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

Sounds like he doesn’t need to give up his US citizenship because he’s already considered to be a ROC citizen and therefore doesn’t need to go through naturalization procedures.

Maybe you can simply go to the household registration office your mother is registered with, take your mother with her national ID card and your birth certificate and simply register under her household and then fill out the forms to get a ROC national ID card straight away. Your best bet is to take these documents and go with your mother to her household registration office and ask.

As far as I know if immigration knows you qualify as a Taiwanese they will not give you an ARC as it’s only supposed to be for foreigners.

However if you apply for an ID card you would be required to do military service if you are under 36 years old which you may or may not want to do. Under arc they think you are a foreigner and wouldn’t need to do military service

That makes sense. I guess he fell through the cracks in the system.

Discussion about the “morality clause” is at least being done:

Taipei, April 11 (CNA) The Ministry of the Interior said Tuesday that it is necessary to retain the “good moral character” requirement for new immigrants seeking Republic of China citizenship.

Prostitution, drunk driving and other offenses that the local authorities consider to be less severe may not appear on a local police criminal record, but could still affect social order, “and so it is necessary to retain such a requirement” in the Nationality Act governing non-citizens who are seeking Taiwan citizenship, ministry officials said.

Article 3 of the act requires applicants to “have demonstrated good moral character and to have no criminal record.”

The officials of the ministry’s Department of Household Registration Affairs were responding to a call by the Alliance for Human Rights Legislation for Immigrants and Migrants to remove Article 3’s “good moral character” requirement from the Nationality Act.

The alliance urged the government to change the “no criminal record” requirement to “no-criminal-cases record that can be proved by an absence of a police criminal record.”

The public cannot accept the idea that they should be punished for such minor offenses, while foreigners or new immigrants with records of such offenses can apply for Taiwanese citizenship, they said.

They quoted naturalization laws of other countries such as Canada, Korea, Singapore and Australia as requiring applicants for naturalization to “have good moral character” so that once they become citizens they will not adversely impact national security and social mores.

In the United States, they said, people who fail to pay for their children’s education or those who get drunk or use illegal drugs are considered as “not demonstrating good moral character.”

They further pointed out that in Japan, drunk driving, unintentional crime and theft are also listed as behaviors “not showing good moral character.”

The ministry has invited academics and specialists to discuss how precisely to define what kinds of people have “not demonstrated good moral character.”

During two rounds of discussions, on March 15 and April 10, participants said that after taking into account both new immigrant’s rights and local people’s perceptions about new immigrants, they would recommend listing only “serious” minor offenses as “not demonstrating good moral character” – such as offenses in which indictment has been confirmed but delayed or offenses for which prison terms, fines or delayed execution of the sentence have been handed down.

Also to be considered as “serious” minor offenses are using hallucinogenic drugs and gathering to engage in gang fights, failure to live up to legal obligations to support a spouse or dependent children, habitual domestic violence and seriously damaging the public interest.

Ministry officials said these offenders will be given two to three years of observation, after which, if they do not repeat their offenses, they will be permitted to re-submit their applications for naturalization.

“This is a policy that takes into account both the applicant’s rights and the national interest,” they said.

Still a problem. What the clarification does is to give teh Taiwanese spouse one more weapon to kick the non Taiwanese spouse out of the country: not only you get no custody, but also no visiting rights and no work rights, so let’s pile up alimony.

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BTW, I went to our local Household Office to inquire about the latest developments. They say the new guidelines have not reached them, so they have not made a new instruction booklet. When will it come? Who knows?

As far as they know, there are only two ways people become ROC citizens: married or single folk. Two different procedures. Married people indeed most do not need the foreign police report. They know the non renounciation clause, which is for “highly educated” people. But that is not processed by them.

Meanwhile centenarian father Rabago gets ROC citizenship without renounciation.

Yeah the local HRO sends your qualifications to the necessary government agency for review to see if you are highly qualified and then the recommendation goes to a panel. HRO only seems to kick in at the end.

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The other thing I found out is that the medical is when you are about to get your TARC, so it is not a requisite to nationality per se, just something they throw in before you get the temporary ID and it is not one of the papers you must hand it at the Household Office nor is in their printed stuff.

Curious and curioser…

No…the medical is done right before you get the 定居證 (Certificate of continuous residence in the ROC) from the NIA…it is the NIA that needs the medical report, not the HHR.

Yep, that is what I meant. It is done at NIA not at Household, which I find curious. Why would NIA be involved anymore after you become a citizen? That ain’t right.

So there could be other stuff to be done at NIA lurking around that are not in the regular posted stuff. Jeezzz…

No, at this point you’re not a Citizen as yet…just a Taiwan National…The HHR requires a 定居證 to issue you the ID, and the 定居證 is issued by the NIA and to get the 定居證, you must provide a Medical Health Check…the good news is that after getting the 定居證, you will no longer need to visit the NIA again.

Clear as chocolate.

Oh, I’d jump through any hoops just not to trek to NIA ever again. I am already dreading next year. Change of passport, new APRC… ugh.

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Does anyone know the latest requirements to apply Taiwan citizenship?

The biggest change to the requirements is the elimination of the need to renounce one’s original citizenship BEFORE becoming a Taiwan National… in other words, you don’t need a Candidature Certificate (Quasi naturalization certificate)anymore… You can apply for Taiwanese Nationality straightaway and after receiving the Nationality cert, you have 1 year to renounce… Failing to do so will result in your nationality being revoked… But you will still have your Original Citizenship…the rest of the process still stays the same as I have outlined a few pages up.

Can I apply for Taiwanese Nationality right after getting APRC or I have to wait another 5 years on APRC?

You can go straight ahead and start your application for Citizenship as they look into your accumulated years you stayed in Taiwan…getting the APRC will not reset your clock…in fact, having the APRC is a stepping stone towards Citizenship as it makes the process a bit easier (e.g: you don’t have to show proof of financial stability). Good luck and let me know how it goes mate! Cheers!!

Thanks for tour kind reply. I have one more question: can we register our own business on aprc? I mean can I open a store here or we must obtain Taiwan ID?

You can pretty much (within reason) do what you like when you’re on APRC. Just ensure to obtain an open work permit. You don’t get automatic open working rights when you are bestowed with the APRC, you have to apply for the permit but it’s really just a quick formality and there’s a very good guide somewhere on here on how to do it.

@lkeaty86

have you already got it? the law has changed since you were born - so you are eligible for hukou under your mother now. You just need to go into Taiwan for around a month on your Taiwanese visa to get the residency permit and the national ID. Much simpler than for a foreigner.

I went to HHRO yesterday with my new APRC to apply for citizenship but the lady at HHRO told me that I have to provide CR from my country and tax statement is required :sob:

CR is unavoidable but tax records?! That was not there before.

Get an official list.

Can’t you use the CR you used for APRC?