Is it possible to enter Taiwan on a 30 day visa exempt entry and then secure a work permit to apply for a residence visa? I have been told that I would have to leave Taiwan and await a residence visa being granted. Also, I have heard rumours that it is now possible to secure a residence visa in this type of situation without every leaving Taiwan in the first 30 days.
Any help on sorting all this out would be greatly appreciated.
My goal is to attend several interviews, before committing to a work permit with a specific school.
As far as we have been able to figure out the best way to start working in Taiwan is to come, find a job and then leave the country to wait for a work permit and resident visa to come through.
We’re planning on setting up a few interviews before we come, probably in a few different cities. F
from past experience, does anybody know if 30 days should be long enough to find a job? we’d be looking in December, 2006.
Or should we be looking into getting 60 day visitor visa instead?
Also, any advice on waiting for the work permit and residence visa? i.e. in Hong Kong …
If you really hit the ground running, you could conceivably find a job, apply for a work permit, get a health check before the 30 days is up. Your work permit almost certainly wouldn’t be approved in time, but if your boss were flexible, you could make a run to Thailand/wherever when the 30 days is up, have your boss mail/fax you your permit, and you can apply for your resident visa while abroad.
A more common scenario is to find a job and start working right away. When your 30 days is nearly up, you’d get a letter from your boss, go abroad to apply for a visitor’s visa, come back and get your work permit, go to the Foreign Affairs Police to apply to switch your visitor’s visa to a residential visa, apply for an ARC, etc.
You’ll pay an extra 3000NT for the latter option (4000NT if you’re American.) But most bosses would have you work (illegally) rather than lying on a beach in Thailand while waiting for your work permit to come down.
[quote=“bradandjack”]Exactly what paperwork needs to be completed in Taiwan after finding a job, before leaving the country to obtain a resident visa?
Is this a common practice to leave and re-enter quickly to obtain a resident visa?[/quote]
I got my resident visa issued at an overseas TECO (Taipei Economical and Cultural Office). I entered Taiwan on a landing visa but had to leave since it’s not extendable. The documents were sent to the TECO in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and it took 3 days I think. My company did all the paperwork so I don’t really know what’s needed, though I did bring some qualifications and a CV. If you are not a teacher you probably don’t need a health check.
Or, instead of going abroad, visit the FAP before you book your visa run and show them a letter from your boss saying that the work permit is being processed. If you hit the right person on the right day, you can get an extension.
30 days is plenty to find the job. Get your health check done on your first day. Then go look for a job.
You could always sign up with a chain school from o/s and they will give you a soft landing. Easiest way to get your feet on the ground, imo.
If you are white, from the right country (USA, UK, Canada, South Africa, Australia, or New Zealand), have degree, and enough brains to not completely mess up an interview, then yes, you can get a job within 30 days. If you do not meet all of these requirements it might take longer than 30 days. Simply put.
To get a resident visa, however, may take slightly longer as it usually takes about 2 weeks just to get your work permit.
You may be able to get the work permit within the 30 days, but you have to leave Taiwan to apply for the resident visa. The same is true if you enter Taiwan on a visitor visa, unless the purpose registered on your visa is “joining relatives” e.g. you are married to an ROC citizen.
You will have to leave Taiwan at least once. Your task is to get your jobs set up fast enough so that you don’t have to leave twice.
I merged the thread you started over in the Teaching English in Taiwan forum in with this one that you started on the same topic here. I know that on newsgroups crossposting is sometimes encouraged, but it isn’t here. People could end up posting useful replies to each of the two threads on the same subject, and the information would be scattered. It’s much more useful to keep it together.
Regards,
Joe (Teaching English in Taiwan forum co-moderator)
You do not have to leave the country to change a visitor’s visa to a resident visa. All of the teachers I have hired in the last 5 years were able to do it from Taiwan. Of course, the laws may have changed again in the last 6 months…they have a habit of doing that…
Hope you don’t mind me joining in here with some of my own questions …
I am coming to Taiwan next month for 3 weeks, and will enter on the 1 month visitor/tourist visa.
If the gods smile on me, and I can find a job during my visit, would it be possible to get an extension on my original 1 month tourist visa to have more time to process paperwork etc.?
Or alternatively – If i find a job in week 1 of my trip, would it be possible to start work right away and rely on the employer to take care of the paperwork/visa etc.?
I don’t mind working illegally if its only for a week or two …
On the other hand, a short trip to Thailand sounds pretty good
On a side note, I know lots of very capable and well paid non-white teachers.[/quote]
Wow. Is that like the new “I have a black friend” thing to alleviate any kind of superficial guilt one might feel for not being a minority?
No one said that they had to be white to be a good teacher. I, for one, am very well aware that skin color has nothing to do with being capable of teaching English. However, the guy asked if he would be able to find a job within 30 days and for the vast majority of non-white people coming to Taiwan to teach English, it’s not as possible to find a job within that time frame as it is for a white person.
[quote=“ImaniOU”][quote=“我 is me.”]Or buck up for the 60 day visa.
On a side note, I know lots of very capable and well paid non-white teachers.[/quote]
Wow. Is that like the new “I have a black friend” thing to alleviate any kind of superficial guilt one might feel for not being a minority? [/quote]
What is it with you and the white trip? Who needs black friends that rant on about being black all the time. My friends are my friends no matter what their race or creed is. Please remember that many posters here are not Americans and need no sense of being guilty for anything at all, except maybe being born white.
There are plenty of locals and other Asians teaching English here. Damn it there’s even some aborignals running their own schools too
Demz not too white or black for you are they?
We don’t need to alleviate any guilt here. We whites are also in the minority in this country too or haven’t you noticed? :loco: :loco:
Pubba, you will definitely need to go out of the country to get a resident visa. This is because you will be using a 30-day visa-free entry. These and any other ‘non-extendable’ visas are not exchangeable for a resident visa, and that is not any new policy.
It used to be that extendable visitor visas (i.e. most visas issued by representative offices overseas) were convertible to resident visas without needing to leave the country, however there have been several reports such as Juba’s of this no longer being possible in some cases. I would recommend giving it a try anyways, as a trip to Jinan Road in Taipei is a lot cheaper than going to Hong Kong … Also I note that the rules in Taiwan seem to change back and forth frequently.
I’ve got a new hire going through the process right now, so I’ll be able to say pretty soon if he can do it here. My secretary called BOCA this morning and they said it can be done. I’m talking about the 60-day visa though, not visa free entry. I’m down in Kaohsiung City, and I haven’t heard anyone complaining about having to leave. Maybe it’s different up North?