JFRV based ARC versus "Dependent ARC"? Difference?

Legal Visa & Residency
1

Ok folks, I’ve run into something new. At least something new that I haven’t seen before. Could anyone shed some light on the following boggle?

I know all about the JFRV and being married to a Taiwan citizen and all the procedures involved with applying for one. However, there appears to be another “JFRV type” status out there which I’m going to refer to as a “Dependent ARC” based on marriage to a Taiwan citizen. Bear with me as this term is probably incorrect, but I’m going to use it in order to keep my thoughts clear until someone can tell me what the official name of this status is actually.

JFRV ARC vs “Dependent ARC” (or whatever it really is called)

Case:

American living in Taiwan beginning in early 2012 with a student visa studying his masters degree on a Taiwan scholarship which pays for tuition and a monthly living stipend. He decides that the masters program isn’t to his liking and decides that he wants to withdraw from the program, marry his Taiwanese girlfriend and become an English teacher instead. So, that’s exactly what he does. He withdraws from his masters program and marries his girlfriend and then begins looking for a work-permit sponsoring English teaching gig. He knows that he’s got about 14 days from the time he withdrew from his masters program to find a job, have them sponsor him for a work-permit and then change his status from student visa to work-permit visa without necesitating a visa run. The job hunt wasn’t going well and time was running short and it was looking like he was going to have to do a visa run. However, after consulting with me, I recommended that he take all his marriage documentation and his wife with him to the NIA and nicely explain the situation to them and see if they would give him an extension on his current student visa so he could find a job without needing to do a visa run. Then, after securing a valid work-permit to keep his ARC status, I told him he could work on getting the FBI background check completed and then afterward apply for a JFRV based on his marriage so he could have open work rights without needing a company to sponsor him for a work-permit. Sound good so far? I thought so, too.

Instead of the outcome I was expecting, either the NIA would grant him an extension or make him do a visa run, they did the completely unexpected….

They took copies of all his marriage documentation and issued him an ARC based on being married! That’s right! He has something that looks like a JFRV ARC, but it can’t be because he provided no health check and no FBI background check, either. He went directly from a student visa ARC to a “Married Dependent ARC” without needing the health check or the criminal record check! The NIA told him that they would give him an initial one year ARC and then after one year he could apply for up to three years! Gee whiz!

He just received the official card in the mail and immediately sent a copy off to me to inspect it. I made a mock up of what the card looks like including the red printing which states that he doesn’t need a work-permit to work! I’ve never seen one of these. What the hell is it?

How in the world can he go from a student visa ARC to a married ARC with open work rights within less than a year of residency without a health check or a criminal record check? Is this some type new status, did the NIA drop the ball and give this guy a major gift, or do I just not know everything I thought I did? If this isn’t a JFRV and it’s something else, then why would anyone want to apply for a JFRV which requires a health check and an FBI background check which takes an insurmountable length of time. All he did was walk into the NIA, tell them that he didn’t want to be a student anymore, that he was married to a Taiwan National, here are the documents which prove it, and BOOM….new ARC status with open work rights.

Confuzious…….Greves…….where are you two? I think you both might know something I don’t and can give some education to one confused and pissed off old man?

Anyone else? Bueller? Bueller?..

2

As far as I know that looks like a standard JFRV based ARC. That’s a type TS resident visa - foreigner married to Taiwanese spouse with HHR, as noted by the “purpose of residence: 依親-妻”. There is no minimum length of time for being on a marriage ARC before open work rights are granted - they are granted immediately, so nothing strange about that.

However, this type of visa definitely should require a health/criminal record check, and I can’t explain why he wasn’t required to do one. Perhaps they saw his recent health check records from his student visa, but I can’t explain the criminal background check. AFAIK, they are phasing that out for certain ARC types, but that hasn’t been enacted yet and I don’t even think it applies to a normal JFRV based ARC.

I don’t believe that what happened in this case would be considered standard procedure, but only regarding the criminal background check. Apart from that, it’s a pretty standard case.

BTW, you might want to black out the name & address.

3

Yeah…I know that…however. A student visa ARC holder walks into the NIA office (sounds like the beginning of a bad joke) and says,

“I don’t want to be a student no more, effective immediately! Oh…BTW…I married my Taiwanese sweetheart yesterday and I want a JFRV ARC with open-work rights based on my marriage and I don’t want to submit a new health check although my previous health check for a student visa is waaaaay past the expiration date…AAAAAAND I no wanna do an FBI background check, either! Now, here are my pictures…my marriage documents…and $1,000 for processing…get to it…CHOP CHOP!”

