OK Forumosans, I need your collective brainpower to help me figure out what I should do here. My 60 day visitor visa expires this Friday and I don’t think I can get it extended as it has a big red “P” written on it. I have told that this “P” indicates pleasure and means no extensions under any circumstances. The good news is that I have two great jobs lined up for the end of the month and I will be able to get ARCs through them. The bad news, obviously, is that I just don’t have enough time to get the paperwork done so a visa runnin’ I a go. My question is: should I bother with getting another 60 day visitor visa or should I just come in on the 30 day landing visa option? My understanding is that you generally have to go to Hong Kong to get any kind of visa switched to an ARC these days anyhow. (If anyone has managed to get their visitor visa switched to an ARC within the country lately, please let me know.) So is there any problem with going back to get the ARC without a visitor visa? And will they even let me re-enter without a visitor visa since I’ve already had one? Also, is there a possibility that one month is too little time to get the ARC paperwork done and return to Hong Kong? Any feedback would be appreciated!
zealflyer
You will need to do a visa-run and apply for a visitor visa. The 30-day landing visa has been replaced with 30-day visa exempt entry. As with the landing visa previously the visa-excempt entry can not be transfered to another kind of visa. Therefore, you should apply for a visitor visa overseas (these can be transfered here in Taiwan to an ARC).
Is a month enough time? Perhaps, but I wouldn’t put money on it. Depends on the school getting off their ass and doing things correctly the first time. Have you done your medical yet? A month from now you’re going to hit Chinese New Year which will be a real bitch. Yeah, you really need a two-month visitor visa.
When will the ROC figure out there is money to be made on this racket.
If they charged somewhere around $8-10000 NT for a visa extension, it would still be a more viable option for most people than spending at least that amount heading away on visa runs, and the hassle of it.
I guess there are plenty of people that enjoy heading to HK for a week or whatever…
I know people that stay there only a few hours. Get the paperwork done and leave.
So if I understand correctly, a landing visa can’t be transferred to an ARC at all? Or just not from within the country? Because from what I’m hearing you can’t transfer anything to an ARC from within Taiwan anymore. I’m fully expecting to have to go to Hong Kong again to get my ARC. I’m just wondering if I can save on expense and effort a little by not getting the 60 day visitor visa. And no, I haven’t gone to get my medical cert. yet. I tried on Sat. but missed the operating hours. Thanks for all your help!
ZF, you don’t understand correctly. Almas told you that there are no landing visas any more, so kindly stop asking about them.
You get visa-exempt entry, which means there is no visa to extend so you have to do another run in 30 days. I’ve done it myself and I don’t know of any way around it.
If you had all your paperwork together - including medical, which takes more than a week to process - then you could apply for your work permit right away. Then you show up at the visa office with a letter from your employer confirming that they intend to hire you, and the receipt to show that you have started the legal process. Then they give you a two month visa.
You might try asking your employer to contact the office in HK to see if you can get a visa with just the confirmation letter from them. It MAY be possible, and then you won’t have to do another visa run later. It’s worth trying.
If it’s not going to be possible then either need a 2-month visa, or be prepared to make another run in a month. If they’re playing silly buggers with ‘Pleasure’ visas these days then you may find that your new visa cannot be converted. Then you’ll have to do another run anyway.
In that case, there’s no point getting a visa now. Save the fee, spend an hour in HK airport, and get a visa-exempt entry.
Summary: have your employer call the HK visa office to see if you can apply for a visa with just a letter from them confirming that they intend to hire you.
I think I know what you are talking about. I was told I would have to apply for my resident visa from out of country. I was worried about the same thing you are. Turns out, I didn’t need to worry. Once you get your work permit, you can change a 30 day visa into a resident one. I just did this last month. How long it takes to get your work permit is another story. I have had work permits in my hands 10 days after giving my employer my passport. I’ve also had it take 4 months. Totally depends on how “on the ball” your employer is.
Good luck and go to Bangkok instead of HK. I found the Bangkok TECO much more affable than the HK one and BKK is far cheaper to stay in than HK.
The letter from the school saying ‘We are applying for a work permit, please issue a visa’ will just be greeted with you can wait here until the work permit is issued. I know at lease 2 people who ended up having to say in Hong Kong for weeks longer than planned, until their work permits could be faxed over to the Hong Kong visa office. Also because the people had already mentioned they were going to work, the visa office refused to issue any type of visa, to allow them to wait in Taiwan.
OP you cannot change your visa anymore, so it makes no difference whether you have a visa or not. It is possible to get a residence visa without having ever been to Taiwan, or been issued a visa before, if you can get the paperwork. Your options are:
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Go to Hong Kong and get another visa on the basis of travel. You will have to give a good reason to need a 60 day visa, or you will probably only get a 30 day one. 60 days should be long enough to get your work permit, so then you can go back to Hong Kong, to get your residency visa based on work. This plan relies on you being able to not get issued a 30 day visa. At no point should you mention work.
