I just found out that a US citizen marrying a Taiwanese could obtain a JFRV ARC or a JFRV APRC. Previously, I thought it was only one singular JFRV and not two different types.
Does anyone know what are the different rights and responsibilities between the two? Which one is preferable? Thanks in advance.
First of all, drop the term JFRV. It is not used by government and is misleading.
Saying spouse ARC might be more clear, but you might want to specify it’s a “spouse of Taiwanese with HHR” ARC because spouse ARCs based on marriage to another foreigner do not give open work rights.
After 5 years of residency on that ARC, you can apply to get an APRC, and it will be an APRC where the original residency was based on marriage to a Taiwanese with HHR. This kind of APRC has a few differences to one gained by different routes and there are a few threads here discussing this.
“Spouse of Taiwanese with HHR” ARC and an APRC roughly have the same benefits, namely open work rights. Main differences of the APRC is that you can maintain your residency even if you divorce, it’s a one time fee (of 10k) and you only need to update it (for free) every ten years (when your passport number changes). Main difference of the “Spouse of Taiwanese with HHR” ARC is that it can’t be cancelled if you leave Taiwan for more than 6 months (as long as you don’t let it expire). If you are on APRC and need to leave TW for longer than 6 months you can apply to leave for longer so it’s still probably worth getting the APRC. Plus, if you did lose the APRC because you left too long, worse case scenario you just apply for another “Spouse of Taiwanese with HHR” ARC.
Thank you for the detailed explanation.
I’m a US citizen. My wife’s household registry status is currently not active. Meaning she’s on the household registry but I think it states that she left the country.
Starting the middle of next year our plan is to live 3-6 months in Taiwan and 3-6 months back in the US. My wife will be going back to Taiwan in March and entering Taiwan using her Taiwan passport. She’s also going to try and get her national ID card. Do you know if she can go on the national health plan right away or is there a waiting period?
Her plan is register our US marriage license and my FBI background check to start the process in preparation for next year. Do you think that it’s too early to do that?
You can confirm she does actually have HHR by checking if she has an ID number section in her passport (in addition to passport number).
If she has the ID number, bus she is inactive due to leaving Taiwan for a long time, then all she has to do is reactivate it and you are eligible for the spouse ARC mentioned earlier.
Register the marriage in both the US and TW as soon as possible. For the background check just make sure it doesn’t expire by the time you apply. I’m not sure if Taiwan requires it to have been issued X number of months before ARC application.
I just checked her Taiwan passport and it does have her ID number. I’m guessing it should be pretty easy to reactivate once she gets to Taiwan in the spring.
Would you happen to know how long would it take for her to be able to get on National healthcare?
Just a follow up for those interested. My wife has been in Taiwan for about a month now. She entered Taiwan using her Taiwanese passport and it all went very smoothly.
She reapplied for her national ID card and got it back very quickly.
I’ve so far gotten my FBI background check from TECRO in Washington DC and got it translated and then authenticated at my local TECO.
I also got our US marriage license translated and authenticated at TECO.
Right now I’m waiting for my Taiwan resident visa to be issued by TECO and then I’ll be heading to Taiwan.
As far as I know I’m only missing 2 items which I was told I can take care of in Taiwan. First is my adoption of a Chinese name and the second is my health check.
Went to the household registration office yesterday and submitted my paperwork to be registered. It took longer than what I expected at about an hour. They also wanted me to adopt a Chinese name which I was already prepared to do.
I was assessed a fine of NT$500 because my translated and authenticated marriage certificate from TECO was over 30 days old. It was clearly written on my document but in Chinese, so I had no clue. There were a few more misc fees totaling a couple hundred more $$.
Next step will be to get my health exam.
Yeah, that’s a law requirement for foreigners married to citizens to adopt a Chinese name to have the marriage registered here and be put as an asterisk on the spouse’s HHR.
You need to pay attention to Chinese and have your spouse or even an official tell you what is says.
I chose a Chinese name that if anyone reads its sees the name as being a Taiwanese person. Many people use names Taiwanese laugh at as they are just poor translations of a foreigner name.
Today I went for my health exam (7/1). It was very efficient. First step was to register me into the hospital computer system at the registration/cashier’s counter. Then I was instructed to another room where they went over my health form and documents and determined what tests I need to take. I then had to go back to pay for my exam at the cashier’s counter. Compared to the US it was ridiculously cheap at NT$1585.
I went to get a blood test and had to wait about 5 minutes as there were 3 people ahead of me. The drawing of blood took about 3 minutes. I then went to get my chest X-ray on another floor. Wait was 5 minutes (2 people ahead of me) and the actual X-ray was literally about 1 minute, definitely no more than 2 minutes. As soon as I stepped in I was guided to stand and raise my arms. I was told to inhale and hold my breath. 30+ seconds later I was told it’s done and I can exhale and breathe normally. My final stop was back to station where they originally told me what test I needed. She said to come back on 7/10 when my test would be ready.
Before I went to pickup my health report at the hospital I received a call that I had to get the MMR shot first.
I got the shot at a local clinic and it was also very quick. Maybe about 1/2 an hour including waiting for the 3 people ahead of me. I got the proof of vaccination and had to run to a local 7 Eleven to make 2 additional copies that the hospital said I would also need to bring.
Once I got to the hospital I submitted my proof of MMR vaccination, waited a few minutes for them to make some more copies and stamp my documents. I was told to take my health results to another window to have them stamp it…and that was it. Off to the NIA now…
Ok, so I finally got my ARC today. Took all of 5 smooth minutes. I wish I could say the same for the application process. Most of my issues were with my local TECO office. They must be overworked or underpaid or both. A few of the ladies were nice but one guy stood out as being borderline nasty. It’s unfortunate because if he just took a few minutes to double check things and explain it would have made a world of difference and I’d be telling you all how wonderful it was.
Anyways, I’m glad it’s over and I can breathe a sigh of relief.
If anyone needs some advice or another perspective just let me know.
Good luck!
Congrats. It’s always nice to be done with such things!