The no health check/no criminal record check only applies to the APRC at this time and also requires 5 years residency at 183 days for each of those 5 years and that every trip abroad was 3 months or less each time. There has been no changes in the JFRV requirements as far as I know!

Expired health check and no criminal record check for a JFRV is not standard as far as I know. Unrestricted work rights after being approved for a JFRV ARC or APRC, yeah…everyone knows about that.

That’s my personal information, not the client’s. Stop by for a beer anytime! :laughing:

4

Ok - I think I may be on to something here. A friend told me about a similar case that happened to another friend of hers. This guy was on a work visa based ARC and switched to JFRV based ARC - he also went through without any medical/criminal checks. My friend suggested checking NIA since he never went to BOCA for a new visa - which also sounds like what happened in your friend’s case.

NIA has a newly amended law that got posted up yesterday - so we might infer that the implementation has been out for a couple of months at most.

The post found here is not found on the English version of the site (or at least, I couldn’t find it).

This rule is regarding applications for new ARCs, extensions, replacements, and (applicable to both your case and my friend’s case) change of residence purpose.

Based on this rule, to change the purpose of residence from any current ARC into JFRC (which should perhaps be the new moniker for a “JFRV based ARC” that isn’t actually based on a new visa, but is simply the certificate itself), the only documents required, in addition to the usual (passport, photos, money) is the current ARC and the proof of familial relationship. There is no requirement listed here for a health check or a criminal background check.

If this is true, and based on the NIA’s website linked above (and also a quick reading of the referenced Immigration Act, Article 23), it seems very possible that this could indeed be the new implementation of this article of the Act, which also accords with Article 8 of the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act.

Previously, if such an implementation had not been enacted, then it would have made sense that one had to go through BOCA to get a new visa, in which case BOCA’s visa issuing rules would have applied. But it seems that now, with this new implementation, change of purpose of residence can simply be applied through NIA directly for a variety of different cases, including not only joining family, but also white collar work, investment, University study, Mandarin study, religious workers, and long-time overseas Chinese from Korea (I’m not sure what the last one means exactly).

By the way, if I’m reading this correctly, then it seems like this may indeed apply to anyone who is already in Taiwan, regardless of their visa status, or even if they are visa-exempt. This would be another HUGE breakthrough in immigration policy if this reading is correct, and from the first link I posted above, it seems like this may indeed be the case! I will find out soon personally, since I’ll be switching from a type TR (Mandarin study) visitor visa to a University study based ARC. When I go to NIA to ask about that in a couple of weeks or a month, I will make sure to print a copy of that page and ask for specifics.

5

Just to inform you all, the “friend” we are talking about here still had a valid health check at the time he went to the Immigration Agency, but it would have expired (3 months had elapsed) around the first week of November. So, I can only ponder a guess that the health check might still have been required here, but I can’t be sure?

I also know that the people at the immigration agency had seen this “friend” a number of times over this past summer, and that might have played a role in the issuance of his new ARC. After the Immigration Agency was informed that the “friend” was married to a Taiwan National they almost suggested this course of action, rather than him being informed about the new ARC even being an option for him.

6

Do you mean to imply that it might not even require having any ARC at all? That would make the entire resident visa process obsolete, wouldn’t it?

7

Do you mean to imply that it might not even require having any ARC at all? That would make the entire resident visa process obsolete, wouldn’t it?[/quote]

Yeah, that’s certainly what it seems like. Which, like I said, would be totally legal. In theory, according to the law as I understand it, NIA has authority over foreigners already in Taiwan - BOCA only has authority over people outside of Taiwan. Once you’ve arrived in Taiwan, whether on a visa-exempt entry or an employment resident visa, you should be NIA’s responsibility, not BOCA’s.

I’m going to post a complete translation later today of the first link I posted above, as well as the new amendments (late October) to the law regarding foreign visitors & residents in Taiwan.

8

Ok, just a quick update because I’m not finished translating yet, but the resident visa process is not obsolete and will still be required in a number of cases. Details soon…

9

Translation of this news item posted 2 days ago to immigration.gov.tw.

[quote]

[Notes in square brackets are my comments.]

Foreigners applying for, extending, or replacing an ARC, or changing the purpose of residence.

