It is a possiblity my fiance will be getting a job in Taiwan next year. I, myself, am not specialized in anything as he is and I was wondering if anyone might know any job possiblities I might have. Currently we live in germany and I am a nanny who babysits, cleans and helps the family practice their english. However, I am not a certified teacher and I do not know the limitations, if there are any, for doing this in Taiwan. Also, does anyone know if I will have any trouble getting a residence permit? My fiance and I will not be married by the time we would be moving to Taiwan. Here in Germany I am considered his domestic partner because we have been living together for 3 years but I haven’t seen this option on any of the sites I have been browsing through. I also saw to get a residence permit you have to have a job.
If anyone can offer and answers to my questions or any help at all it will be greatly appreciated.
My skills and education include a High school diploma, completion of certified nursing assistant course, singing, acting, painting, English speaking and minimal German ......
Thank you for any help!
If you are married, you will be able to receive an ARC based on your husband’s status, but you will not be able to work on it. Therefore, any work will be at you own risk. If you are caught, you could be deported.
Without formal university education, you probably won’t be able to find suitable full-time work here. You could teach English illegally and volunteer. Although since you sing, act, and paint, you should ask this bloke if he needs a side-kick. He might ask you to be his singing nurse
Well see … we won’t be married when we move there. This is why I thought there might be a problem because I don’t know if they recognize domestic partners.
What could I do to get a work permit? I don’t want to work illegally or just sit around.
Teaching English isn’t an ideal job for me either.
umm … we’ve been together for five years and lived in Mexico, the Philippines, and currently Germany. There aren’t going to be any problems where that’s concerned.
In other words, Taiwan’s visa regulations for working are quite strict. Being on a spousal visa (if you are married) you will be unable to work. If you are just a girlfriend, you are nobody in the government’s eyes. They will treat you like a tourist, which means a tourist visa. You could take language lessons and fork over money every month to stay a while, but it is a short-fix solution.
Well I’m not going to let some government force me into getting married before our set date so if the company really wants my fiance that badly they will find a way around that. He’s going to work for a fairly important company also … so they might have some pull. Also I was told the exact same thing when we moved to Germany and I am now working with a legitimate working visa. I just wanted to get an idea of what I am up against. Thank you for your input.
No problem. It all depends on guanxi. If your husband is a big shot working for a MNC, they might be able to pull some strings for you. However, I would negotiate this kind of thing before you go. If not, you could arrive here and find out that you have to leave the island every 30 or 60 days and the visa runs are a big headache and can be stressful. On your own and without help from your BF/fiance/husband connections, you will not be able to find work based on your qualifications. (Well unless Brian Sunshine needs a Nurse Sally )
Personally, I think you’re better going to an independent route. By that I mean, apply for a visa as if you’re on your own. There is probably some school somewhere that can offer you a visa to teach English (I know you said it’s not ideal, but hey…).
Alternatively, you can enroll for Chinese lessons. That can get you a legitimate visa. You can’t work (or I could be wrong… maybe you can work a limited number of hours now). Anyway, the classes will cost you. If your fiance is getting well-paid that may not be a problem.
Or… his company could maybe arrange to give you a job and therefore a work visa, like if you said, they want him that much.
Hey a bit of new info came my way… It seems our destination city is going to be Hsinchu. Can anyone gives me any details related to my first post in correlation to this city? Thanks to all of those who have already given me some information.
You boyfriend’s salary should be quite sufficient to cover your fees for learning Chinese. You might as well grab the chance to learn it. And how about studying for a degree in Taiwan? You could either learn Chinese first and then embark on a degree course, or you could try and find a university course taught in English - there are some - click here for details (PDF).
There might be some courses in traditional Chinese medicine (acupuncture etc.) that you could do. Perhaps someone else has information about that.
So far I have lived in Mexico, Germany and the Philippines. I understand that its a good opprotunity to learn Chinese (as it was german and spanish) and I want to but I dont want that to be my only option. Im also working on learning the other two languages that I have previously engaged with. I was checking out some of the schools that were listed on the previous post. I found that even though it says on the document you posted that they have ungrad programs, when I went to the actual web site it was only for bach or doc degrees. So I am out of luck there. I will keep searching though.
I want to work/volunteer or do something that makes me feel like a better person and lets me know I am contributing to society. Though sitting around JUST learning Chinese and enjoying the day is “tempting” its just not my cup of tea. So I have to figure out a way to make things happen.
I don’t know the specifics but I’ve heard that it is illegal to do some types of voluntary work here in Taiwan if you don’t have a residence visa. It’s silly and makes little sense to me personally. You could always ask your country’s Taiwan representative office for advice on these things, including visa issues, as they might be able to give you more information and listen to your particular case.
New update: My fiance’s work is saying they have a secretary position available that I might be able to fill. How difficult do you think it will be getting a visa approved for this?
[quote=“Chewycorns”] Although since you sing, act, and paint, you should ask this bloke if he needs a side-kick. He might ask you to be his singing nurse
I realize the name is cute, but I’ve worked with Brian and he’s a very talented and creative person with excellent technical skills in music. There are very few people I can stand to record music with (i.e., most don’t catch on quickly enough and waste a lot of time recording as aresult) but Brian was a quick study and very efficient. But he didn’t have me wear a nurse outfit, either. Just saying.
Impossible without a college/univ. degree, unless you can prove a certain number of years of identical experience (I forget how many, but it’s a lot). College degree is 2 or 3 years work experience required (can’t remember), MA is 1, Ph.D. is zero years (!!) so go get a Ph.D. in the easiest field possible and you can work in any job (not making fun of you, I think this regulation is ridiculous!)
Impossible without a college/univ. degree, unless you can prove a certain number of years of identical experience (I forget how many, but it’s a lot). College degree is 2 or 3 years work experience required (can’t remember), MA is 1, Ph.D. is zero years (!!) so go get a Ph.D. in the easiest field possible and you can work in any job (not making fun of you, I think this regulation is ridiculous!)[/quote]
Im not challenging you or anything, just curious where you got your info. I thought that English Teaching was the ONLY field mandated by the government to require a university degree for a visa. Wouldn’t it be the sole discretion of the company to require a degree or working experience for a secretary job? If they hire her and sponsor her visa, I don’t think the Taiwan government would really care about her university credentials.
If you have some back-up for your info I would love to see it, would be useful to many including yours truly. Thanks.
)
Just saying.