Moving to Taoyuan from Japan/Sweden?

Sound like he needs to work.

It’s sounds like he has student loans and his wife doesn’t work and he supports her so.

Man it’s a bit rough. Can you go back to Sweden for a bit and your wife work too ? Are you European or American ?

Know it’s not easy regarding jobs , lived there briefly myself.

Or you go to another European country,many are doing fine right now. Sort out your financial situation . Your wife can work easily there too.

If you can get hired in Taiwan and need the money maybe go for it, your wife needs to contribute though, especially as you have challenges.

Good luck dude!

as for a degree, the regulation on the recognition of foreign academic credentials is as following.

“the credits learned through distance education shall not be more than 1/2 of total graduation credits”

ASO.Spouses of Foreign Professionals Taking partly-hours Specialized or Technical Works
https://ezworktaiwan.wda.gov.tw/ezworken/home.jsp?pageno=201707260001

"Foreign Employee Qualification
The spouse of the foreign employees shall acquire one of the following qualification:

  1. Acquire certificates or operation qualifications through the procedures specified in the Examinations of Specific Profession and Technician Guidelines.
  2. Acquire credentials of Master degree or above from universities in the ROC or in foreign countries or acquire Bachelor degree and with more than two years working experiences in the specific field. (Ministry of Labor has set up consultation mechanism that foreigners with at least a bachelor degree to perform special and technical jobs have no two years work experience restrictions by the agreement of specific program. Refer to explanation of consultation mechanism, work flow and Ref. 10398016741 dated January 7, 2015.)
  3. Expatriates to the ROC that have been employed in multi-national companies for more than one year.
  4. Specialists who have been trained professionally or self-taught in the specific field and have more than five years experiences in related skills and have demonstrated outstanding performances.(Note: The ministry has established a consultation procedure for expatriates as professional and skilled workers to be exempted from the five-year work experience requirement. But those acknowledged as startup with innovation capabilities are not subject to the limit on years of work experience.)
    ※Besides, the hourly amount of average salary for employed foreigners referred to in the preceding paragraph, shall be no less than NT $200. (Refer to Ref. Lao-Dong-Fa-Guan-Zi-10605116301 dated July 26, 2017.)"

Hi guys, I have time for a longer reply now, thanks for all the info you’ve given me!

Just as a note, I AM still trying to get jobs in Japan rather than go to Taiwan, I just don’t have much hope at this point and am getting worried about how much time I have left until my Japanese VISA/money runs out. Right now my student loan is $1,400 USD / 42,500 TWD a month, (excluding July-August where I get nothing) but that’s a higher amount than is normally possible, because I’m currently an exchange student. My wife can’t get a student loan.

Pollution: Sounds awful then, thanks. I’ll ask the Taiwanese exchange students here what they think too (so far they’ve only mentioned the sun, heat, and me not speaking Chinese).

Biking: Sounds impossible then, thanks. I can’t bike in Japan due to it being dangerous either so it wasn’t entirely unexpected.

Apartments: I was advised to stay in the school’s housing and move out within the first 3 months, so I wouldn’t start renting from abroad. I’ve gone through the whole “landlord won’t rent to foreigners” and “landlord won’t give you a rent contract so you can’t get proof for your VISA renewal, then kicks you out with just one week’s notice” stuff in foreign countries before so I’d be doing all I can to avoid that haha. I planned to get a Taiwanese friend to come with me to the apartment stuff if possible.

Friends: I think that we’ll somehow be able to manage, between foreigners and club-mates and people who want to practice English and people who don’t mind hanging out with us even if we only speak extremely basic Chinese.

Cities in Japan may have great sidewalks, but for example many districts have non-existent sidewalks, you just walk on the side of the road and hope the cars don’t hit you. Japanese drivers are also… well… it’s a bit alarming to sit in the car with a driver who’s watching TV while making sudden turns. But seeing how all the little kids and old ladies act in the street and stuff, I stopped feeling unsafe about it.

Degree: Mine isn’t some special “distance learning” degree, it’s a normal degree that just so happens to be taught via the internet. In Sweden (or at least, my school in Sweden) there’s no distinction and whether the courses were via distance or not isn’t listed on your transcript or diploma. Also for a limited time you get paid to go to school in Sweden (the school itself is free and the government gives you money for passing classes; taking a student loan is only for when you can’t afford your normal cost of living, like me) and that way I wouldn’t have to worry about credits not transferring. So among other reasons that’s why I’d keep going to my original school.

