Hello,
I am studying Chinese at a language center in Taipei and have been offered an internship for 15 hours a week. However, since I have not studied for the minimum of 1 year, I am afraid my application for a work permit would be turned down.
The company is based overseas and can direct deposit into my overseas bank account directly that way. However, I would still be “working in Taiwan”.
I would like to intern because:
Chinese class, at 15h/week is not nearly enough time to occupy my whole week
I would like to improve my language skills in a practical setting by communicating with Taiwanese coworkers
This job is not one that can be performed by a local (requires specific area knowledge of my home country and a speaker of my native language)
My CV will look much better with overseas work experience
The language class is still helpful and I am not interested in switching to a work-based ARC at this time because I would like to focus on my studies and do internship as a secondary activity
Is it impossible?
Am I at a high risk for deportation?
BTW, The job is not related to English teaching/buxibans.
[quote=“shixi?”]Hello,
I am studying Chinese at a language center in Taipei and have been offered an internship for 15 hours a week. However, since I have not studied for the minimum of 1 year, I am afraid my application for a work permit would be turned down.
The company is based overseas and can direct deposit into my overseas bank account directly that way. However, I would still be “working in Taiwan”.
I would like to intern because:
Chinese class, at 15h/week is not nearly enough time to occupy my whole week
I would like to improve my language skills in a practical setting by communicating with Taiwanese coworkers
This job is not one that can be performed by a local (requires specific area knowledge of my home country and a speaker of my native language)
My CV will look much better with overseas work experience
The language class is still helpful and I am not interested in switching to a work-based ARC at this time because I would like to focus on my studies and do internship as a secondary activity
Is it impossible?
Am I at a high risk for deportation?
BTW, The job is not related to English teaching/buxibans.
Thoughts?[/quote]
According to Employment Services Act Article 43 a foreigners may not work in the ROC without a valid work permit. Article 48 provides for exceptions, i.e. the foreign spouse of a ROC with household registration in Taiwan does not require a work permit to work.
Immigration Act Article 24 sub-paragraph 11 denies residence or adjustment of status to anyone who engages in activities other than their reason of entry. Your reason of entry is studying Chinese.
That is the legal side of it. If for some reason the NIA knows about your work, you face deportation. The question of whether there is a high risk depends on the NIA finding out or not. Offices are not the place usually raided, cram schools and kindergartens would be the typical situation. Personal animosities or stupid coincidences may however lead to the NIA finding out eventually.
Also take into account that you will be evading taxes and health insurance premiums.
Not a good idea IMHO if you ever plan on a long term future in Taiwan.
Hence: either go for an employment based ARC or wait until you qualify for a work permit under your current student ARC. Please also consider that illegal work by Westerners makes it difficult for long timers.
[quote=“shixi?”]Hello,
I am studying Chinese at a language center in Taipei and have been offered an internship for 15 hours a week. However, since I have not studied for the minimum of 1 year, I am afraid my application for a work permit would be turned down.[/quote]
The National Immigration agency’s English page on this says “1 term”, not “1 year” – so perhaps you will qualify sooner than you thought?
Here it says for language program students it is one year.
It’s probably best the OP asks the NIA for more info on this. Since he requires the approval of his school, their policies on this will also matter.
Internships have a special work permit process. It is completely separate from becoming eligible to work as a language student after a year of study.
The company applies to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (in most cases, depends in the industry) for an internship permit. If the Ministry approves the application they issue a letter. The intern takes the letter to a Taiwan rep office overseas and obtains a visitor visa for the purpose of an internship. If you are already in Taiwan on an ARC or a Visitor Visa for the purpose of language study, you can probably get away with just taking up the internship without exiting and reentering on the new visa. This is a bit of a grey area because the authorities could think that you have violated your purpose of entry, so the really cautious thing would be to exit Taiwan and return on the proper visitor visa. You can continue your language studies with no problem.
Here is a link that explains the process. You can show it to your potential employer and confirm that this is what they are doing.
The MOEA (and other agencies) approve internship applications routinely these days although they prefer that the internship be unpaid. If it is paid, I would recommend not exceeding NT$200/hour.