I’ll go first.
Immigration is processing my new ARC and this will take 1-2 weeks, and took my old one so I need to wait, to transfer this scooter into my name, to open a new bank acct; oh, and if I wanted to take a weekend trip to Japan, I couldn’t. It makes, no, sense. Or maybe I’m missing something.
Ask for a paper copy of the new ARC that can be used in the interim.
I asked the DMV, they said no, no, and no.
Try again. I’ve left the country just using that piece of paper. Or wait a week. Hardly outrageous for a bureaucracy to make you wait a week.
it’s idiotic, plain and simple.
You just don’t understand the culcha
:roflmao:
I was at Immigration in Taipei yesterday to renew my ARC as well. They didn’t take mine - maybe because I’m on a Permanent ARC? Indeed, I only happened to mention that I will be traveling outside of Taiwan next week, and then the Immigration person who was helping me made sure to stamp something on the claim receipt that I will present to pick up my new ARC 2 weeks from now. (Basically, I am scheduled to return to Taiwan on the day my current/old ARC expires, so I’ve been reminded/instructed to point out that I will collect my new ARC a few days from when I re-enter the country)
This isn’t the first time I’ve renewed my (P)ARC, and I was never asked to surrender it - only when I pick up the new one.
It’s a minor inconvenience for something as major as the right to reside in a country. One week? Big deal.
Oh boy, here we go.
Bear, I know you’re being funny, right?
Goose Egg: this is the first time they’ve done it to me. They actually tried to take it once when I was extending, and I had the director out of his cushy office admitting it was stupid, and that they’d print me a new one off for the extension period, which they did.
Mucha: read what I said to Goose Egg. Do I sniff in thee one of those people who is an excuse factory for all the stupid shite people do?
Bear: Again, I know you’re joking. This place uses its culture as an excuse to an embarrassing degree.
[quote=“Rupert”]…Muzha: read what I said to Goose Egg. Do I sniff in thee one of those people who is an excuse factory for all the stupid shite people do?
[/quote]
No, but you sure smell of a white kid with a sense of entitlement. 
When I was graciously given an extention of 2 months, they wanted to take it for two months. And I didn’t want them to. Is that more entitlement than one should feel? We do, after all, pay for these things. They are our resident IDs, and we need them to do many of those residenty things. So lemme change my original complaint about them taking the cards at all. It defeats the purpose. The receipt/copy doesn’t always work at the airport, and it’s not something I would wanna risk. What if I had an emergency that required me to leave the country quickly, again?
I’ll say this again: it’s idiotic.
And that’s pretty rude, the white kid comment. But to be fair, I was rude with you earlier, sorry.
I guess I could chime in. It took VERY VERY VERY much effort and a LOT of money to get my now wife to the USA from INdonesia on a Fiancee visa (there was really no OTHER way either). Took about 18 months. And we consider ourselves lucky.
And then she got 90 days stay, within which we must have applied for the green card (after having gotten married) and sent it in with a post mark to be NO more then 90 days after arrival into the USA.
And here is the clincher. You are complaining about not being able to leave Taiwan for one to two weeks.
But she was NOT ABLE to leave the USA until such time as her Advance Parole (something we applied for when we applied for the green card) came through. And we were pretty lucky to have gotten this after only about 90 days !!
But that is 90 days that she could NOT have left the USA for any reason, including a medical emergency without forfeiting her green card application !! We would have had to start all over again and this time apply for a i 130, which would take another 18 plus months . Etc.
So that was 90 days under “country arrest” so to speak.
And this is the USA, a country we consider as “civilized” yes?
And the banana republic of Taiwan is only holding you hostage for 2 weeks?
Besides if you carry a passport from a country with a visa free agreement with Taiwan, you COULD leave Taiwan and then come in on that. And then go and pick up your ARC, unless Iv missed something?
What happens is that they only have one machine to process the cards, and hence have a backlog with all the people that apply. Now, having just one is problematic and not to smart, but as Tommy says, it could be worse, and if you ask for a paper temporary card, they will abide gladly, no biggie.