I. Legal Basis:
1: Immigration Act Articles 22, 23, 26, 31. (Hereafter referred to as “the Act.”) [Last updated: 2011/11/23]
2: Regulations Governing Visiting, Residency, and Permanent Residency of Aliens, Articles 5-10 [Last updated: 2012/10/25]

II. Applicants:
1: Foreigners holding a valid visa, or a valid passport or travel document and entering by visa-exempt entry, who enter the country after inspection [of the visa or document] according to the Immigration Act, and acquire permission to reside [i.e., they have gone to NIA and already have an ARC].
2: Foreigners entering on a resident visa who change their purpose of residence to joining family, white-collar employment, or investment.

III. Required documents:
1: ARC
2: Original passport and visa (According to Article 23, Paragraph 2 of the Act, applicants for change of purpose of residence do not need to submit the visa)
3: Documentary proof of purpose of residence (Original to be checked, copy to be submitted):

(1) Joining family (Included under Article 23, Paragraph 2 of the Act, for change of purpose of residence):

Proof of relationship (i.e., birth certificate, marriage license, population register, Taiwan ID card, foreign ARC, household registration transcript issued within 3 months, etc.)

(2) White collar employment (Included under Article 23, Paragraph 2 of the Act, for change of purpose of residence):

Letter of activity objectives [cf. work permit] authorized by the proper authority and in-work certificate.

(3) Investment (Included under Article 23, Paragraph 2 of the Act, for change of purpose of residence):

Letter of activity objectives authorized by the proper authority, business registration forms, or other relevant documents.

(4) Study abroad:
Student ID or proof of study (First-time foreign students must submit the study program’s acceptance letter.)

(5) Mandarin language enrichment:
Student ID or proof of study, attendance records

(6) Religious work:
Registration certificate of the religious organization and a letter of invitation, or other relevant documents.

(7) Long-term Korean overseas Chinese

Letter of proof of ID from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

4: ID photos (same requirements as Taiwan ID card photos)

5: For replacement of a lost ARC, include a written statement or police report.

6: Fees. 1 Year - 1,000 NT, 2 Years - 2,000 NT, 3 Years - 3,000 NT, Students - 500 NT, Replacement - 500 NT.

IV. Processing time: 10 days (Bring the receipt to pick up the ARC)

V. Notes:

1: First time foreign spouses must appear together with their Taiwanese spouse at the time of application and will receive a 1 year ARC.

2: Resident visa holders must apply for an ARC within 15 days of arrival.

3: Foreigners continuing to reside should apply within 30 days of expiracy of the current residence period.

4: Foreigners who change their residence should register the change within 15 days of moving.

5: Applicants for change of purpose of residence under Article 23, Paragraph 2 of the Act, should submit the application before 30 days from the end of the residence period.

6: Foreign issued documents should include a Chinese translation that has been authenticated by the overseas consular office. If the original is authenticated but not the Chinese translation, the translation should be notarized by the court or a notary public.

  1. According to Article 23 of the Act, spouses who have household registration or domicile in Taiwan, or foreign applicants with authorized residence or permanent residence, the proof of relationship must be a marriage license issued by the Household Registration office in Taiwan (i.e., ID card, population register, household registration transcript [to be returned after verification]). For matters relating to marriage registration, please check the Ministry of the Interior’s Household Registration Website or contact a local Household Registration Office.

  2. Residents in the Taiwan area with household registration who hold and enter on a foreign passport and apply for residence or extension of residence, should first go to the Household Registration Office for “moving-out registration”.

  3. Applicants who are unable to complete the change of purpose of residence and obtain an ARC, please exit the country within the limit of your current stay.

  4. According to Article 23, Paragraph 2 of the Act, applications for change of purpose of residence are limited to circumstances in the first paragraph (i.e., joining family, white collar employment, and investment, etc.), for other changes of purpose (i.e., study, religious work), should still first contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and, after obtaining the appropriate residence visa, apply for the ARC.

  5. Applicants for change of purpose of residence must pay the fee on the basis of the new period of residence.

  6. According to Article 23, Paragraph 2 of the Act, a foreign spouse whose purpose of residence in Taiwan is foreign labor is not permitted to apply for change of purpose of residence.

  7. Foreigners who hold a resident visa, upon entering the country, or for visas obtained within the country, upon issuance of the visa, must apply for an ARC within 15 days. Late application will be fined 2,000-10,000 NT. Foreigners who change their residence address must submit notice within 15 days. Violators will be fined 2,000-10,000 NT.[/quote]

Please excuse any mistranslations (I’m not a professional) - if anyone catches a mistake let me know and I’ll fix it right away.

