It’s not a “whitey” thing. It’s the law.
I know of:
Poagao
Pioneer Kuro (technically Asian, being of the Indian persuasion)
Coolingtower
SatTV
Myself (in process - awaiting renunciation certificate)
A-Ha (About to start the process)
That Ex-American Dude on TV
Ilary (wants to consider the process?)
Icon (would have done it already if not for her gvt)
[quote=“StevenCrook”]If the government had a clearly stated policy of denying rights and benefits to non-citizens because it wanted to encourage suitable resident foreigners to become citizens, while at the same time setting out a clear and reasonable path so non-citizens could attain citizenship, I wouldn’t complain. If that were the case, denying certain things (such as economic stimulus vouchers and proper pensions for university professors) to people simply because they don’t have an ROC passport would make some sense.
However, the government hasn’t (as far as I can tell) done any clear thinking on the issue. They are aware of foreigners coming to Taiwan and settling down, but they haven’t decided if they think it’s best these people become citizens, or remain eternal non-citizens. The naturalization rules are designed, it seems, to filter out folk from rich, stable democracies. Then the authorities express surprise that only Vietnamese and Indonesians who want to exchange their original nationality for ROC citizenship!
The problem is the government, not the public. As Hartzell observed long long ago, the average Taiwanese in the street seems quite comfortable with the idea of non-Asians becoming citizens. They know non-Westerners can become citizens of the US, Canada etc; when elections are coming up, I’ve been asked by neighbors etc about my voting intentions.[/quote]
Sadly, all quite true. 
[quote=“tomthorne”][quote=“Mr He”][quote=“urodacus”]Sat TV is not American, he’s taiwanese…
[/quote]
The the best of my knowledge, he was citizen of Australia, before renouncing and becoming a ROC citizen.[/quote]
I thought he was Austrian?[/quote]
No, he only acts Austrian.
I’m already quite far in the process, should be done by early next year.
TARC or full on ID Card? I’m still waiting for my renunciation papers (been waiting four months already!).
At some point we should all get together and celebrate. 
It’s not a “whitey” thing. It’s the law.
I know of:
Poagao
Pioneer Kuro (technically Asian, being of the Indian persuasion)
Coolingtower
SatTV
Myself (in process - awaiting renunciation certificate)
A-Ha (About to start the process)
That Ex-American Dude on TV
Ilary (wants to consider the process?)
Icon (would have done it already if not for her gvt)[/quote]
I also have an ex-Saffa friend who became a citizen here. I think she got her ID card about 4 years ago.
It’s not a “whitey” thing. It’s the law.
I know of:
Poagao
Pioneer Kuro (technically Asian, being of the Indian persuasion)
Coolingtower
SatTV
Myself (in process - awaiting renunciation certificate)
A-Ha (About to start the process)
That Ex-American Dude on TV
Ilary (wants to consider the process?)
Icon (would have done it already if not for her gvt)[/quote]
I also have an ex-Saffa friend who became a citizen here. I think she got her ID card about 4 years ago.[/quote]
Interesting. The SA Liaison Office told me I’m the first one. If they don’t even know how many of us have renounced, how the hell can I expect them to get my renunciation certificate sorted out in the near future? 
The whole perception is that whites would never want to settle in Taiwan because they believe that the USA is a land flowing with milk and honey, and also a USA passport gives you a free pass into any country in the world (not necessarily true anymore). The only one who would want a ROC citizenship (in their mind) would be Philippino or Indonesians and Taiwanese really hates both of those groups for whatever reason, thus the difficulty in getting citizenship here.
Profound. You should write a book.
They should start to realise that we’re not all into effing milk and honey. Some of us are looking for the land of 多多綠 and 牛肉麵!
Or “The onion explodes the duck”, “Fresh meat package”, “Superior milk breast”, and “The oil explodes the cock”.
It’s not a “whitey” thing. It’s the law.
I know of:
Poagao
Pioneer Kuro (technically Asian, being of the Indian persuasion)
Coolingtower
SatTV
Myself (in process - awaiting renunciation certificate)
A-Ha (About to start the process)
That Ex-American Dude on TV
Ilary (wants to consider the process?)
Icon (would have done it already if not for her gvt)[/quote]
I also have an ex-Saffa friend who became a citizen here. I think she got her ID card about 4 years ago.[/quote]
Interesting. The SA Liaison Office told me I’m the first one. If they don’t even know how many of us have renounced, how the hell can I expect them to get my renunciation certificate sorted out in the near future? [/quote]
No, that is definitely not correct. Maybe the people you spoke with weren’t around then, but there were definitely people before you.