Cost 2 visits to HK and 2 visa fees, with the risk of having to go to HK a 3rd time if you can’t get a 60 day visa. -
Go to Hong Kong and get a 30 day visa waiver when you return. You would have to leave again, and seeing as Chinese New year is approaching the chances of you getting you work permit in that time are IMO impossible, but you could be lucky. You would have to come back and go a third time to get the residency visa.
Cost 3 visits to HK and 1 visa fee. If you had already sent off the papers for the WP, or it wasn’t nearly CNY, this could have only been 2 visits. Bad timing. -
Sign up for language lessons before you go to Hong Kong, and get a visa based on study. This way you’ll be able to extend up to 180, which would give you some security if anything goes wrong.
Cost 2 visits to HK, 2 visas, and Chinese lessons.
Option 2 is the most expensive because of timing, but it would probably be the best option at other times. Option 1 is potentially the cheapest and the most expensive. Do you want to risk it? Option 3 is more expensive than 1, but safer. Do you want to definitely pay for Chinese lessons which you can use, or maybe pay for an extra plane ticket? The cost is about the same. Option 3 also gives you the added benefit of you not having to leave if something goes wrong with the school. Maybe after your first month you will want to not work there. If you are here on a visa to study you would still have 4 or 5 months to look for another job, get the paper work etc, and you wouldn’t have to try to get a plane ticket at short notice near CNY which is going to be expensive.
Also visa runs to HK are always a bad idea. Bangkok is only a bit more expensive for the fight, but it is much cheaper to stay there, i.e. about NT$400 in BK or NT$1000 in HK a day. If something goes wrong, it would be much better to be stranded in BK than HK. Also you don’t have to deal with the crazy bitch who works in the HK visa office who hates visa applicants in BK.
So is there any problem with going back to get the recidency visa without a visitor visa? No.
And will they even let me re-enter without a visitor visa since I’ve already had one? Maybe, but this is a bad option at this time anyway.
Also, is there a possibility that one month is too little time to get the residency visa paperwork done and return to Hong Kong? I’m willing to bet that you will not have your WP before February 17 (30 days from next Tuesday, I’m guessing that’s when you’d come back from HK.)
Thanks for the feedback. I guess that there’s no easy answers when it comes to Taiwanese buracracy. But it was nice to hear some opinions all the same. Despite what everyone says, I’m going to take my chances with Hong Kong. I’ll let y’all know how it pans out.
Update: I’m back from HK and pleased to report that I had absolutely no problem obtaining a new 60 day visa. Heck, I even found the lady at the visa office (err…travel agency?) to be pretty friendly. Maybe I just got lucky but I’d be curious to know how many of the people who are hassled about visitor visas are those who have gone back to HK several times.
That’s great news ZF. What reason did you put down for coming to Tw?
Just curious.
Rik when did the rules change such that you can’t change a visitor visa to a residence visa? I did this in December 2003, after the visitor visa had already been extended once. In fact, my employer told me to come to Taiwan first on the VV, rather than applying for a RV in the UK, to simplify things.
It has been a circulating rumor for a couple of months. Unfortunately, the only bureaucratic types that seem to know about it are the overseas ones. I just did the switch last month. I did it here in Taipei. No problems at all. That is why I am asking what reason ZF gave for entering Taiwan. If we all give this answer, then we won’t get hassled or worse, forced to stay in bloody expensive HK.
[Forumosa - Taiwan's largest and most active Taiwan-oriented global online community in English … 772#223772](ECCT info: R.O.C. visa application procedure tightened
That thread states the new rules, and they began to be enforced around that time (August 2004). People were being refused Visitor Visas to enter Taiwan to apply for work permits, and were instead forced to wait in Hong Kong until their work permits were faxed to HK, after which they were given Residence Visas based upon work outright.
Whether they have decided to scrap the new policy, or to apply they new or old rules on a case by case basis it isn
For those of you who were wondering, I re-entered the country on a pleasure visa. I made no mention of the fact that I would be getting an ARC soon as I was afraid that I would be hassled. So I merely said that I wanted to continue my travels in Taiwan. Really, I didn’t get asked too many questions at all. I suppose that there is a possibility that I won’t be able to transfer my visa to an ARC witin the country because it is for pleasure. But you’re not even supposed to be able to get them transferred from within Taiwan right?! So who knows! The bottom line is that I’d rather have to take another flight to HK when my paperwork comes through than be detained in HK UNTIL my paperwork is processed.
This sounds like a big pain in the rear. Do people stress out over it really bad, or is it better than it sounds.
I’m going to be in this situation soon, that’s why I’m asking.
Actually, I didn’t find the Hong Kong visa run to be too bad. It’s a little annoying that I will probably have to go back again to trade my visa for an ARC but “c’est la vie”, I guess. Just make sure you get your story straight before you hit the visa office and you should do fine.