I finally have a date for my APRC interview. Unfortunately, the immigration office wants me to bring the missus.
Has anyone successfully and recently gone from a JFRV to an APRC without the wife? My wife would almost certainly sabotage the entire operation.
It was for precisely this reason that I avoided the naturalization option (current procedures for naturalization through marriage say that immigration officials will visit your home for an interview) and now I’m wondering what I can do about this.
[quote=“spaint”]I finally have a date for my APRC interview. Unfortunately, the immigration office wants me to bring the missus.
Has anyone successfully and recently gone from a JFRV to an APRC without the wife? My wife would almost certainly sabotage the entire operation.
It was for precisely this reason that I avoided the naturalization option (current procedures for naturalization through marriage say that immigration officials will visit your home for an interview) and now I’m wondering what I can do about this.[/quote]
From your previous posts this seems to be a serious problem. Is there anyway you can bribe her? Charm her? Anyway you can let her have “her way” for now so that she’ll support you through this?
Still not sure why you need to go through all this for an APRC (or even naturalization)…
How long have you been here?
[quote=“bismarck”]
Still not sure why you need to go through all this for an APRC (or even naturalization)…
How long have you been here?[/quote]
I’ve been here on and off since 1997. I’ve accumulated over nine years of residence time, of which the last seven have been continuous (six on JFRV, one previous on working permit).
I don’t think there is a legal basis for requiring a spousal interview for the APRC, but it’s being done because “some people want to get their APRC and then get divorced”.
[quote=“spaint”][quote=“bismarck”]
From your previous posts this seems to be a serious problem. Is there anyway you can bribe her? Charm her? Anyway you can let her have “her way” for now so that she’ll support you through this?
[/quote]
Short answer: No.
[quote=“bismarck”]
Still not sure why you need to go through all this for an APRC (or even naturalization)…
How long have you been here?[/quote]
I’ve been here on and off since 1997. I’ve accumulated over nine years of residence time, of which the last seven have been continuous (six on JFRV, one previous on working permit).
I don’t think there is a legal basis for requiring a spousal interview for the APRC, but it’s being done because “some people want to get their APRC and then get divorced”.[/quote]
Have you explained this to the guys at NIA? Because being married isn’t a criteria for the APRC. As long as you meet all the criteria (same with naturalization), you should get it, divorce notwithstanding…
Also, if I remember correctly, you’re British right? So you have a six month visa free stay option to sort shit out if she tries to derail your attempts at APRC or naturalization…
I think you should just go to the interview without your spouse. The NIA can require an interview and can reject your application if you don’t show up for the interview (Art. 25 Immigration Act), but there is nothing about your spouse having to be there. When you go, tell them your spouse could not attend. If they ask you about your marriage tell them you are married and leave it at that. They will fish for information. Do not tell them anything that they can show is untrue. That could be used to deny your application. Justrepeat that fact that you are married and that is it. You can always appeal if they turn you down. Good luck
And this is relevant to APRC application how, exactly? People who want a divorce are not entitled to APRC? I’d be asking for documentation attesting that clause, for DAMN sure! Just attend the interview sans wife. If that’s their only grounds for rejecting your application, you’ll have a shoo-in on appeal. But as the others have said, you MUST get that official rejection first. I honestly wouldn’t worry too much about it.
Well, you can have residency based on marriage or residency based on employment etc (but now not a s a student) to get permanent residency. Art. 25 is pretty clear on that. Here, spaint’s residency has been marriage-based. So the NIA probably thinks that the marriage should be a real one and should continue if it is the basis of the applcation for permanent residency. In other words, the ostensible purpose of his residing permanently in Taiwan is to be married (or so the NIA would argue).
Of course this doesn’t really make sense since someone whose residency was based on employment could reture and stop working just as someone who was married could get divorced. But the NIA probably sees permanent residence as an expansion of normal residency rather than quasi-citizenship, which is how most of us here see it.
[quote=“spaint”]I finally have a date for my APRC interview. Unfortunately, the immigration office wants me to bring the missus.