Now, it seems to be that there are two processes here - one is related to residents who are applying for extensions or replacement ARCs, and the other is for residents who are applying for a change of purpose to their residence.

So, to you and for my friend’s friend, they would both be qualified as section II.2 applicants, and require the documents listed in section III.1-2, 3(1), and 4-6.

According to this, it definitely means that you can get any visa with a valid pathway to an ARC, come to Taiwan, do whatever you need to get the ARC (in some cases, this will just be going to NIA to apply for it, in other cases, like Mandarin study, it would require 4 months of study first), obtain the ARC, and then, if you were married to a Taiwanese national, you could apply for a change of purpose without needing a health check or a police report.

Unfortunately, it’s not as broad as I had hoped from a brief glance earlier, because as Note 10 says, other cases should still first be applied to MOFA for a resident visa first. So, I guess that is a no-go for me :frowning:

But at least it makes it easier for foreign employees who get married, to not need health or criminal background checks anymore! (You will still need them when you apply for an APRC, unless you haven’t left the country for a period of more than 3 months in the preceding 5 years, according to the recently amended rules governing visitor & resident visas for foreigners [Chinese].)

10

Greves…Nice find…nice work…way to pay it forward to the community. :notworthy:

I’ve got another case that is giving me problems. :fume:

Case 2: Canadian male and an American female get married in Taiwan

A Canadian male on an employment based ARC marries his American girlfriend in Taiwan. The American woman entered Taiwan on a multiple entry visitor visa.

They decided that he will keep his employment based ARC and she will opt for a JFRV spousal ARC. They went to the NIA with all their documentation and the NIA tells them that because they got married in Taiwan that his American wife needs to do a health check and an FBI background check! However, if they had gotten married outside of Taiwan, then she would have needed NEITHER the health check or the FBI background check to get the JFRV! :doh:

What kind of double talk mumbo jumbo shit is this? :loco:

What the hell difference does it make where they got married as to whether or not an FBI backround check and health check is needed? I cry foul!

Thoughts? Anyone? :ponder:

11

[quote=“Northcoast Surfer”]Greves…Nice find…nice work…way to pay it forward to the community. :notworthy:

I’ve got another case that is giving me problems. :fume:

Case 2: Canadian male and an American female get married in Taiwan

A Canadian male on an employment based ARC marries his American girlfriend in Taiwan. The American woman entered Taiwan on a multiple entry visitor visa.

They decided that he will keep his employment based ARC and she will opt for a JFRV spousal ARC. They went to the NIA with all their documentation and the NIA tells them that because they got married in Taiwan that his American wife needs to do a health check and an FBI background check! However, if they had gotten married outside of Taiwan, then she would have needed NEITHER the health check or the FBI background check to get the JFRV! :doh:

What kind of double talk mumbo jumbo shit is this? :loco:

What the hell difference does it make where they got married as to whether or not an FBI backround check and health check is needed? I cry foul!

Thoughts? Anyone? :ponder:[/quote]

For bureaucratic offices, I remember their motto: Theirs is not to question why; theirs is but to do and die.

12

Well, is regards to the foreigner marrying a foreigner, the information used to be here forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtop … 0#p1468883

But the NIA link in the post has been replaced with information that covers everything except a foreign spouse of a foreigner. I haven’t been able to find updated information about it on the NIA site yet. However, in that same thread I linked, there’s information about applying at BOCA boca.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=186 … e=778&mp=2
And there’s no mention of the criminal record check, just the health check.

I’ll actually be going through this process with my soon-to-be foreign spouse in December. We are getting married in Hong Kong, though. We had been planning to go through BOCA for his visa because of the need for a criminal record check that was previously listed on the NIA site. I’ll post an update about the process we end up going through.

13

I want to bump this. Greves, have you gone to the NIA yet?

I may transfer from a work-based ARC to a “JFRC,” in the coming year, so I would like to know more about this.

14

Are you sure that the two JFRV cases granted open work rights?

there must be a lot of people here on dependent JFRV’s and it seems that this would have been loophole for a long time.

