How to get Taiwan Citizenship - Primer, FAQ, and Resources

bismarck · February 20, 2009, 4:45pm

Just got back from my Taipei run. What a pain in the arse!! Had my fingerprints taken and filled in all the required documents so now I have to post off the application for my Criminal Record Check to SA.

The SA Liaison Office in Taipei handles our marriage status certificates and said it’ll take about a month before it’ll be ready. I’m thinking it’s more like 6 to 8 weeks and then I’ll probably still have to send it back to SA to have it authenticated by the Taipei Liaison Office in SA.

So, right now, I’m marking time…

And ing there isn’t something in my past that I’m unaware of that’ll reflect badly on a criminal record check…

speed_maniac · February 21, 2009, 3:50am

why did they take your fingerprints??? are you still carrying around the old style ARC?? i remember i got my fingerprints taken when i applied for the " chip " style ( or computerised or whatever they call it ) PRC…

i know how you feel but we have to keep our spirits high…time never stops so one fine day we will reach our goal…there is light at the end of the tunnel…

have a great weekend !!!

A-ha · February 21, 2009, 4:47am

[quote=“speed_maniac”]why did they take your fingerprints??? are you still carrying around the old style ARC?? i remember i got my fingerprints taken when i applied for the " chip " style ( or computerised or whatever they call it ) PRC…
[/quote]
:eh: I’m sure the South African Police couldn’t care less what kind of ARC you’re on…they need it for your POLICE CLEARANCE.

speed_maniac · February 21, 2009, 8:40am

okay i thought the Taiwan authorities needed his fingerprints…dont know the rules and regulations for SA !!!

I had given my fingerprints when upgrading my PRC to the IC card one !!!

bismarck · February 21, 2009, 1:25pm

[quote=“A-ha”][quote=“speed_maniac”]why did they take your fingerprints??? are you still carrying around the old style ARC?? i remember i got my fingerprints taken when i applied for the " chip " style ( or computerised or whatever they call it ) PRC…
[/quote]
:eh: I’m sure the South African Police couldn’t care less what kind of ARC you’re on…they need it for your POLICE CLEARANCE. [/quote]

Yup, the SA Police probably think an ARC is something that curves at the top…

speed_maniac - Yeah, mate. The fingerprints were for my police clearance certificate. The two big things I applied for yesterday was a. police clearance and b. marital status certificate. Both documents are required for when I apply for my Certificate of ROC Naturalization Candidature. I need both from South Africa, hence my trip to our windy and cold capital.

One thing at a time. Hope to get everything back and in order by May…

speed_maniac · February 23, 2009, 3:31am

yeah tell me about the cold and windy capital !!! have been here right since the beginning but have still not got used to the crazy weather…

wish you all the best with the certificates…yes,…one thing at a time…

Satellite_TV · February 24, 2009, 4:08am

[quote=“speed_maniac”]yeah tell me about the cold and windy capital !!! have been here right since the beginning but have still not got used to the crazy weather…

wish you all the best with the certificates…yes,…one thing at a time…[/quote]

Yes it does take time. I belive that if you do your own applications you will have a far better understanding of how the government offices here work.

You also learn a lot in the process. When it’s all said and done… I can say the felling of getting your own Hukouand ID card… bliss

speed_maniac · February 24, 2009, 7:42am

yes you are right on all points…waiting for that feeling!!!

Satellite TV what happens to stuff like your health insurance card, credit cards etc after you get your TARC?? I mean all these have the ARC / PRC no on them so after you get the TARC and say have to get your credit card or other stuff like that renewed then what happens?? am not worried about the health insurance card, am more worried about the credit cards…the bank staff never seems to have any idea of the new rules and regulations…

Satellite_TV · February 24, 2009, 2:43pm

[quote=“speed_maniac”]yes you are right on all points…waiting for that feeling!!!

Satellite TV what happens to stuff like your health insurance card, credit cards etc after you get your TARC?? I mean all these have the ARC / PRC no on them so after you get the TARC and say have to get your credit card or other stuff like that renewed then what happens?? am not worried about the health insurance card, am more worried about the credit cards…the bank staff never seems to have any idea of the new rules and regulations…[/quote]

You just take you new ID Card in and they update all the details, which is now easier for them, as you are no longer an alien. :shocker:

You are a real human being now :discodance: :discodance:

Of course as soon as you have your ID card in hand, you will wonder why all your other furriner friends keep complaining they can’t do this with their ARC or PARC, cant do that with their JFRV…

You’ll know what I mean at the time. Just like me last year going into Shenzhen, China… Friday night before tomb sweeping weekend… All these foreigners walking back from immigration saying cant get in no landing visa’s… asks me if I have a visa… nup I said.

