- Where did you access the documents for the TARC application form and the health check form?
This NIA page lists the TARC application requirements in Chinese and then the forms are provided on the bottom of the page in various downloadable formats. “中華民國臺灣地區入境居留定居申請書” is the TARC application form, and the one right below it is a filled-out sample. “健康證明應檢查項目(乙表)” is the health check form. One very helpful tip from a prior commenter here is that the health check form must be in a sealed envelope in order to be submitted for authentication, with an office stamp added on the sealed part of the envelope. This measure is supposed to help TECO confirm that the health check form was not altered after the doctor signed and stamped it.
- Did you have the get the Chinese Translation for birth certificate notarized before getting it authenticated?
No, it turns out. I did it just in case and had the notarized version in my back pocket, but I first showed them the non-notarized version and they accepted it after applying their own stamp on the bottom of the page. The stamp’s text in Chinese stated that the signer confirms that the Chinese translation is consistent with the English original and it provided a space to sign and date (本人 [SIGNER’S NAME] 聲明上述中文譯本與英文原件文義相符). It also indicated that the signer was signing in person (本人親簽). As a result, the TECO authentication page for the Chinese translation of the birth certificate says this in English: “This is to certify that the signature of [SIGNER’S NAME] is authentic” and in Chinese on the bottom: "本文件依據 “外交部及駐外館處文件證明條例"驗證申請人聲名翻譯屬實之親簽. 僅證明簽字屬實, 內容不在證明之例.”
They did not ask if I translated it myself. I suppose they just need the signer applicant to stand behind the accuracy of the translation, so I wondered what would’ve happened if the applicant is obvious to them that they do not speak/read/write Chinese or if the application is submitted by a proxy. I also wondered what would have happened if the applicant were to mail the application in or otherwise could not show up in person to sign in front of them. In those cases, I would think having it pre-notarized might be necessary and perhaps the authentication language would then be different, like it might say instead that they authenticated the signature seal of the notary public.
- I have read that parent’s marriage certificate (registered in Taiwan) is also needed, including parent’s household registration. Are these not required for this application?
Not so far. In addition to the link I sent above for the general application requirements, there is also this this supplementary detailed requirement chart based on the exact category you’re applying under. The first 4 categories, which I imagine are the most common, do not seem to spell out an exact requirement for a marriage certificate, so long as the applicant can show lineage relationship (足資證明親屬關係文件). The lineage connection, I believe, could be established by the birth certificate showing the parents’ names, along with the translation showing their names in Chinese, so I suppose if the parents’ names are fairly standard and consistent throughout their identity documents, then something additional like the household registration or National ID or Taiwan passports that show the parents’ names in both languages should suffice.
That said, NIA could still come back and ask for that so if the parents’ marriage certificate is available in your case, it can’t hurt.
There also appears to be a difference between what we in English discussions simply refer to as the “household registration” document. There’s the 戶口名簿 versus the 戶籍謄本, with the latter I sometimes see being referred to as the “household registration transcript” and required to have been issued within a 3-month window. I imagine this requirement might not pose undue hardship on an applicant submitting the application from inside Taiwan or if the applicant has relatives inside Taiwan assisting, but with my limited research capability, I could not figure out a way for this transcript to be issued electronically or mailed to someone outside Taiwan, especially during Covid. The original 戶口名簿 should technically be acceptable whenever it was issued (they would examine the original and return it to you on the spot and take its copy), and I believe I read about a law passed around 2014 actually replacing the concept of the 戶籍謄本 with the 戶口名簿 that is issued after the new law is passed, but there are nuances that I am sure I did not understand and one could, in any event, bypass all this potential headache by bringing the parents’ original National IDs. The parents’ original Taiwan passports might in theory also work, but for whatever reason, that is not as conveniently spelled out as an option in the supplementary chart.
- Do the copies of the US Passports/parent’s national ID’s have to be notarized too?
The applicant’s US Passport copy did not have to be notarized or authenticated, although the original US Passport was shown to them in person for examination upon submitting the application. Good question, and I don’t know why, since they say documents issued outside of Taiwan need to be authenticated. My best guess is that their authentication process does not accommodate a passport, because the authentication process actually makes permanent changes to a document. For example, the original birth certificate after authentication and notarization of the translation are permanently altered and then stapled together – TECO applies a seal that spans the TECO-issued document itself and the original birth certificate (for a sample, see those half seals on documents that scrubolio shared above). I think the idea is that a person could always apply for a replacement birth certificate from the Department of Health of their birth state if necessary so this particular original birth certificate permanently becomes a TECO-linked document. That probably couldn’t work with an original US Passport, and they also probably couldn’t solely authenticate or notarize the copy of it without attaching the original. Just my guess. They could theoretically apply some sort of stamp like the translation where they make you certify that you photocopied the original without alterations but maybe they figured they could avoid that by examining the original passport and photocopying it themselves, plus the US Passport seems the most peripherally related document in the entire application package.
The parents’ National IDs were issued in Taiwan so no need to authenticate because NIA could presumably just check internally, and no need to notarize either presumably due to no need for a translation. Like the applicant’s US passport, they examined the originals of the IDs, returned them, and photocopied them to include in the TARC application to be sent to Taiwan.