As spouse with a resident visa I went to the local police to get my ARC, accompanied by my husband who has an ARC. We are both Swiss citizens. They did not accept our Swiss marriage certificate because we could not provide Swiss authentication nor local authentication. We were not asked to provide these documents when we left. I received a temporary ARC valid for 2 months to fulfill this requirement.
I was told to get the Swiss legalization done in my home country and the local certificate at the Taiwan embassy in Switzerland. This takes way to much time and effort since I’m not getting back soon.
Then I went to BOCA (Bureau of Consular Affairs). They could not confirm if I could get the legalization done at the local Swiss representative in Taipei. Seems like I can get the Taiwan authentication done at BOCA here in Taipei.
Please confirm that the Swiss authentication can be done at a Swiss representative office in Taipei (“Trade Office of Swiss Industry” since no embassy/consulate). What’s the language to be used for this document? Please confirm that I may have the Taiwan authentication done at BOCA in Taipei.
You can try. I doubt it though. The way legalization (as it is usually referred to) works is that the Taiwan rep office in your country certifies that the document is an authentic document issued by the Swiss government. The idea is that because they are in Switzerland, they can tell if it is a fake or not.
What you can do (at least if you are from the States) is Fedex your documents to your local Taiwanese embassy/consulate and enclose the fee plus money to Fedex the document back. You can just put some cash in the envelope. Be sure to call the local Taiwanese embassy/consulate in Switzerland first to see if they will do this. Keep begging if they say no. If they really say no, you can always ask the folks at the Swiss embassy here in Taipei to call them (I’ve heard of some European countries helping out their citziens that way).
The advantage of Fedexing (DHL) is that you can track the package online and call them when it reaches Switzerland to make sure that they are processing it etc.
yes the legalization of your document must be done in the Taiwan embassy of your own country, and legalize again in Taiwan (BOCA) before to use it.
And also remember that if your document isn’t originaly in English, it must be translate in Chinese before to legalize it…
Just to report that the authentication of my marriage certificate has been done here in Taipei. There is no need to go back home when you have already arrived with a resident visa.
STEPS: the Swiss representative in Taipei authenticated the original Swiss marriage certificate I provided, along with the official government translation in English. Then BOCA in Taipei authenticated the Swiss certification letter.
So I needed one week to get the ARC card. The staff at the foreign police department were a little surprised I could get this all done here. Maybe it amounts to new regulations …
They (TECO) can never authenticate a document … what they do is notarize/authenticate the signature of the person that signed the document …
In Belgium, it’s the signature of a city/town major that’s authenticated by the ministry of foreign affairs, stamping and signing off, which in turn is authenticated by the TECO in Belgium … they have lists of persons at the ministry that may sign and authenticate documents …
So, I could never have a document authenticated in Taiwan as they can not authenticate a signature form my home town major … pretty all documents are handed out at local level, not national level …
Don’t forget to have it translated … which in Belgium makes it even more complicated …