Well, I’m not sure how much of my story I need to share. I’ve been living and working in Taiwan for many years, but unfortunately haven’t been able to apply for permanent residency yet. This last year I’ve been teaching English at a cram school, and my visa was coming to an end at the end of October. Due to me wanting to end my employment at the school, and some misinformation regarding work visa and ARC extensions, I accidentally overstayed, and was informed today that I need to leave Taiwan within a month (with the possibility to extend it for another month). I’m a Canadian citizen, but haven’t really considered moving back to Canada in the near future. Right now my mind is all over the place, as I’m trying to weigh options about where to go in this age of Covid-19. I’m thinking I’d rather go back to Canada possibly short-term or maybe permanently rather than go to an Asian country where I’d be required to do a 14 day quarantine. I’ve found something about The Maldives or Palau being possible destinations where I wouldn’t have to do quarantine. Does anyone else know of any good options, hopefully not too far from Taiwan? In the past I’ve done same-day runs to Hong Kong and back, not leaving the airport, and getting the visa-free entry on return. I’m in a difficult spot as I’ve been here for 13 years, but am suddenly without a visa, and wanting leave and re-enter, and also not aware if that would be possible without a visa. A related bad news story is that I was finally coming up on being able to apply for permanent residency (already 8 years of continuous work visas in the past), but now seems that this might also be thrown out the window, and being reset to zero.
Anyways, the direction of this post isn’t great, I’m just looking for suggestions, especially of best choices (or only choices) of nearby countries to go to, and whether you know if I would be allowed reentry into Taiwan. (just occurred to me that I could probably reapply for a work visa for this school that I was planning to quit, so maybe I could come back into Taiwan with a valid ARC after all). Thanks for any advice and suggestions.
Are they giving you an entry ban?
No, nothing said about an entry ban. They realize it was an accidental overstay, actually caused by differing information between immigration affairs and the labour office.
Canada requires you to quarantine for 14 days.
You might not need to leave. Get a new work permit and pay your overstay fine and you should be able to stay. This year won’t count towards your APRC unfortunately but you’ll likely be fine.
If you have been here for 8 years, how were you unable to get PR?
Yeah, that’s actually what they told me last week, but when I went in to apply for a one month work visa extension today the officer (the same one I talked to last week) said that she was mistaken, and that I’d actually need to leave the country. I need to show them the outgoing plane ticket by this Friday.
Yeah, have actually been living here since 2007, and was on a continuous work visa stretch for the last eight years, with the exception of a few years ago when there was also a tiny mix-up between my school and application dates, causing me to overstay, adding one year, and also losing the first two years of my accumulated time.
I thought I’d learned my lesson to be 100% sure of the facts regarding visa issues, unfortunately I believed a couple people at their word, and overstayed again. Pretty bummed right now…
Cover yo ass. Never take people at their word. Always make sure you are protected first. The only person who protects you is you. Ensure all facets are airtight.
They will not face consequences for their screwups on your life.
I was in this situation a few years ago, with JFRV. IIRC you should be able to just pay a fine (NT$6000 then) if you overstay by less than 30 days. If you have to leave the country, yes, your APRC-time goes to zero- shouldn’t do if you leave before the 30 days.
Yeah, that’s what I told myself the last time this kind of thing happened. I guess in the end I should’ve known better, but they’re supposed professionals and I guess I have the tendency to believe that they should know what they’re talking about.
Oh well, maybe it’s time to move back to Canada anyways and on with the next phase of my life.
Last week the officer said I didn’t need to leave the country, today she apologized for giving me wrong info last time, and that I’d indeed need to leave the country. I’ll do more digging these few days though, before my Friday deadline to purchase a plane ticket.
Maybe get a third opinion? I would be livid at that.
In the current pandemic it’s a classic 6 month extension, isn’t it?
I’m not even sure. I’ve never overstayed.
Neither have I. However, I thought 6 month extensions were standard at the moment if one asks the right person nicely.
It’s a tough question to answer. AFAIK that’s only for tourists here legally. They might take an f-you position to irregular migrants. I don’t know.
I don’t think OP needs to necessarily move to Canada, it sounds like they might give him a chance, but this is also a second offence. Who knows. It may or may not be an obstacle. I wish him luck.
I think the 6 months are if you have not overstayed yet.
Can’t you apply for an APRC now?
May be useful:
Where an alien overstays the period of his/her residence for less than thirty (30) days and the reasons for the application for residence submitted originally still remain unchanged, he/she can re-apply to National Immigration Agency for residence after being punished pursuant to Subparagraph 4 of Article 85.
Article 31:
https://law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=D0080132
Thanks Marco. And yes, moving back is only one option, and it’s also been in my mind for awhile in the last few years. Would be unfortunate to have my time in Taiwan come to end not on my own terms. I’ve got a few days to do research and talk to people, see if there are other options available. However since my visa has already expired, I don’t think it’s possible to do any kind of extension. Just need to find the best option available for where to go to and apply for the necessary visa, while avoiding the quarantine period.
iiuc, this situation means you have a valid work permit, but forgot to renew your ARC, so overstayed. When your work permit expires, you have to apply for an extension before your ARC expires.
did you already check travel restrictions thread?