It’s not a “whitey” thing. It’s the law.
I know of:
Poagao
Pioneer Kuro (technically Asian, being of the Indian persuasion)
Coolingtower
SatTV
Myself (in process - awaiting renunciation certificate)
A-Ha (About to start the process)
That Ex-American Dude on TV
Ilary (wants to consider the process?)
Icon (would have done it already if not for her gvt)[/quote]
I also have an ex-Saffa friend who became a citizen here. I think she got her ID card about 4 years ago.[/quote]
Interesting. The SA Liaison Office told me I’m the first one. If they don’t even know how many of us have renounced, how the hell can I expect them to get my renunciation certificate sorted out in the near future? [/quote]
No, that is definitely not correct. Maybe the people you spoke with weren’t around then, but there were definitely people before you.[/quote]
I assumed as much.
I was excited to read that Taiwanese passport holders can enter Schengen countries visa free as of next January. It also looks like Taiwan has met the US visa waiver requirements so we should see visa free entry to the US at some point as well. That gets rid of the only real inconvenience for me giving up the UK passport.
Why give up a UK passport? They can travel to the most number of countries in the world without a visa. Not to mention that you’re allowed to stay in the Schengen area for as long as you like on a UK passport, whereas you’re only allowed 90 days out of 180 days on any other visa free passports.
Surely these people are planning to get their UK nationality and passports back once they’ve obtained ROC citizenship. When I looked into this a few years back, the British Trade Office told me it would be no problem to reclaim; British law makes specific provision for renouncing to obtain another citizenship and then reclaiming British citizenship.
Which is mighty nice of the UK, I’d say.
I’m not sure why it seems so hard for foreigners and Taiwanese alike to understand why some of us would prefer to hold a Taiwan passport over a European passport. I haven’t been to the UK in 10 years and I might never even go back to visit. My business, family (including mom), property are all in Taiwan and I literally have nothing in the UK.
It just doesn’t make sense to be a passport holding national of a country I have had nothing to do with for over a decade while living in semi-limbo in a country that is very much my permanent home. I just made sure to get my son’s UK passport first.
I’m not sure why it seems so hard for foreigners and Taiwanese alike to understand why some of us would prefer to hold a Taiwan passport over a European passport. I haven’t been to the UK in 10 years and I might never even go back to visit. My business, family (including mom), property are all in Taiwan and I literally have nothing in the UK.
It just doesn’t make sense to be a passport holding national of a country I have had nothing to do with for over a decade while living in semi-limbo in a country that is very much my permanent home. I just made sure to get my son’s UK passport first.[/quote]
Moot points, considering UK citizens can reclaim their nationality. As a dual national, it would be interesting to see if I could ‘switch’ over my residency to my UK citizenship, renounce it, gain ROC and then reclaim it. My Canadian citizenship is permanently gone once renounced, though.
I’d renounce my ROC citizenship in a heartbeat though. I don’t feel connected like you guys to this land. I will probably do that as soon as I get citizenship in another country…
[quote=“Toasty”]My Canadian citizenship is permanently gone once renounced, though.[/quote]Actually, that’s not correct. The last time I checked, Canadian law allows an individual who has renounced their Canadian citizenship to reclaim it without predjudice, if they haven’t obtained another country’s citizenship within six months. So, in the case of Taiwan citizenship, it takes at least a year from the time your submitted package gets approved until you actually get the id card and household registration. So, in theory, the procedure should be like this.
Renounce Canadian citizenship on January 1, 2011.
Translate your certificate of renunciation into Chinese and get both the original and the Chinese translation certified at the National TECRO office in Canada.
Submit your completed naturalization package to your local HHR office.
Wait until you are approved and receive your TARC. Then your one year wait begins.
By July 1, 2011, you are now eligible to reclaim your Canadian citizenship because you have not received Taiwanese citizenship and 6 months have elapsed.
You will need to get an official letter from the MOFA or the NIA or whichever agency is in charge which certifies that you haven’t acquired Taiwanese citizenship, yet. This will be tricky because no one in the government is going to want to give you this document so you can reclaim your Canadian citizenship, but I don’t think they can legally prevent you from demanding it and receiving it.
Get that document to the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei and reclaim your Canadian Citizenship.
One year after the issuance of your TARC, providing you haven’t left the island, you will have attained Taiwanese citizenship and will receive your id card and household registration.