as simple as what I described above. I had read somewhere that overseas Chinese must jump through hoops (health exam, criminal background check, guarantor) before becoming eligible to apply for houkou & id card AFTER one year of jobless residence. Thankfully, I’m not one of them, even though I have a passport that says I’m an overseas Chinese.

For people in situation like mine, you can all relax. Apparently, we never left, and can start our new/old life as bonafide ID carryin’ Chinese citizen in Taiwan immediately.[/quote]

18

hey hello ! i was born in taiwan and i have national id and i am a dual citizen. i will go back to ph and my parents too. so basically they will no longer use the hukou . as i was saying can i reapply the hukou again if i ever i come back to taiwan again by myself and how if ever ?