Returning to Sweden: There’s no jobs there. None. Right now it’s the kind of country where people with 20 years of experience are struggling to find work. Both me and my wife were unemployed in Sweden for 6 years, the unemployment office won’t/can’t help us, and let’s just say if we had to go back it’d be to living with some really bad family members. Also in order to get social welfare money you have to stop studying for a certain amount of months, which I can’t do because then we wouldn’t be able to afford food or rent (well, we can’t afford rent in Sweden on my student loan anyway).

To Europe: If I could get hired in the next few months without a face-to-face meeting, in what my wife deems is a “safe” country, and it’d be making enough money to pay for two people, then sure. I can’t really trust that my wife can handle either a job or finishing school so it’s kinda up to me.

Citizenship: I’m a dual citizen in Sweden and the USA. Before anyone mentions it, I’m definitely not moving to the USA.

US$1,400 per month in student loan payments?! :eek:

What I would do is, I would adjust my attitude, break out that USA passport, move back there post-haste, and find a good job that pays off the loan asap and that allows me to save for my retirement by taking advantage of $$ compounding from a young-ish age. Only then would I start thinking about embarking on a career in a country the official language of which I don’t speak and isn’t learned easily.

That payment is something I would look to shed as fast as I possibly could.

1 Like

Okay, since you do NOT want to move back to the U.S., but are considering Taiwan, do NOT look at Taoyuan. There’s enough said about it on this forum. Just search “Taoyuan” to see some threads.

If you want your money to go farther and for you to save it quicker, then only go to an area south of Miaoli or on the east coast.
If you want public transportation, then you can only consider Kaohsiung and its nice MRT and maybe the up-and-coming light-MRT of Taichung.
Do not go to Taoyuan. Ugghhh…

Sorry I wrote it badly, that’s not what I have to pay for my student loan, that’s the money I obtain each month (=my current “income” that us two people live on) from my student loan. The payments (when I do eventually have to start paying it back) are only like $100 USD a month or something and you can negociate them lower.

My wife refuses to live in the US and I’m pretty scared about living there too, so assuming I could even get a job there that’d pay for both of us it won’t happen, sorry. I’ve moved to foreign countries where I didn’t speak a word of the language twice now (although if needed you could find someone who spoke English) so I have some idea of what to expect in that department. It’s certainly not pleasant though, I know. I’ve started studying Chinese and will study it at school too (whether or not I go to Taiwan) so hopefully it wouldn’t be too bad for too long.

1 Like

Can I ask why?

Seems like you go where the money is tbh. Taiwan is def safe, I wouldn’t bat an eye in telling people they would be fine walking the streets alone a night here vs other places. But that’s rare, I don’t think i can say that about many places I’ve been.

2 Likes

I agree. You’re out in the middle of no where unless you fly often from taoyuan international. But you get none of the benefits like a quiet country side with fresh clean air

Your wife needs to stop saying no and start saying yes . The US is a good option for earnjng $$$. So are some European countries.
Taiwan isnt better than those choices although. if you have a job offer then it’s quick option. But the wife cant work I guess

2 Likes

Are you sure you got it right? 1400 a month and you’re only paying back 100 a month with compounding interest? How many years are you going to pay for it? Even if it’s just 100…I think you’re downplaying how much of a struggle that is for most people with full time jobs starting out.

It seems to me you and your wife are not in a position to be picky, saying no to potentially good places to get your career going. From what I understand you don’t have a degree (BA) and you’re racking up 1400 a month of debt in compounding interest that I’m not sure you’re taking seriously. Unless your wife can get a better job herself and support you two while you look at her safe countries she should not be saying no.

1 Like

I just checked, at the current amount I’ve borrowed I’d have to pay back $80 USD a month minimum, interest is 0.13% and I have 19 years to pay off the entire loan. You can of course pay off more than that minimum each month, I don’t think I said I would only pay back the minimum. $1,400 USD a month is how much I “loan” and live off of each month, not how much I’ll “owe” each month.

Now I’ve checked out pollution levels online (compared Seattle, Sendai, Tokyo, Stockholm to Taoyuan, Taipei on a few different sites) but the numbers didn’t seem to make sense based on what people are saying Taiwan is like compared to Japan, so I guess I can’t trust those.