Has anyone successfully and recently gone from a JFRV to an APRC without the wife? My wife would almost certainly sabotage the entire operation.[/quote]This is total BULLSHIT! My good friend was in the exact same situation as you. He was married with a JFRV visa and the wife was pushing him for a divorce everyday for the past 10 years. Her whole point was to make him leave Taiwan upon getting the divorce. I processed his whole APRC application for him from the police background check from the US, to actually providing him with a stool sample that could pass the physical. Yes, he had an intestinal parasite that Taiwan had given him and by the time it would have been cured the police background check from the US would have expired and we would have had to start all over again. Anyway…without his wife’s knowledge about ANYTHING, we got the official tax forms (little red envelope assistance), borrowed her ID card and scanned it so we’d have a copy to submit with his package, got the computerized household registration, and submitted everything to the new NIA in Panchiao. He was called in for his interview, they never mentioned his wife coming in, and we didn’t tell her or take her. They asked nothing about his wife during the interview and my friend got his APRC two weeks later! This was the middle of July 2008! After my friend got his APRC, he told his wife that he would divorce her, but she must have guessed that he got his APRC or intended to marry another woman, so now…you guessed it…she won’t divorce him simply out of spite! Go figure! I made a posting trying to find a good divorce lawyer for him on another thread, and to date, he’s still married to her and she won’t divorce!
Go to the interview. Do not take your wife. Make sure you don’t lie about anything that could come back to haunt you later, but don’t offer anything up for free. There is no law or policy that requires your wife to attend the APRC interview. If they give you a hard time about this, ask them to show you the law requiring your wife’s presence! Use my friend as an example. If they won’t budge, perhaps I could ask my friend to go with you to your APRC interview as living proof that spousal attendance isn’t required. Damned NIA! Always trying to make things more difficult for us! :fume: The most consistent thing about Taiwan are the inconsistencies!
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you and hope for the best. Good luck!
Your friend’s case is probably exactly what they are trying to avoid. While the law may not require spousal interviews, the NIA can have a policy of trying to prevent (in their view) fraudulent applications for permanent residency or citizenship where the residence requirement was met by marriage-based residence.
But I agree with your advice. Especially about the part not saying anything at the interview that will come back to haunt you.
In point of fact, my wife is actually out of the country. The gentleman at the NIA would like me to provide a letter from me and one from her attesting to that. Obviously I can’t obtain hers but I can offer mine.
I have no intention to lie or otherwise dig my own grave. I hope that my application will stand on its own merits regardless of not having my spouse present at the interview.
If I am rejected I will request a formal rejection in accordance with the law and I will very likely return to my original plan of naturalization (and hope that they choose to process me as an independent applicant as opposed to a spouse).
[quote=“Feiren”]Borrowed her ID? How was that accomplished?[/quote]Very easily. She was sleeping, my friend rifled through his wife’s purse, took her ID, came to my house, I scanned it, and then he took it back and put it back into her purse. Ten minute process max! At the time, he was living with her in the mansion he had built and paid for by himself. After he got his APRC he walked away from it all![quote=“feiren”]Your friend’s case is probably exactly what they are trying to avoid. While the law may not require spousal interviews, the NIA can have a policy of trying to prevent (in their view) fraudulent applications for permanent residency or citizenship where the residence requirement was met by marriage-based residence.[/quote]There is nothing fraudulent about taking your spouse’s ID card to scan it for the APRC package to prove your marriage. You do not need to prove a “happy” marriage to qualify, apply for, and be granted an APRC, just that you are legally married.
On a related issue, my friend went the “show 5 million in a bank account” route and the NIA wanted to have a copy of the bank book submitted with the official bank balance certificate. This is not required, either. Only the bank’s official certificate of balance is required. The bank book clearly showed that the 5 million had only been deposited the day before the APRC interview and they tried to say that it didn’t qualify because of this. They said that the 5 million had to be in the bank account for at least three months to be acceptable. I DEMANDED that they show me the law that stipulated this three month requirement and they backed down and allowed it in the end.
When I applied for my APRC back in 2005, my wife didn’t come with me and no questions regarding my marriage were asked, either. I had my original marriage certificate, household registration, a copy of my wife’s ID card, and a copy of my JFRV ARC card. That’s it. Nothing more regarding my marriage. Of course that was back in the days when the Foreign Affairs Police were running the show.
