How I got my own household + Passport with ID after the new Law Change
I will try and keep it short and to the point. I’m by no means an expert.
I gave myself 6 weeks in Taiwan to get this done before my TARC expired.
Background on me:
- UK Citizen
- NWHOR passport holder with a TARC that was about to expire in 30 days
- Living in the UK. I did not spend much time In Taiwan.
- Conversational/intermediate Mandarin ability.
- Mother has HouseHold registration (Ended up establishing my own one).
Before I go to Taiwan:
Get UK police certificate from ACRO
Get ACRO apostilled using an internet service / local office
Sent off Apostilled ACRO to the Taiwan Representative office in London for further authentication.
Land in Taiwan and enter on my NWHOR passport and TARC - 6 Week countdown
-Go straight to get a health check at Renai Hospital in Taipei on my first day.
-Health Check takes 10-14 days to return.
-I go to a Lady who has a small office that translates and apostles documents. She translates and apostles my Police Certificate and makes a copy in 2 days (Yes at this point, the police cert has been verified three times) Now it’s ready.
-10 days later my health check is finally ready. I head straight to the immigration agency, I deliberately do not go to the busy Taipei branch, I go to the one near Banqiao as it’s not busy and they might have more patience for a foreigner.
I have already filled out the correct form weeks ago. Pictures already taken, My TARC card, my NWHOR Passport, my mum’s household Card, all ready.
Everything seems to have been quick and easy. They take away my TARC, and say I can not leave the country until I get a new passport. I have to wait for my Household ID to arrive via post before I can renew and apply for a new Passport to leave.
Instead of the Household ID card arriving I get a letter saying ‘more verification’ is needed. I also have an emergency Entry/exit permit in paper form in case I have to leave Taiwan (I think)
Since my address for Household is in another city, they want to see Proof of address docs and I have to go to the other cities office in person and apply there (I just had to show the letter to them, didn’t have to fill out the form again).
I then travel down to the other city, meet a family friend where my Household address will be established. He accompanies me to the office with his proof of address. I show them the letter from Taipei along with all my docs that I have left.
Rather than joining my mum’s household, I established my own one. (Address complications with my mum, not relevant).
It took a long time for them since this is a new law and they had to make calls and check the correct procedures and how to print English names in the correct order ect. They then print the Household there and then in the office once everything was verified,
I now have Household registration In Taiwan and an ID card.
They tell me that they will send me my Medical insurance card (I did not plan for this). They asked for my phone number and an address for it to be sent. Again, the card does not get sent, more info and verification is needed. I end up going to the Health insurance office and applying for it for the first time in person, only to suspend it immediately because I have to leave Taiwan. This part is still confusing to me, but that’s another story and I’m sure there are threads on this. TBC.
Passport Renewal
I then apply for next day passport renewal at the Bureau of consular affairs.
I carefully fill out the forms the night before on my laptop - Print the form at 711 via cloud network.
They just need your Household registration card, old passport, 2 photographs, and the form filled out correctly. Plenty of people help you fill in and check the form and what you need (Mandarin only).
Wait time was around 3 hours. I scanned the QR code monitoring the waiting list on my phone and came back to the office when my number was getting close.
Time at the counter took less than 1 minute (average 50 seconds per person, so make sure everything you have is correct. Check with the info counter before as will have hours before your number is called).
Paid for the next day passport 2200 ntd. Pick it up the next day using my new Household ID Card.
Leave Taiwan with around 5 days to spare.
Takeaways:
If your mandarin is not good, get someone to help you in person at the immigration and passport offices and hospital health check.
Prepare as much as you can in advance.
Expect it to be a bit chaotic and messy as this is a new Law and you may have to visit a different immigration agency if one office doesn’t have the patience for you. I felt like a leaf in a wind a lot of the time, but the process actually works.
Give yourself time for unexpected events, for me it was applying in the city where your household address will be registered and sorting and suspending the Health Insurance before leaving.
I can work remotely for my job meaning I could stay in Taiwan for those 6 weeks to get this done.
I’m definitely not any type of expert, but a lot of planning and the experience of getting my TARC years ago did help speed things up for me. Also, Mandarin help was a key factor for me especially when my mandarin wasn’t technical enough at times when speaking to the immigration agency. I did call my mum who would help clarify certain things with the immigration officer for me but I mostly did this by myself by researching and reading requirements carefully.