hi… i have been trying to search for a reliable accurate information regarding how to get a work visa or work permit being a name hire applicant… meaning i am or have applied for a job through my own without a need for an agency… I have a possible employer in taiwan. I need to know what i can possibly do to speed up things regarding my application. She also havent experienced hiring someone like this. Most of the time, she gets applications from foreigners who are already in taiwan. but for my case, I am in the philippines ( im filipino) and i have applied to her school through a friend of mine who works there. Now the problem is, what do we need to do to get the work permit/visa? Does she need to process something? Do i need to process something? Or should i leave it all up to her to process documents in TECO office in her area? I dont know what to do first. Is a contract enough? Am i going to process the visa myself with the contract as proof of employment? Take note i am in the philippines stll intending to get a work visa in order to get to taiwan…I do need information about this because i do need to work on it as early as possible before teh holiday season. Please help… You can all email me at sechsey_00@yahoo.com if there is any good information that could help me. Greatly appreciated… please…
Your prospective employer is a school. Does this mean you are applying to teach English? If so I have bad news for you - as things stand your school’s application to employ you will not be approved, because the Philippines is not on the list of countries whose citizens are assumed to be native speakers of English. There is a proposal to start accepting English teachers from the Philippines, India etc. (see ) but at the moment it is just a proposal.
On the other hand, if the job is something other than teaching, e.g. interpreting, administration, helping with correspondence etc., then your employer’s application might get approved.
Ok, from what I read of your post you are a Philippine national, and I assume that you are applying for work as an English teacher in Taiwan.
Have you not noticed that in order for you to be able to secure legal employment as a foreign English teacher in Taiwan that you have to be from what the government considers to be native English speaking countries? Unfortunately the Philippines is not on that list.
This means that you do not qualify for a work permit to teach English here in Taiwan. I am not sure what the school you refer to is telling you, and the fact that they have never done this before suggests that they may not be aware of this fact either.
So just to clarify, you are no doubt wasting your time pursuing work as an English teacher in Taiwan as the government will not approve your work permit.
Out of curiosity, what is the school offering to pay you and how many hours a week have they asked you to work?
actually, the school who is applying for me said that i wuld be working not really as a teacher but more or so an assistant in the admin department. Would that help?
Plus maybe this info will help, my boyfriend is a Canadian working as a teacher too in teh same school. Which is one reason i would like to go there and work at the same time.
The proposal is that i will be paid a minimum of 25000NT and more liek an 8am to 5m schedule.
Bad luck again - The minimum salary to get approval for a white-collar job for a foreigner is about NT$48000 per month. This rule came into force last year, but who made the rule up and why is a mystery. I am afraid your ambition to work in Taiwan is going to be frustrated. If your boyfriend earns enough, maybe he could pay your fees to study Chinese in Taiwan - That way at least you could be together. I am not sure about the rules on working when you are a student. Many foreign students in Taiwan do work, legally or otherwise.
Thanks for all of this… I still have alot of questions in mind… What if it will simply state that the proposal was 48k but still will be paid about 25k. would that be legal for her? would tehy check up on those things? coz actually, i dont mind abt 25K coz that’s almost alot of money already here in the philippines. My goal is just to get to taiwan, be with my boyfriend and earn at the same time so i can stay longer and have income of my own rather than be dependent on him. If not for this forum, i would have already started to file for application upon receiving my contract stating all those that u said were ahm " bad luck". 
You could try it, but if approved you will be taxed on the assumption that you are earning NT$48,000 - At least that is what I was told by someone handling my application at the Council for Labor Affairs.
i thought that would happen… so for example things work out with that proposal what shall i do first? im a lil confused with the mix and different information im getting from taiwan and here in the philippines. so i was wondering about the whole process for me and teh employer.
You’ll need to show your qualifications for that position. What paperwork do you have which makes you special to that school that cannot be done by another Taiwanese? The fact that you are Filipino will be 2.5 strikes against you. I’m sure you know how Taiwanese feel and treat Filipinos, I don’t need to get into that. It’s going to be difficult. You can try, but TECO Manila will find a way to make the process so difficult. I don’t know how CLA will treat your application but it’s TECO Manila I would be worried about.
If I were you, and if you and your boyfriend can afford it, I would take the Chinese study path and then have your boyfriend’s school apply to employ you part time. If the application is turned down, you can still stay in Taiwan by virtue of your studies. I am not sure about what kind of and how much work (if any) overseas students are allowed to do - perhaps someone could fill us in with the facts.