As to why they take the old one away has to do with trust issues -someone going around with altered ARCs. Our ARCs do have safety features, the ones that not get discarded.
And those that say carrying your ID doesn’t matter, well, just this weekend there was this telenovela of a case on the news: a young man was stopped by the police on the street, just minding his business. No ARC. Detained. It was discovered he had been living illegally in Taiwan for years. Deported. He had a pregnant local engineer girlfriend here who followed him to some South East Asian country, got married, but he will still has to wait several years to come back.
[quote=“Rupert”]I’ll go first.
Immigration is processing my new ARC and this will take 1-2 weeks, and took my old one so I need to wait, to transfer this scooter into my name, to open a new bank acct; oh, and if I wanted to take a weekend trip to Japan, I couldn’t. It makes, no, sense. Or maybe I’m missing something.[/quote]
You don’t need to give them. I travel almost every week so always ask them to keep the old one (I am actually doing the process almost twice a year because I change passport almost twice a year). They say ok and I just have to give my old one when the new one is ready.
[quote=“Rupert”]I’ll go first.
Immigration is processing my new ARC and this will take 1-2 weeks, and took my old one so I need to wait, to transfer this scooter into my name, to open a new bank acct; oh, and if I wanted to take a weekend trip to Japan, I couldn’t. It makes, no, sense. Or maybe I’m missing something.[/quote]
You are missing something. As Bobarctor and goose egg pointed out already, you just tell the staff that you’ll be most likely travelling and they let you keep onto your current ARC (and add additional stamp on your receipt/note). In two weeks (in Taipei it’s always been two weeks long wait) you’d return old ARC and get new one. Besides you knew you’ll be getting new ARC, why not deal with all stuff depending on it beforehand?
Mucha Man: new rule, there is no special sticker for your passport anymore (I was surprised by it this year), kind of miss that greenish souvenir 
[quote=“Rupert”]I’ll go first.
Immigration is processing my new ARC and this will take 1-2 weeks, and took my old one so I need to wait, to transfer this scooter into my name, to open a new bank acct; oh, and if I wanted to take a weekend trip to Japan, I couldn’t. It makes, no, sense. Or maybe I’m missing something.[/quote]
NZ govt has taken a non-refundable 40,000nt and my husband’s passport for up to a year. I felt pretty happy giving up my ARC for 7 days when I took it in last week to be renewed.
So apparently it’s even MORE idiotic in other places. That doesn’t make it any less idiotic here.
When I was there personally and protested when they wanted to keep my old one, it took a lot of explaining to the robotic clerks; the director came out and understood right away my reasoning and 10 min later they put a new one with new dates in my hand. So apparently, they have an ARC making machine right there, and it doesn’t give preference to whoever was first.
Someone said that I could ask them to lemme keep it - true enough, that’s what I did a few months ago when getting the extension. This timeI wasn’t there, and my boss tried to get them to give it back but they plainly refused.
For those that think I’m just whining, I’ll say this again. I’m not upset about the inconvenience, I’m worried that in the 1% (or is it 5%) chance I’ll have to leave for a family emergency, I won’t have my ARC. Some of you may have been able to slip through without your ARC, but I’ve known people who not only needed their ARC, but a tax statement as well. At least 2 I know that’s happened to, and they were just gonig to sit on a beach in Nam.
So anyway, Taiwan, I luv ya, but you do some stupid things.
I’m sure others could add some examples here. Just to thwart any whiners who come on here and say WHAT ABOUT CANADA, MURIKA, SAFRICA, UK, ETC well let me say I could add oodles more to that thread than I could this one. I go back to visit often, but after a few weeks I get fed up with the idiocty of that place.
Better yet, we could have a thread that goes something like this: TW [or insert country], I hate ya (if that’s how you feel), but somtimes you just get it right, for example: ______
two weeks? oh my god… it’s not like you could’t plan for that… Teacher right?
My ARC usually needs renewal in July / August, which is the time that I am travelling due to summer vacation. When the HR people go to the immigration department to renew the ARC, they get them to put a multiple entry visa in my passport so that I have no problems when entering or leaving without my ARC. Never had a problem.