I’m so confused. I was under the impression that people from visa-free countries were working and just border hopping every 90 days.
But now that I’m here, it seems that was incorrect. I was told by a recruiter that doing part time teaching less than 12 hours a week would be okay. But this is the same person who told me I couldn’t expect to make more than 600nt/hour in Kaohsiung. I know that was false information.
If I leave before my 90 days are up and come back a few days later, will I have a problem getting back in???
My big question is this: What do I need to do to work for myself/ freelancer?
Well definitely don’t tell the border officer you’re planning to be here looking for work. I think the work you heard about is all paid in cash under the table without the need for a ARC number which all legit employers will ask for. Do you qualify for a gold card? Can you open a Taiwan company and invest 500k NTD? Those will give you a work visa.
You may be able to freelance for international clients while less than 90 days in Taiwan, but that’s a grey area where it’s not clear whether or not it’s allowed, just don’t go around telling everyone about your freelance Taiwan business.
So, you’ve been teaching without a work-permit? You don’t have any type of residency status? You’re just on a visa free entry with the status of visitor/tourist?
If so, this would be illegal and an arrestable/deportable offense.
I have not started teaching yet, which is why I made this post, as the last thing I want is to get deported from a place I want to live permanently. So thanks for the info. I think I will have to say no to the woman who is offering me under the table work and look for a school that will give me the correct paperwork.
Thank you so much!!! I owe you a coffee/beer/beverage of your choice — Love your avatar/name — A long time ago I was friends with Adam Baldwin, aside from his politics, he’s a really great guy.
Yes. Be careful. You’ll find lots of places that will hire foreigners illegally and don’t t care if you get caught. The penalties employers face for hiring workers illegally is nothing compared to what happens to people who work illegally. That’s why hiring illegal workers is so widespread.
seriously thank you so much for saving my life!!! I wrote to the woman and she understood. I guess they seem to think that they can fly under the radar and she was offering 700NT per hour so very nice money as my online job only pays the equivalent of 400NT/hour
and with my experience, I should be earning whatever the top dollar is for that position.
It’s not needed; the easiest ways to qualify might be your previous year salary is above 160K NTD / month. Or if you have a PhD you don’t need to meet the salary requirement.
Contact her again and let her know that you’d be more than happy to work for her as long as she applies for a work-permit for you. But, here’s another tricky thing that they will do. They will apply for a work-permit for you and expect you to start working before it has been approved. They will lie to you and tell you that it’s ok to start working since they’ve applied for it, but that’s false. Make sure you have your work-permit in hand BEFORE you work even one day.
There’s been many stories about foreigners who started working before the work-permit was approved and issued and they got caught working illegally. Also, some “schools” say that they applied for the work-permit, but in fact they didn’t. Or they applied for the work-permit, but it comes back denied because they are not qualified to hire foreigners.
Lastly, recruiters are notoriously shady here in Taiwan. They can’t apply for a work-permit for you and then send you to a different location to work, ie farm you out. Not allowed. So, basically a school that is qualified to hire foreigners can apply for a work-permit for you and if approved, you can legally work for the school that applied for you work-permit and ONLY at that specific location indicated. A chain school with multiple locations can’t legally send you to work at one of their different branches that isn’t indicated on your work-permit. However, it happens all the time.
You need to hold an APRC which is a permanent resident card or JFRV which is for foreigners married to ROC citizens… or get a working holiday visa of a Gold Card resident visa.
You cannot do any work in Taiwan as a visitor. You can now be deported and banned for 10 years and be given a large fine. Any employer can be fined as well.
That one I know. That you need a work permit for every place you work.
I don’t qualify for the golden visa sadly. No PhD and my income isn’t that big. I’ve been living on the equivalent of $2000-2500 for the last twenty years. Comfy in Prague, more than comfy in st Petersburg and a millionaire in Saigon. And as a tourist, I’m okay in Kaohsiung.
Thanks guys so much. Looks like the ESL world is shady everywhere
(Edit by olm: removed personal info - regardless of if it’s posted elsewhere or not)
If you have a degree from the USA you can also apply and get a US State teaching license online. With a US teaching license you can then get Taiwan government contracts to teach in schools in Taiwan full time on salary and paid holidays with a paid return airfare to the USA every year.
Then you do not need to work in the private ESL language schools.
After 5 years of working on a work based ARC you would then qualify for a Permanent Resident visa where you can work for whoever you want. Freelance also. Or go the whole hog renounce your US citizenship and become of citizen here.
I am one in the same. I teach online for a school that’s based in Taipei but I was working for them in the US.
I don’t know how to get a US state teaching license when I don’t have a degree in education. So if you have any info on that, I’d appreciate it.
Also, I don’t really like the politics of academia, nor do I like teaching big classes. I’m good with about 16 students, that was part of my misery in Vietnam, having classes of 36 to 40 students. I don’t know how Taiwanese teachers relate to foreigners, but in Vietnam there’s a lot of jealousy because of the wage difference, which is anywhere from 3 to 8 times more than they make, and if they’re hardcore commies, they tell their students not to believe anything we say, that it’s all western propaganda.
Now a regular salary, vacation and free flights all sound very nice. So there’s that.
Okay I’ll have to look into that. It was my understanding that to have a state teaching license you had to have a degree in education and training and have passed an exam. But I’ll do some research. Because they’re TONS of decent jobs, but they require a license from your home country.
Not a requirement to have been teaching in the US. Anyway you have teaching experience already. You can get a teaching license without a degree in education. In fact you don’t even need to be American or to have studied in the USA to get one.
Candidates must apply for a license through the Illinois State Board of Education. The process requires a bachelor’s degree, specific coursework, student teaching experience, and passing scores on licensure exams. Teachers must then meet continuing education requirements to renew their credential.
I’d have to go back to school, minimum coursework is 9 months and several thousand dollars that I don’t have. So not an option