Yes, probably the “safest” route to take. The other route is just going to be a major headache. The fact that already you’re getting two different sets of information from the Taiwan side and the Philippine side is indicative of how difficult it’s going to be.
Toughest cases are those from the Philippines, Indonesia and China. Second level of toughness are the Thais, Vietnamese, Cambodians.
Ok so if that is easier, what do i need to do? What is this Chinese study thing? Guess that would mean i should get a student visa? Is there anyone there who knows about that or any information on how to apply for that? I know how difficult it is to apply for taiwan. And this is all because i am Filipino. Thanks for all these. Big help really. I dont know whether any of these visa thing was ever easy, even the visitor thing… But how expensive would this Chinese route will really be? I want to apply for a visitor visa but i need money in my account again or perhaps more work still…
Hi babylove,
Temporarily, you have this Working Holiday Option.
EDIT: I noticed that this website only talks about Australians and New Zealanders. In the past this program was open to other nationalities. They may have recently changed this. Sorry.
The studying Chinese option you should check here first. It’s important that you get with an approved Chinese language school/program. On this page, note Section XVI which states that as a foreign student, you may (theoretically) be able to work (up to 16 hours) so long as your employer sponsors you for a work permit. Practically speaking, it’s hard to know how many of these work permits are actually awarded by the CLA (Council of Labor Affairs).
Good luck,
[quote=“ML McLean”]Temporarily, you have this Working Holiday Option.
EDIT: I noticed that this website only talks about Australians and New Zealanders. In the past this program was open to other nationalities. They may have recently changed this. Sorry.[/quote]
I imagine the working holiday scheme will be extended to nationals of other countries on a reciprocal basis, e.g. Japan, Korea etc. (These countries already have reciprocal working holdiday agreements with Australia and New Zealand.) Unfortunately it is very unlikely that this arrangement will be offered to Filipinos in the forseeable future.
You can only get a student work permit after you’ve been studying here for a year - two semesters at a uni or 4 terms at a language centre. So you’d have to wait a while before this was an option. Then you can only work limited hours (sometimes says 10, sometimes 12, sometimes 16), and only if your place of study approves.
argh, this become more and more discouraging unless i consider the study program… Wonder if it’l be another problem that im filipino. 
hmm well, if im going to take up the studying option, at least thats two goals accomplished, Im in taiwan and Im with my boyfriend. 
Maybe studying Chinese would be a plus one day. Or working part time even just for few hours a day can be done? But that would mean illegally right?
Often times when non-native speakers pursue work teaching English in Taiwan I am left wondering what they are thinking as their posts are littered with poor English. It seems ridiculous to me that these people feel justified in teaching a language that they have yet to master, and then they jump up and down when they find out they cannot be accepted anyway :loco:
Babylove you are certainly an exception to the rule. Your English seems to be excellent, and you certainly have a very progressive way of looking at things. Rather than concentrating on the problem you are seeking possible solutions and I think that this way of thinking will be your greatest asset in dealing with Taiwan authorities. I think that there are a fair few foreign teachers out their with grudges that could learn from your example and actually resolve problems rather than make mountains out of mole hills.
You can pretty much get employed to do anything in Taiwan provided that:
- You can find an employer that is willing and legally able to hire you.
- Your employer can justify that they need to employ a foreigner to do the work and that you are not taking away the job of a local.
The second part is where your problem will lie no doubt.
I agree that coming as a student will be your best bet.
Once you are settled here it will no doubt prove easier for you to identify a role that you can take on that enables you to use your expertise in some field to justify your employment here. The fact that you are filipino will always be to your disadvantage in Taiwan, but if you can meet the criteria for employment then that should help you overcome these problems.
Maybe you could look to your academic qualifications and or past work experiences. Possibly a position with a local company that deals with Filipino companies. Maybe a trade company or recruitment company. I think that you are going to have to think out of the box, but being here and studying Chinese should help.
I agree. Break your problem down into two stages: Getting here legally, and; Finding employment.
Forget about any school that tells you they can get a work permit for a Philippine national to do anything - they can’t. You would end up a slave, utterly beholden to the school and looking over your shoulder at every turn. You will have to give up thoughts of work for the meantime.
Get yourself into a respectable school that the barmy Philipino-hating visa office in Manilla can’t argue with. Once you get here, then check out the lie of the land.