Legality of Private Tutoring (in your apartment)

In this forum, we often use the term of work right to include most of cases.

Taiwanese also use like this.


從外籍配偶的居留、歸化與工作權看臺灣的多元文化素養-以東南亞及大陸地區的女性配偶為例

Are you legally allowed to teach students in an illegal apartment?

I guess you cannot get a permission for the buxiban if the place is an illegal building.

How many people have refugee status in Taiwan?

up to three people is considered private tutoring in New Taipei, but yeah if they fall over in your apartment and split their skull open then good luck with that. Yes, of course you can’t do that legally on a tourist visa

If you can think of a better umbrella term, please share. :slight_smile:

This might be a dumb question, but does the “less than 5 students enrolled” rule apply per class, per day, or in total? For example, if I have two students one day, two different ones the second, and two others the third, I’ve taught six students. Does that make me an illegal buxiban?

I believe it’s in total. But as long as you only had four at a time, how would they know?

If they came twice, if someone had videos, if someone reported me with pictures. Unlikely unless someone was out to get me, but not worth the risk.

If you are OWP, they just give you a warning first.

Is that an official policy or just what happened to @Pinoco or some other lucky person with a nice smile? It could go differently if you’re too close to a teaching center or the neighbors complain.

I’m not sure about official policy, but even illegal classes in streets crowded with competing cram schools get warned a couple of times before they get the $60,000 fine. That’s why many start operating before their license is processed and awarded. You’ll just get warned a few times and you’ll have your license before they check too many times.

I’m speaking of teaching in an apartment or rented office space. Getting a license isn’t that easy if you don’t have money to throw at it. And unless I’m wrong, not just any space can be licensed as a buxiban.

Gotcha, the issue is that if I go through the trouble of renting a place only to find it’s either impossible or not economically feasible license it, I’ve lost whatever I put into it, plus I have to get out of the rental contract.

You won’t be able to license a normal apartment. Too small.

I just used an empty apartment I already owned.

That’s one thing to look for it you decide to get licensed. Find a place where your building is the only place that can pass the license requirements and you have no competition nearby. You can get drivers to bring the kids from nearby schools and have the kids pay the drivers.

My plan was to teach adults. Maybe a smaller market but I have the right skill set and I’m tired of kids.

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Great. I have no idea if the requirements are different for adults, but I do know you must make them pay three months in advance. If you don’t, they will cancel often and it makes accounting much more bothersome. When they pay in advance, they are much more likely to attend regularly.

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This is the kind of situation below that, if I started a small school and was discovered to be in violation, that would get things shut down. I don’t have a lot of seed money, and it wouldn’t be worth it anyway for a one classroom school.

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I’m curious to know if there’s a way you can register as a private tutor in other peoples homes. That wouldn’t be the same thing as a cram school, as you wouldn’t have a specific location to have on a cram school permit

Not if you have over 4 students. You must register as a cram school then.