How to start a petition about NON EXISTING ARC expiration policy during covid ppl outside of Taiwan

Ok so first of all sorry if it’s going to be a wall of text, as I hadnt been able to sleep well since we found out and just mad. every. singe. day. Now what I ve found out, that for ppl who had been STUCK abroad with their taiwanese spouses, when my Arc expired, I and the rest of ppl in similar situation basically can go screw ourselves. Bear with me… here goes.

After jumping through all the hoops, in order to obtain the special visa for enterance and ARC when we got married (he is taiwanese), now during covid and quarantine when the planes werent even flying and everything was closed my arc got expired, and we are not in Taiwan( he works in another country and we stay together of course) so this country doesnt have taiwanese reperesantative office and u cant even travel anywhere outside of the country sooooo… My arc is now had been expired for two years, and recently I found out I LL HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING ALL OVER AGAIN in order to obtain visa for ARC, and I cant even afford a flight back home nvmd that even if I get there and smhw obtain all non existent legalizations for the papers, or documents taiwan requires, would they even grant me special visa to enter taiwan in a first place? I mean it’s still covid, and I am practically nobody now there. Nevermind that we officially had been married for 6 years, own apartment in Taipei, and even have driving license and cars. And I get all this shit, for just staying with my husband, their citizen through thin and thick. But while in a mentime, all ppl who got their arc expired IN Taiwan, get free pass and their arc extended up to 750 days now,in total? What the fuck? Oh also forgot to mention, all your time in Taiwan towards ARPC is now equals 0, which isnt a huge miss for me as again he works abroad, and this is we stay most of the time, but imagine if you were in situation when you had a really long time on your ARC and was stuck abroad/home and now ur ARC expired, well then you are basically SCREWED.

I want to write down a petition or a complaint, or just ANYTHING. Because I dont know but this sounds like a huge pile of bullshit to me. If you got any ideas, pls let me know on how to do that, or if you want to join the petition.

PS I am not sure which tag to put, but this seem like a more correct one.

You can still get into Taiwan.
My wife’s brother married a non-Taiwanese.
Her ARC expired, too, as they live outside of Taiwan.
She got my wife to find the required paperwork, scan it, e-mail, and she went to the local TECO to get a visitor visa (because she’s a “relative” or “wife” or whatever), and so she’ll be coming to Taiwan in a few weeks to renew/restart ARC again.
So, your only problem might be is finding the nearest TECO wherever you are.

P.S. Starting a petition will take longer effort than what you need to do to just get back into Taiwan to renew/restart your spousal ARC. If you can’t get back into Taiwan, then no petition will change your situation.
Taiwan government is cancelling citizens’ hukou if they don’t come back in 2 years. You think the gov’t cares about ARCers not being able to get back?

There is no TECO, closest were HK or Macao but they both closed down. Also may I ask how his wife obtained health certificate and then approved by TECO and non criminal record legalized and approved by TECO as well?
Also I know there is a special visa for the ARC applicants, not that just visitor visa, did she get that one you meant?

Sorry still a bit sleep depervade, hope what I asked made sense.

Abt hukou, they actually can just reapply for it like that, my husband said it s not a problem at all.

I know that. Same with my wife and her brother. Point is, the gov’t will not care about ARC card expiring overseas if it doesn’t care about a much “simpler” thing like a hukou.

I can ask later about the health cert and non-criminal record, but the sister-in-law (foreigner like me) is in a country with a TECO. So, probably easier.

Thank you that d be a great help! I d really appreciate it.
I get ur point, however there is a slight difference for when they cancel it and u can just get it back, and when u have to go back during covid, obtain non existing papers they require, translate them all and fly back smhw ,spending thousands which not everyone have… It s pretty ridiculous what they do in both cases, however if u r a foreigner is what I am saying, u r just sooooo screwed.

PS I think there is also TECO in Vietnam, but I am not sure if borders are even open.

Short story is this.
My brother-in-law (Taiwanese; outside Taiwan now) called his district office (戶政) and explained the problem.
They told him everything he needs to do (so this is what your husband needs to do). Can buy Skype phone credit (to call local Taiwan phone #s. It’s like U$4.99/month for 200+ minutes).
My wife (Taiwanese) has the “chops” of her brother (and I think sister-in-law), so, getting the documents from the district office (she did not have to travel to Taipei, as all district offices have them) was much easier.

As for health certificate and no criminal, the person will tell you what to do.

If all good, you will get a normal visitor “relative” visa to get back into Taiwan, to then renew your ARC when in Taiwan.
Now, I think your husband could help you do it in Taiwan (if you cannot make the travel), but you would have to ask the district office for all details (POA and a ton of other documents to sign).

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We already did all that, called with the help of a relative, they told us to go back to teco in ur home country and get it all there. They didnt tell us on how to do it if u r ouside of ur country and need to obtain all the documents when u r not there. I dont even know if there is flights to my country these days tbh… Or if all their TECOs closed down. They dont seem to care.
Oh also forgot to mention, if I leave this country we r at right now, they can can cancel my visa. Good times…

Your husband has to be more adamant with the authorities.
I’ve overheard conversations my wife has had with TECO and with local authorities by Skype. She’s always got the information she needed to know to do what she needed to do.
Many low-level lackeys will just give the simple answer and want to hang up. You need to stay on the phone until some higher-up is there.
Also, get on the phone with local TECO (nearest one). Same thing. Don’t hang up until you get all details. There are people in these offices who know what to tell in how to do what you want to get done.

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the TECO in HK is not closed. It moved from Lippo centre to Central Plaza, but it is open. I went there 3 months ago to authenticate my HK driving licence and inspect my passport for the visa. It is actually packed of HK ppl applying for Tw visa.

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It’s funny how you mentioned this, as first time I was getting my “visitor special” visa back home, they were quite assholes, fortunately the higher up guy was there and a taiwanese, and I was super nice to him, and he basically gave me a green light…
Nearest TECO d be Vietnam or home (europe) I guess… It d be much easier if it was in here. I actually assume ur borther s wife did health certification in the country they r in, then she went to TECO direcltly and legalized it? Or did she translated it first? (same with non criminal record). If you get a chance to ask, pls let me know.

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Omg really? I remember they closed down! This is so weird… but amazing news nevertheless! Thank you so much for letting me know!

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http://www.tecos.org.hk/

Here the website (it’s quite crappy, little english)

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Even a website wow… thanks man! So now there is still hope. I could in theory obtain non criminal record either through my embassy or my parents (I think they r allowed to apply for u with gurantee letter), though embassy def d be easier. And for health certificate i ll find out once we call them.

Man u cant imagine how happy I am with these news, seriously made my day. :slight_smile:
The only question I have is to immigration in Taiwan and why these a holes didnt even mention TECO in HK reopened?? I mean maybe they didnt know, but isnt like ur job?? And our friend called them at least 2-3 times.
Useless.

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District office and TECO (part of foreign ministry) are truly separate.
But again, there are always highers-up who know exactly what you need (documents, etc.) to get something done. Just need to cajole, plead, smile, etc.

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Also, TECO in HK is managed by the Mainland Affairs Council coz… China. Technically not even under BOCA purview, it’s a very particular office😂

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Worth noting that there is also a continuous residency requirement of 183 days per year for people on the marriage to a national ARC to qualify for APRC. So it seams if spent most of the time outside of Taiwan then the years would be reset to 0 regardless if the ARC remained valid.

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