They said where you going then eh? I was going to retort with " back to the motherland" but nah… I just said which queue did you line up in? “The one for foriengers ya daft cunt” they reply…

Oh I says… I’ll try the PRC line then… SO they watch me :loco: :loco: walk up to that PRC line, all the time calling out “you daft cunt, you effing bonkers or what then ya effing twat?”

I give my resident doc for China to the immigration chap… who takes a look at a “whitey” Chinese :ohreally: He scans in my doc, puts a stamp, and I walk in, shouting back to the others… see… easy peasy.

When they walk up and try… only to be refused again… I yell out… “PRC line for Chinese only ya daft cunts”.

To be sure I could only say that, once on the other side of the line in China :yay: an all… those plonkers were ready to kill me :nyah: :nyah:

dasaint · February 24, 2009, 11:22pm

Can anybody tell me what TARC is? Is it the same as Taiwan ID? I just got my Taiwan Naturalization Certificate early this month, and NIA issued me a light green ARC valid for 3 years (numbers are the same as my previous ARC/APRC)… But I don’t know what this thing is called hehehehe also, since I am technically already a Taiwanese, do I need to apply for work permit? I still have that open work permit from my APRC days… my wife (who is also a foreigner) would also like to know if she can now work legally without work permit, since she’s now married to a taiwanese (me). Any info you guys can provide would be appreciated…

[quote=“Satellite TV”][quote=“speed_maniac”]yes you are right on all points…waiting for that feeling!!!

Satellite TV what happens to stuff like your health insurance card, credit cards etc after you get your TARC?? I mean all these have the ARC / PRC no on them so after you get the TARC and say have to get your credit card or other stuff like that renewed then what happens?? am not worried about the health insurance card, am more worried about the credit cards…the bank staff never seems to have any idea of the new rules and regulations…[/quote]

You just take you new ID Card in and they update all the details, which is now easier for them, as you are no longer an alien. :shocker:

You are a real human being now :discodance: :discodance:

Of course as soon as you have your ID card in hand, you will wonder why all your other furriner friends keep complaining they can’t do this with their ARC or PARC, cant do that with their JFRV…

You’ll know what I mean at the time. Just like me last year going into Shenzhen, China… Friday night before tomb sweeping weekend… All these foreigners walking back from immigration saying cant get in no landing visa’s… asks me if I have a visa… nup I said.

They said where you going then eh? I was going to retort with " back to the motherland" but nah… I just said which queue did you line up in? “The one for foriengers ya daft cunt” they reply…

Oh I says… I’ll try the PRC line then… SO they watch me :loco: :loco: walk up to that PRC line, all the time calling out “you daft cunt, you effing bonkers or what then ya effing twat?”

I give my resident doc for China to the immigration chap… who takes a look at a “whitey” Chinese :ohreally: He scans in my doc, puts a stamp, and I walk in, shouting back to the others… see… easy peasy.

When they walk up and try… only to be refused again… I yell out… “PRC line for Chinese only ya daft cunts”.

To be sure I could only say that, once on the other side of the line in China :yay: an all… those plonkers were ready to kill me :nyah: :nyah:[/quote]

Icon · February 25, 2009, 2:37am

[quote=“Satellite TV”][quote=“speed_maniac”]yes you are right on all points…waiting for that feeling!!!

Satellite TV what happens to stuff like your health insurance card, credit cards etc after you get your TARC?? I mean all these have the ARC / PRC no on them so after you get the TARC and say have to get your credit card or other stuff like that renewed then what happens?? am not worried about the health insurance card, am more worried about the credit cards…the bank staff never seems to have any idea of the new rules and regulations…[/quote]

You just take you new ID Card in and they update all the details, which is now easier for them, as you are no longer an alien. :shocker:

You are a real human being now :discodance: :discodance:

Of course as soon as you have your ID card in hand, you will wonder why all your other furriner friends keep complaining they can’t do this with their ARC or PARC, cant do that with their JFRV…

You’ll know what I mean at the time. Just like me last year going into Shenzhen, China… Friday night before tomb sweeping weekend… All these foreigners walking back from immigration saying cant get in no landing visa’s… asks me if I have a visa… nup I said.

