Moving to Taiwan around March time(maybe)

Taiwan Moving to Taiwan
1

Hi,

I’m a British guy who has just returned from Vietnam where I taught English for 2 years. I’m seriously considering Taiwan as my next work destination and I have a few questions about landing a job and document authentication.

Are most jobs secured through overseas interviews(i.e Skye) or do most people find work on the ground once they have arrived in Taiwan?

Will I need to bring notarised/legalised copies of my Degree/Police Check/and TEFL with me in order to apply for an ARC and a work visa once I have secured a job?

Will copies be OK or do they need to be originals? In Vietnam a copy was accepted.

Does this process have to be completed in the UK before I come to Taiwan, and is this the case even if I don’t have a job secured first?

Is a health check involved? Can this be done in Taiwan?

Lastly, If I do decide to head to Taiwan it will be after Chinese New Year. Is this usually a good time to find work?

Thanks for any help that anyone may be able to give,

Matt

2

I don’t mean to sound rude, but I believe a good search of the forum will help you answer most of these questions.

(I made the same mistake when I was new, don’t worry)

1 Like
3

I would say most buxiban jobs are secured on the ground, because 1) Employers don’t want to risk wasting time and energy on someone who may not even show up, 2) A lot of schools aren’t proactive and need to fill a position immediately, and 3) It’s better for the job seeker because s/he can make a better decision about a potential employer in person.

Yes. It’s easy, and most likely cheaper, in Taiwan.

The new semester begins after CNY so most schools will likely already have teachers in place before then. However, there are always teachers leaving throughout the year so you can usually find positions any time. You might have to search harder, or you might get lucky.

The process to work legally as a buxiban teacher goes like this:

  1. Get hired
  2. Employer applies for your Work Permit. (7-10 days) You’ll need the health check before this step.
  3. Take Work Permit to apply for Resident Visa (7 days).
  4. Apply for Alien Resident Certificate (ARC)

The required documents for getting a buxiban work permit can be found here: https://ezworktaiwan.wda.gov.tw/en/cp.aspx?n=071CCB097CD05FFF&s=6985D0FA36B501F1. It appears that you will need original documents to present to your employer, who will make copies and verify that they saw the originals.

The documents you need include the clean criminal record check, which is much easier to obtain before coming to Taiwan.

Here is information about getting your Residence Visa, the next step:
https://www.boca.gov.tw/cp-166-276-48430-2.html

After receiving your Residence Visa, the last step is getting your ARC, which is described in this horribly formatted government website:
https://www.immigration.gov.tw/5475/5478/141465/141808/141970/

I can’t guarantee everything I’ve written is up to date, but maybe it’ll get you going in the right direction.

2 Likes
4

Thank you both for all of your help. It’s already given me a ton more insight!

5

I should add about the Residence Visa, the website says:

Applicants who enter the R.O.C. (Taiwan) without a visa and have obtained a work permit issued by competent authorities of the R.O.C. (Taiwan) may apply to the Bureau of Consular Affairs or any of its Central, Southwestern, Southern, or Eastern Taiwan Offices for an extendable Visitor Visa. Subsequently and with the extendable Visitor Visa, the applicants must apply to the National Immigration Agency for an Alien Resident Certificate.

So if you enter Taiwan visa-free, it sounds like once you have a work permit you need to apply for a Visitors Visa, then that will be used to get the Residence Visa/ARC. This assumes you get hired and receive your work permit before your visa-free time limit expires.

Otherwise, you’d need to leave Taiwan and reenter.

6

Thanks so much, incredibly helpful.

One thing I noticed whilst browsing the details for the work permit:

（1） If diploma issuing institution is not listed on the Department of International and corss-strait Education for the Reference List of Foreign Universities, it must first be validated by overseas R.O.C. missions.

I take it by ‘validated’ they are referring to getting the document stamped/legalised. However, having looked on the list of Foreign Universities it seems that my University is on there after all. Does this mean the document doesn’t have to be legalised/notarised?

Or am I interpreting that completely wrong?

Thanks

7

You still have to get your degree notarized.

8

OK, thanks :slightly_smiling_face: So just notarised in the UK or validated/stamped by the Taiwanese embassy as well?

Also, I see it mentions the degree transcript and the criminal background check TEFL. I take it they also require notarization?

9

Those documents need to be authenticated by TECO. They might need to be notarized to get authenticated. You can check it on TECO website.

10

Your documents - certification from a university needs to be authenticated from TECO of the country of origin (ie if the certificate is from UK university, you need to have them authenticated by TECO in UK). Make sure you do that, that was a pain in the butt for me since I am no longer in UK and I was in a different country, not easy too for me to get there to retrieve documents. What I did is I request a friend to receive documents sent by the university, had that notarized by a lawyer then asked my friend to send the notarized certificate to TECO and request TECO to send to wherever you are. That will take awhile… but TECO in my experience is fast and they have faster service to avail too.

11

Thanks a lot - Xerophytes and tando. In your experience did you also need to provide the transcript for Diploma and/or TEFL in order to obtain the work permit?

How important is that? Do they pay a lot of attention to the grades on the transcript? I only graduated with second class honours so I’m a little bit worried about that :roll_eyes:

One last question regarding the criminal background check…Is the Basic Disclosure Check by Disclosure Scotland adequate for this?