Headed to TW, opening a bank account?

Business Money
1

I’ve been told that “E Sun” bank is good about letting foreigners open bank accounts without requiring an ARC. I haven’t tried them, though. The person who told me that also said that it’s only the government-run banks which require an ARC. Again, no personal experience on that.

2

This is what my school told us about applying for a bank account without an ARC.

  1. Go to the Taipei City police headquarters (I’m guessing that’s the one in Ximending, but not sure) with your passport and one copy of your passport. If you live outside of Taipei City, go to your local county police headquarters. You can apply for an ID number there.

  2. Take this ID number to a bank and you should be ok. I know some people who opened a Post Office account ok (but this is not good if you want to do any sort of international banking).

Please let us know if this works for you!

3

[quote=“lady_skywalker”]I have a multiple entry visitor’s visa as my partner is out here in Taiwan on a year’s contract (I came along) and I was wondering if I would be able to open a bank account without an ARC.

I’ve heard that one can open a bank account with just a passport and an ID number from the police station but would I be able to keep the account open for at least 6 months without an ARC?

I’ve yet to find a job that offers an ARC but I also do need somewhere to stash my money for now. I’ve been offered a part-time position but the company won’t be able to sponsor me for the ARC as I will only be working on a part-time basis. If I do accept the position, I want to be able to have somewhere to deposit my money (and yes, I already know that working on a visitor’s visa is not very legal but I need money and the teaching positions are all dried up here).

Any information would be really welcome.[/quote]

Without ARC could open a personal bank account.
First of all, you have to apply a foreigner ID number, take alook at this web:http://iff.npa.gov.tw/

Good luck

Joseph Ni
CPA

4

I am headed to Taibei to study Chinese for a year and was reading up on setting up a local account, but ran into some conflicting information. Some sources say you need an ARC (+4 months in Taiwan) to open a bank account, while others suggest you just need a passport.

I’m not sure what to make of the situation. Can someone set me straight with some advice about what to do about banking when I get to Taiwan?