Job would be my only reason to live there (Taoyuan). I spend most of my time in Kaoshiung, but after Kaoshiung, my order of places I would live is Taipei, New-Taipei, Taicung, Tainan, Hsinchu… Taoyuan would not be on my list. First if you can NOT drive or use a scooter its problem. Biking in Taoyuan, not anywhere as safe as in Japan, if you follow Japan rules a car or more likely a scooter will hit you (You need learn Taiwan system, which is bend the rules for your self benefit). Walking on the streets, you need be very careful crossing roads and in many cases on sidewalks where I have seen a few people hit by wrong way motorbikes on sidewalks. There are some nice new homes, but in general compared to Sendai most area will look like a slum. Most people do care about the outside (outlook ) of their homes, unlike most of Japan where they do care as most homes in the states. On good thing, if you do not like cold winters it does not snow and get even close to it Taoyuan. Living in Sapporo myself before, long winters sometimes is troublesome and would wish for warmer weather.

Yes I understand how loans work. You’re going 1400 in debt with a 13% compounding interest rate every month which is a substantial amount for someone I guessing who doesn’t have much assets or an estate. Add that with no BA and a wife that’s an artist…I’m not sure you get that’s not easy for most to pay off in 19 years.

2 Likes

Your wife is jobless and feels like it’s ok for her to be picky and say no to all the options that can potentially bring you guys money, that’s your no. 1 problem.
You’ll need to take some pretty hard decisions and fast if you don’t want to end up covered in students loans that you will be paying back your whole life and I feel like you don’t understand how hard it is to pay those back.
Taiwan is a great place to live but i’m Not sure that salary here is enough for you to both pay your loans back and save up money for your future.
Seems like US is probably the best option for you to get a job that will pay well and will allow you to support both you and your wife.
You could also consider China, although definitely not good on the pollution side.
Thing is, there aren’t many places that are 100% safe, no pollution, highly paying jobs, no natural disasters ecc. so sadly your wife will need to adapt.

Let me put it this way. In Taiwan 1400 in usd isn’t far off of a full time English teacher salary a month. You got no BA, your wife has a BA? Your trying to get a job working a salary that barely covers what you’re borrowing against every month. That’s not good.

Find where you can get a job. No ones asking you to go to Syria. But put safety lower on the list.

1 Like

Thanks, I was told that in Japan there’s actually a much higher risk of you getting hit by a car if you’re bicycling than if you’re walking, not sure if it’s the same in other countries. Though even here, my 80-year-old friend was hit by a car in the middle of town when he was walking…

Heat will be a problem. At 30-35° in Sendai we haven’t used our AC yet this summer but once it hits 35+ I think we’ll have to. We’re fine in winter, we’ve lived in -40°.

Loan stuff: I’ve only been getting my student loan for a year and a half. Even this entry-level English teaching job in Taiwan pays more monthly than what my student loan is currently giving me, and so would any entry-level job in Japan (or Sweden etc), so all that “extra” money would naturally go to paying off the loan. Even if for some reason I couldn’t pay off the loan after a few years at that wage, obviously I won’t be (and hopefully neither will my wife) without a BA, at the same wage and same job, for 19 years. You can pay off this kind of loan in 1-3 years depending on your job and living standards.

I don’t think you are thinking clearly.
Just how much is this job offering you a month?

Rent will set you back 15k to 30k a month depending where you live. You will be paying 18% in taxes. You will have utilities + phone + transportation costs. Dont forget you have to eat. Add to that providing for your wife since she wont be able to work here. There goes the vast majority of your income.

My advice, dont live off of borrowed money. You will regret it. Everything looks fine on paper but when reality sets in…you have become a slave to that debt.

You also will not have much time to work on that degree since you will work full time.

I would suggest finishing your degree back home and then consider working overseas to pay off your debt.

4 Likes

Have you done the math? This is the type of loan many people struggle to pay off in 19 years and default on. You are taking on a lot of debt for a job that isn’t that high paying unless you’re living in Taiwan and no clear career path set. This is the type of loan you take when you know exactly what you want to be and are willing to borrow against your education for. What is your plan. I think reality needs to set in for what you’re saying. People I know are struggling to take on the debt at 5-7% in student loans with good jobs. You are at 13!!!

2 Likes

Is there like a safe country, no pollution policy in your marriage?

u and your wife need to make some sacrifices where necessary.

1 Like