The NIA is overstepping their authority and arbitrarily “making rulings from the bench” without any reasonable cause. I for one, will not allow them to get away with this type of behavior without a fight! :fume:
[quote=“spaint”]I finally have a date for my APRC interview. Unfortunately, the immigration office wants me to bring the missus.
Has anyone successfully and recently gone from a JFRV to an APRC without the wife? My wife would almost certainly sabotage the entire operation.
It was for precisely this reason that I avoided the naturalization option (current procedures for naturalization through marriage say that immigration officials will visit your home for an interview) and now I’m wondering what I can do about this.[/quote]
I never even had an interview. I submitted my paperwork and about two weeks later, I received a phone call telling me my application was approved.
[quote]I never even had an interview. I submitted my paperwork and about two weeks later, I received a phone call telling me my application was approved.[/quote] Same here, I didn’t have the interview either (I went the employment route btw)…After collecting all the necessary paperwork, I just went to the NIA office unannounced and told the lady I needed to submit my application for APRC…the 2 ladies looked at me in disbelief and asked whether I had setup an appointment or not…I said “no” and stared back. Then the “foreigner looking lady” said something like she was very busy…hundreds of applications to be processed blah blah :blah: …finally, the other lady (middle aged, quite friendly)…said she will process my application. …She spent about 15 mins goin thru my paperwork…keying stuffs in the comp, making copies of my passport, ARC’s etc…in the end, she said she would call me in 2 weeks time…no interview was conducted, few words were spoken…that’s all…
I wonder…for those who actually had this “Interview”…what was asked in the Interview? How long did it take? If any statements you made during the interview which was found later to have contradicted with the paperwork you submitted, then did the NIA reject your application based on this?
The interview is mostly to ensure that the paperwork is in order. Taipei city gets far more APRC applications than the other branches of the NIA so I assume there’s less of a wait and not as much experience among the staff outside of the city.
The gentleman remembered me from my attempt to submit an application without Income Tax Statements a few weeks back (which are o longer necessary as of August 1st), and asked about my wife (whose cooperation was essential for me to get them).
I told him that she’s out of the country and would not be willing to come in for the interview regardless.
The NIA officer told me basically the same as has already been said in this thread; namely that the spouse’s cooperation is not necessary by law for the APRC and that it’s best not to tell any lies about my spouse (happily I have yet to do so).
I submitted all documents and he told me that it was possible (I have no idea how likely it is) that “the people upstairs” will call me (and my wife) back for a second round interview.
Processing time is a nominal two months. It can be much quicker if there are few applications. Apparently last month was especially busy in Taipei. Fingers crossed for a speedy and happy resolution.
[quote=“spaint”]I told him that she’s out of the country and would not be willing to come in for the interview regardless.
The NIA officer told me basically the same as has already been said in this thread; namely that the spouse’s cooperation is not necessary by law for the APRC and that it’s best not to tell any lies about my spouse (happily I have yet to do so)…[/quote]
When they asked my why I wanted to become an ROC Citizen I said so I could legally stay here after I got divorced.
They said not an issue as the residential requirement had been met… spouse or no spouse or gitting rid of one the day after not an issue.
Just attend the interview sans wife. If that’s their only grounds for rejecting your application, you’ll have a shoo-in on appeal. But as the others have said, you MUST get that official rejection first. I honestly wouldn’t worry too much about it.
and told the lady I needed to submit my application for APRC…the 2 ladies looked at me in disbelief and asked whether I had setup an appointment or not…I said “no” and stared back. Then the “foreigner looking lady” said something like she was very busy…hundreds of applications to be processed blah blah :blah: …finally, the other lady (middle aged, quite friendly)…said she will process my application. 
…She spent about 15 mins goin thru my paperwork…keying stuffs in the comp, making copies of my passport, ARC’s etc…in the end, she said she would call me in 2 weeks time…no interview was conducted, few words were spoken…that’s all…
Seems like every Tom, Dick and Harry (and there dogs) are applying for APRCs lately. Must be since they brought the time down from 7 to 5 years…