I’ve recently arrived in Taiwan on a renewable visitors visa to study Chinese for a few months. I also do enough part-time Internet work for UK clients (paid into UK bank account) to afford to live here indefinitely after my studies finish.
But as I understand the visa regulations I can only stay here if I study 15 hours a week or work for a Taiwanese company 14+ hours a week. I’m too busy to work for a Taiwanese company and I don’t think I want to study forever either…
Any other options? No I don’t want to get married! Can I ask one of my UK employers to get a work permit for me? If I start paying tax on my UK work here does that help the situation?
Its possible to stay in Taiwan without studying or working provided you have the dosh. All you do is go out everytime before your 30 days is up. NEVER miss going out of Taiwan because the exit permit may entail a trip to the tax office where you will have to explain how you are in Taiwan and not doing any work. They may decide you need to pay an arbitrary amount of taxes!!
So if you keep your ins and outs sqeeky clean with no hiccups, yes you can.
Especially if you have one of those multiple five year 60 day visas !! Thems are good for that purpose.
Or if you get a 30 day landing visa. Just go out before it ends and NEVER NEVER NEVER miss it and then you are ok
Some poster on another forum works in 3 countries around Asia but lives in Taiwan and also does his work via home office. In other words, where he goes his work goes. So he only stays less then 30 days each time and off to vietnam and / or other places. So it works for him. Lots of travelling though.
Sooner or later you’ll have to explain your income. So to help demonstrate that you are not working illegally (and skipping the taxes) you should be sure to keep any official paperwork you might have to show that you’re getting enough money from outside the country to live here. For example, the receipts for any currency exchanges you do into NT would be great, provided they were of sufficient size.
That probably wouldn’t make you home free. But it should help keep officials off your back, unless they’re having a really bad day.
Can I ask one of my UK employers to get a work permit for me? If I start paying tax on my UK work here does that help the situation?