Military service for 39 year old Taiwan citizen with Green Card

Legal Military Conscription
1

Hello,

I have been living in the US for over 20 years and have just received my green card. I’m 39 years old (I’ll be 40 in June) and I applied for a new Taiwanese passport in 2011 and the TECO office didn’t give me any problems with regards to military service and my passport doesn’t have any notations other than a TECO stamp.

I need to go back to Taiwan for family reasons in a couple of months. Would I have any issues with military service? Do you all recommend that I get the overseas Taiwanese status on my passport just to be safe?

Many thanks in advance!

2

First, go get an expatriate status from TECO, you should have done that when you applied for your passport, if not it’s a must if you don’t want military trouble using a Taiwan passport to enter Taiwan.

If you are 39, you should qualify for this rule as an expatriate. You can stay in Taiwan for up to 4 months at a time, for unlimited times. If at any one time your stay exceeds 4 months, prepare to stay at Camp ChengKong, I’ve heard it’s just like summer camp.

For others born after 1984, the rules is you can’t stay over half an year cumulatively.

3

I’ll call my local TECO office and get the expatriate status started. However, I thought that the conscription age ends at the age 36. Actually the TECO officer that handled my passport renewal said that I already passed the conscription age. That’s why there’s no notation on my current passport (I had a notation regarding the need to get authorization to leave Taiwan on my previous passport which I received in 2001).

4

oh yeah, I forgot about that part, then you don’t have any military trouble.

5

Do you all know what the advantages are to get an expatriate status? I’m already above the draft age so conscription is not a concern. Are there any special benefits for people who have the expatriate status?

6

[quote=“hansioux”]You can stay in Taiwan for up to 4 months at a time, for unlimited times. If at any one time your stay exceeds 4 months, prepare to stay at Camp ChengKong, I’ve heard it’s just like summer camp.
[/quote]

Taiwan gives you 3 chances if you exceed the 4 month period. I constantly get reminded when I get my exit visa because I’ve missed one.