They said where you going then eh? I was going to retort with " back to the motherland" but nah… I just said which queue did you line up in? “The one for foriengers ya daft cunt” they reply…

Oh I says… I’ll try the PRC line then… SO they watch me :loco: :loco: walk up to that PRC line, all the time calling out “you daft cunt, you effing bonkers or what then ya effing twat?”

I give my resident doc for China to the immigration chap… who takes a look at a “whitey” Chinese :ohreally: He scans in my doc, puts a stamp, and I walk in, shouting back to the others… see… easy peasy.

When they walk up and try… only to be refused again… I yell out… “PRC line for Chinese only ya daft cunts”.

To be sure I could only say that, once on the other side of the line in China :yay: an all… those plonkers were ready to kill me :nyah: :nyah:[/quote]

LOL. Loved to have been a fly on the wall. :roflmao:

I just imagine my own PHS phone on my own name… Bliss.

speed_maniac · February 25, 2009, 3:04am

ha ha ha…hope those plonkers had already left by the time you crossed back…

okay maybe i was not clear…i meant what happens in the period between getting the TARC and getting the actual ID card…i am talking about that 1 year " hanging in space " period…

does the TARC already have your ID card no even though you don’t actually have the ID card yet?? like i read in other posts u cannot use the TARC to get say a mobile no in your name etc…so what happens to stuff like your credit cards etc??

jlick · February 25, 2009, 3:06am

Not yet. We usually use a shorthand to talk about foreign spouses but the full requirements are:

Foreigner married to a ROC citizen
ROC citizen has household registration
Foreigner has ARC based on the marriage

So, you will need to wait until you get your household registration (after 1 year I think?), then you will need to add your marriage information to the household registration (which will require all the regular documentation required) and then update your wife’s ARC. THEN she can work without permit.

dasaint · February 25, 2009, 4:45am

Thanks jlick… just wanted that cleared… don’t want the wife to be deported due to ignorance of the law. So I guess what I have right now is a TARC, based on the above posts. Gotta change my forum signature ASAP

Not yet. We usually use a shorthand to talk about foreign spouses but the full requirements are:

Foreigner married to a ROC citizen
ROC citizen has household registration
Foreigner has ARC based on the marriage

So, you will need to wait until you get your household registration (after 1 year I think?), then you will need to add your marriage information to the household registration (which will require all the regular documentation required) and then update your wife’s ARC. THEN she can work without permit.[/quote]

bismarck · February 25, 2009, 6:37am

Not yet. We usually use a shorthand to talk about foreign spouses but the full requirements are:

Foreigner married to a ROC citizen
ROC citizen has household registration
Foreigner has ARC based on the marriage

So, you will need to wait until you get your household registration (after 1 year I think?), then you will need to add your marriage information to the household registration (which will require all the regular documentation required) and then update your wife’s ARC. THEN she can work without permit.[/quote]
What about the TARC holder? When I’ve received my Certificate of ROC Naturalization Candidature and then the Certificate of ROC Naturalization (TARC), will I still need a work permit? I haven’t found any clear guidelines on this. The HHR office folks had no idea, nor did the blokes at NIA…

speed_maniac · February 25, 2009, 7:39am

[quote=“coolingtower”]If I’ve confused some of you, sorry about that!

My new card says (in Chinese) “attained nationality” and the date . I guess I don’t say I’m a “citizen” yet, because I can’t vote or get a phone number using this card. I can work freely now, and I’ve changed my Nat. Health Insurance card so that it has my new ID card number and doesn’t have the two Chinese words below my picture–“foreigner”. (I got lucky that I applied for both my GSM phone numbers many years ago, before they decided that “foreigners can’t get numbers.” It’s possible that when mobile telephones became cheap enough that the laborers started using them, there may have been cases of them calling home to make plans to go back and then not paying. I’m just guessing here, and I’m not saying anything negative about the imported laborers. I’ve heard that laborers are not allowed to keep the same job for more than 2 years or something. Correct me if you know the correct details. I recently applied for 2 PHS phone numbers and I had to use a friend’s ID card. ) :fume:

Why would I cancel citizenship of a country that’s part of the UN? A good reason might be “because that country is a member of the UN.” Actually, I don’t think that the UN really does anything but that’s just my opinion. I imagine in the future that the leader of the UN will be some kind of cyborg and tell the world “All your base are belong to us.”