15

Folks I want to pile up here too, in my case I married my Taiwanese wife in the US nevertheless I’m Mexican citizen, last time I went for an extension on my visitor visa they still asked me for a Criminal Record to apply for a JFRV but it is really really hard to get one, there’s almost no chance to have it done from here and traveling there would cost me around 3000+ dlls I saw in this link: immigration.gov.tw/ct.asp?x … 30085&mp=2
this:
b For applications based on Subparagraph 1, Paragraph 1, Article 23 of the Act, the marriage status of the applicant and his/her foreign spouses (having already existed before they entering the R.O.C.) are exempted from submitting the Records.[/b]
in chinese : immigration.gov.tw/ct.asp?x … 30085&mp=2
this:
２、 依本法第23條第1項第1款申請者，申請人與外國籍依親對象入境前親屬關係已存在者免附。

Can I understand with this that is no longer required, in my case? I need to go get my last extension next week.
Also if I’m wrong on this will it be easier to enroll on Mandarin class and get a student visa to later apply for a JFRC instead of a JFRV?

16

Go to the NIA and ask. They’re the only ones who will be able to give you the most accurate answer for your specific case.

What in the world is a JFRC? A JFRV is a Joining Family Residence Visa which is primarily used for the spouses of Taiwan citizens to gain residency and the associated ARC (Alien Resident Certificate). I’ve never heard of a JFRC. Could this be a mistake like how some foreigners like to call an APRC (Alien Permanent Resident Certificate) a PARC instead because it somehow sounds better in English?

Education please.

17

[quote=“Northcoast Surfer”]
What in the world is a JFRC? A JFRV is a Joining Family Residence Visa which is primarily used for the spouses of Taiwan citizens to gain residency and the associated ARC (Alien Resident Certificate). I’ve never heard of a JFRC. Could this be a mistake like how some foreigners like to call an APRC (Alien Permanent Resident Certificate) a PARC instead because it somehow sounds better in English?

Education please.[/quote]

Sorry I thought that’s what we were calling now the “Dependent ARC”. I will try to get some information, apparently the wife have a friend that actually works in our local NIA, don’t you love spending countless nights without sleep trying to interpret in a second language something wrote on a third language? Got to love the Taiwanese wife, uh? And she is like “they will think we are fighting with them”.

18

[quote=“TexMex”][quote=“Northcoast Surfer”]
What in the world is a JFRC? A JFRV is a Joining Family Residence Visa which is primarily used for the spouses of Taiwan citizens to gain residency and the associated ARC (Alien Resident Certificate). I’ve never heard of a JFRC. Could this be a mistake like how some foreigners like to call an APRC (Alien Permanent Resident Certificate) a PARC instead because it somehow sounds better in English?

Education please.[/quote]

Sorry I thought that’s what we were calling now the “Dependent ARC”.[/quote]

No. I don’t know what to call it. I have no idea what it is. That’s why I made the initial posting. It appears that an individual on a student ARC managed to get the NIA to give him a JFRV ARC based on his quickie marriage to his girlfriend without a health check or a criminal record check from his home country. That’s the head scratcher for me. How did he get what appears to be a JFRV ARC without the necessary health check and criminal background check? I think someone at the NIA screwed up and gifted this guy a JFRV ARC without requiring him to jump through the necessary hoops of fire to actually apply for the JFRV. Lucky him, I guess.

I recommend that you do the same as the guy I referenced in the original post. Get all your marriage documents together, take your wife with you to the NIA and nicely ask them for a JFRV ARC based on your marriage to your wife. The worst they can say is no, but they will tell you what you do need to do in order to get it. If they tell you no, then ask them why oh why did the former student ARC guy get a JFRV ARC without either the health check or the background check. Maybe you could pressure them into gifting you a JFRV ARC like they apparently did for him. The worst they can say is no.

Good luck.

:bow:

19

[quote=“Northcoast Surfer”]

I recommend that you do the same as the guy I referenced in the original post. Get all your marriage documents together, take your wife with you to the NIA and nicely ask them for a JFRV ARC based on your marriage to your wife. The worst they can say is no, but they will tell you what you do need to do in order to get it. If they tell you no, then ask them why oh why did the former student ARC guy get a JFRV ARC without either the health check or the background check. Maybe you could pressure them into gifting you a JFRV ARC like they apparently did for him. The worst they can say is no.

Good luck.

:bow:[/quote]

I will do that, is just that we are in Nantou, and perhaps they don’t have as much immigration traffic as other big cities, last time I extended my visa they looked pretty annoyed with whatever they were doing I din’t get a smile until after I picked my passport with he extension. I will have the wife call another city since they remember us since the first time we went to get our child registered “oh you are the one Mexican husband” they reply on the phone.

20

As I suspected, the wife called her friend in Nantou City’s NIA today (day off) and she only have experience with Mainland Chinese spouses. We’ll see Monday.