My friend just moved to Taipei a few months ago and is working remotely for a foreign-owned, Shanghai-based company as an editor. I–I mean, “he”–loves Taiwan and life here so far, but on his first visa run to Hong Kong today, he was questioned by immigration about why the quick turnaround (single day). He panicked, said he was traveling and just visiting Hong Kong for the afternoon, and is staying with a friend in Taipei (he was asked to show the officer the friend, at which point he showed him a picture of his apartment agent).
I’m wondering what he should say in that situation. Tell the (partial) truth that he’s seeing someone in Taiwan and staying with him (on and off), looking into language programs, and has been to Hong Kong multiple times and doesn’t want to stay too long there? What would you advise in these situations? Ideally, he’ll have a student visa eventually, but he wants to work and save in the meantime, and the Chinese company probably can’t sponsor him for an ARC.
He can just say “I am doing a visa run.” This is by and large an acceptable answer, since they understand that people do it all the time. He might have to buy a burner ticket departing Taiwan and show it to them if they bug him about proving that he plans to leave at some point. But visa runs are really not “wrong.”
From what I understand, he is working legally for this Shanghai-based company, but prefers to live in Taiwan. Is that right?
Yeah. I’ve heard that freelancing is illegal, and although his position is a stable, salaried job, my intuition is that it’s probably not legal for my friend to live and work indefinitely in Taiwan while claiming to be a tourist. To be honest, a lot of this is ignorance. But why would they press the issue if it were okay?
Honestly, he might have just looked kinda sweaty and nervous so they decided to pick on him in case he was trafficking drugs/doing something actually bad.
I can’t be certain about the legality of the situation; I think it’s probably treading some gray area. But for the sake of convenience he should definitely try to obtain a student visa or some other type of visa. Flying out every three months is a pain in the ass and no way to save money. Plus he’s obviously not the best at keeping his cool in front of the immigration officers, and that’s quite stressful.
Also, I’m pretty sure you’ve gotta have a work permit to work freelance. But I think you can apply for one once you get a student visa.
One hopes so, but actually he had no initial reaction until he looked at the time stamp. But I suppose it could just be a fear of serious crimes (smuggling, etc.). I hope so anyway… Personally, I feel like my friend’s story is vanilla (romance, intention to study, want more time, abiding by the 90-day rule), but I don’t know the law well enough to comment…
It’s almost definitely a fear of smuggling or some such. If your friend is visibly foreign, they might just be profiling him, since a large percentage of (highly publicized) drug-related crimes in Taiwan involve foreigners.
Anyway, don’t fret. Next time he does a visa run, he should just dress smart and relax. There are no drugs up his butt. He’s doing nothing wrong.
Yes! I–er, he–should have just given something closer to the truth. Boyfriend, intention to study, wanting to extend stay, staying with his grandmother (on and off, in Tainan, though I live in Taipei otherwise). It’s just easy to freak out and trying not to incriminate oneself is harder than it looks, particularly when one doesn’t know the relevant laws. I will say that living abroad has made me so much more empathetic with those living outside of their home countries with far less privilege than myself.
Yes, foreigners from countries that recognize same-sex marriage can get married with Taiwanese partners now. That said, I’m not sure if the path to residency or citizenship looks the same yet, but I imagine it will have to, to keep any semblance of honoring the top court’s ruling.
On a lighter note, imagine seeing the same immigration officer three months after giving that excuse: “Cold feet?”
Girl, I’m certain it is. I’ve been following this damn, drawn-out story for two years now… Whether it’s overturned by an emboldened KMT next cycle, Prop. 8-style, remains an open question…
Yes, it can be nerve-wracking. But now that “he’s” been through it, “he” knows better about what to expect. People do the one-day trip all the time and don’t catch any shit for it, I promise. Just a bit of bad luck, to be picked on.
One of my friends was actually taken to the back room and questioned. I think they suspected her of prostitution. She was aghast. Even so, she made it through, anyway. You really shouldn’t worry.
