I will be moving to Taiwan (from Australia) to do a 6 month internship, a month of travel and then a semester of university after that. I have questions about my visa.
I am in the process of getting a “Visitor Visa for Internship Purposes” which I have told will be valid for 180 days (I have a work permit and the internship is paid) . However, I will be arriving a week or so earlier than my internship starts (to settle and attend a non work related conference) meaning that the total time from entry to the end of my internship will be more than 6 months. Are these types of visas able to be extended? If I travel back to Australia during my internship will this “reset” my 180 days? Will this impact on my ability to obtain a student visa for my studies later?
When you say you have a work permit, do you mean you will have a work permit?
If by “visa for internship purposes” they mean a working holiday visa, then the visa is your work permit, and there’s no separate application.
Aussies have a six month limit on employment (per employer) when using a WHV, and iirc you also need to apply for an extension or fly out and in after 180 days (so a few days before the employment time limit if you start working on day 0).
You also have iirc a 3 month(?) limit on studying. BOCA’s website should have the details. http://www.boca.gov.tw
No, I already have a Working Permit that the company I am interning for sorted out for me My local TECO said that the working holiday visa couldn’t be used for an internship and have issued me with a visitor visa for internship purposes which is different to the working holiday visa.
Ah, this is interesting. The Canadian TECO’s website says nothing about internship visas* and lists interning as a valid WHV activity, but the Aussie TECO’s website tells a different story, and it turns out the information on BOCA’s website is closer to the Aussie TECO’s info.
*i.e. visitor visas with “FT”, in two flavors: 實習 and 代訓/受訓
If it’s difficult/impossible to get an extension, they should let you enter without activating the visa (i.e. get a visa exemption), so you can fly out and in again when you’re ready to start. This would cost you a pair of plane tickets, of course.
As you have said, every website I look at tells a different story which is quite confusing!
The idea of leaving and coming back actually doesn’t sound too bad. So hypothetically I could enter the country on the visa, then if I can’t extend it after the 6 months, leave and enter again in the 90 day visa free entry (does that apply to Australians?). I am assuming that when I start my university exchange the uni will help with the “student” visa.
Also, from what I can tell, with a visitor visa I won’t be able to obtain an ARC, will this be a problem for getting a bank account or other aspects of daily life?
As an Aussie, you can always fly out and in to get a visa exempt entry, with the slight caveat (as in most countries) that you’re supposed to have proof of onward travel and all that.
You can get an ID number from the NIA to use in lieu of an ARC number, as explained in the WHV thread.
Iirc, you can be refused entry due to lack of a ticket if you’re not a “resident”, but if it’s an issue, it’s infinitely more likely to be the airline making a fuss about it, not immigration. There are several threads discussing the issue (refundable tickets and so on).
My local TECO said that the working holiday visa couldn’t be used for an internship and have issued me with a visitor visa for internship purposes which is different to the working holiday visa.