I love Taiwan, but I only “like” the US and you know how everyone says “love it, or leave it”? Well, I didin’t love it, so I left it.[/quote]

if we go by what Cooling tower has mentioned ( page 1 of this topic ) then you can work freely after you get the TARC only you will still not get to taste all the other goodies (yet)!!

I guess this post from Cooling Tower has also party answered my question regarding what happens after I get the TARC…NHI will not be a problem I am just worried about my credit cards…the banks here always make a big issue…they will issue credit cards to every tom dick and harry who has an ID card no matter if he can settle the payments or no but when it comes to a foreigner who has a stable job etc they get all jumpy…Oh you need some local to give you guarantee, you may not pay and run away etc etc…of course I can understand their logic but what I get bugged at is that they just put everyone into one group…they do not want to do things case by case… :fume:

Satellite_TV · February 25, 2009, 1:15pm

[quote=“speed_maniac”]ha ha ha…hope those plonkers had already left by the time you crossed back…

okay maybe I was not clear…I meant what happens in the period between getting the TARC and getting the actual ID card…I am talking about that 1 year " hanging in space " period…

Does the TARC already have your ID card no even though you don’t actually have the ID card yet?? like I read in other posts u cannot use the TARC to get say a mobile no in your name etc…so what happens to stuff like your credit cards etc??[/quote]

I flew to Shanghai the next morning and that weekend ran into about 25 people I had known from Taiwan.

I was taken to one yuppies bar by Lord Lucan I think it was… next thing I was standing next to Edgar Allen and a few other forumosans living in Shanghai… they were all looking over my “PRC” documentation… and betting other people that I was really Taiwanese… for rounds of drinks. They had all waited to see the day I made it… home.

You don’t get an ID number until after you have served your time… 12 months straight then apply to get your Hukou and ID Card. Had to do another local Police Check and a medical. There is a number on your TARC but it’s not an ID number.

You can work yes… I already had a cell phone under my old ARC.

Icon · February 26, 2009, 1:45am

Does this mean -do I dare to say it?- we get all our deposits back?

:yay: :bouncy:

speed_maniac · February 26, 2009, 3:30am

icon you can get back your deposit even now…I had got it back about 2 yrs ago…

SatTv guess you must be very popular with all your friends in Shanghai!!! they must be just waiting for you to come so that they can get free drinks!!

okay that’s my point…if the TARC does not have an ID number then what no do you give to the banks for renewing your credit cards?? how about the health insurance card?? right now it shows my PRC no but after I get the TARC then what no will it show? Will it show the no on the TARC?? if that’s the case then it means when you do get your ID card you have to again apply for a new NHi card…ah questions questions questions !!! i just want to know what happens during that one year jail sentence??

Okay I had read in the posts about the medical test before getting the ID card but what’s this about the police check?? what check do you have to do??

oooohhh 2010 seems so far away and this screwed up economy is multiplying the pain…

dasaint · February 26, 2009, 9:43am

TARC has the same number as your previous ARC/APRC. today I paid my taxes and I was told I still need to file my taxes as a Foreigner although technically I am already a taiwan national. Of course it took them more than 45 minutes to figure out this answer. their excuse is, since i don’t have a Taiwan ID Number, i can’t be considered a taiwanese yet. I also applied for a taiwanese passport & was granted one… go figure!

[quote=“speed_maniac”]
okay that’s my point…if the TARC does not have an ID number then what no do you give to the banks for renewing your credit cards?? how about the health insurance card?? right now it shows my PRC no but after I get the TARC then what no will it show? Will it show the no on the TARC?? if that’s the case then it means when you do get your ID card you have to again apply for a new NHi card…ah questions questions questions !!! i just want to know what happens during that one year jail sentence??

Okay I had read in the posts about the medical test before getting the ID card but what’s this about the police check?? what check do you have to do??

oooohhh 2010 seems so far away and this screwed up economy is multiplying the pain…[/quote]