I went to renew my ARC today at the Taipei County Foreign Affairs Police station in Banqiao and was told that I can no longer receive a three-year extension.
A woman in the office told me there’s a new policy whereby the standard renewal is limited to one year. People who have children living with them (as listed on the Household Registration Certificate) are eligible for a two-year renewal. And people who have ailing spouses needing long-term care can receive three-year extentions.
What the @#$%?!
I asked to see a copy of this new rule. The woman said her boss had earlier passed it around for everyone to read, but that there wasn’t a copy she could give me. She said this was done to help counter people gaining long-term residency based on phony marriages.
Is this really the government’s policy now? If not, what should we do?
If it’s real, then that’s another reason to get “permanent” residency.
I received an email from a person in Taipei County a few weeks ago about this. I assumed that it was just a random occurrence. Now, it seems not.
The Legislative Yuan has certainly passed no such rule.
The standard arrangement would be to pay the NT$ 3000 for a three year certificate, get a written refusal and resulting one-year ARC, and then file an administrative appeal based on that.
Without scheduling another Legislative Yuan Coordination Meeting (which I have found to be a somewhat difficult undertaking at this point), this is the major solution I could offer at this juncture.
Note: We had an LY Coordination Meeting on ESA Article 51 work permits in early March, with the CLA, MOE, NPA, and MOI attending. We have yet to receive the conclusions from that Meeting.
Why would anyone want to do that in Taiwan ? Maybe it’s to counter foreigners. A while ago someone asked me why I would think the DPP had an axe to grind against foreigners, here’s yet another example.
Is this just Taipei County or other places too ? Anyone got an ARC lately anywhere ?
If the Legislative Yuan has not passed any such rule then how can the foreign affairs police offices get away with this? Did they just one day, say, "hey let’s stop giving three year JFRVs? And what’s this BS that they didn’t have a copy to show us? “Ladies and Gentlemen step right up the circus is about to start, oops I mean it has already started!”
I think that they can just decide one day to stop issuing 3-year JFRV ARCs.
The reaosn is because, as you probably know, for some time it has been the policy of the police to issue JFRV ARCs for only one year the first time you apply. Upon renewal you can get 3-years. When I challenged them on this they showed me the law that says JFRV ARCs shall be issued for a period of up to three years. Then for some reason the police used this ‘up to’ to only give you 1 year the first time. Now it looks like they’re using the ‘up to’ to only give you 1 year every time. Wankers.
I extended my ARC in January, but here in Tainan County we aren’t “allowed” to renew for 3 years anyways, so I just got two years. Still, I didn’t hear anything about this new policy when I went. Maybe we’re getting lucky down here for a change? Then again …
The article mentions only foreigners from South East Asia or China. What about us spouses from the West?
I just got my open work permit and three year ARC not too long ago. I was hoping to just pick up my permanent residence when the three year ARC expires.
I’m madder than Boss Hog! Dagonit! I play by the rules. I have a Taiwanese Wife, a Taiwanese daughter! I even jumped through so many hoops to start a legal business in Taiwan and this is our reward!!!
Why can’t these authorities just let us meet the fair requirements and fade away into our boring family lives?
Seriously… I hope some could give us a quick summary of what’s going on. I have two years left on my three year ARC.
Article 9 of the Regulations Governing Residency and Permanent Residency says that foreigner spouse may be granted up to three years of residency. While I think this gives the local police an unreasonable degree of discretion, it will be difficult to challenge.
One possible argument would be that under the Central Standards Law, “important matters” must be set forth in the law, not in regulations. Length of residence, I would argue, is an important matter that should not be left to discretion of local police despartments especially since those local police departments are only temporarily administering these matter until an Immigration Bureau is established.
Taking a step back from this immediate issue, I think it is important for foreign spouses from deveopled countries to realize that the immigration environment is rapidly changing in Taiwan. Taiwan is becoming an immigrant society – 1 in 10 marriages are between a foreign woman and a Taiwanese man and 1 in 8 births are now to mothers from foreign countries. At the same time, there are over 140,000 women from China and some 300,000 foreign laborers.
All of this is making many Taiwanese uncomfortable–there is little agreement that Taiwan should be an immigrant society. I would venture to predict that we will see more stringent regulation in the future.
Also, the Taipei County Police now have a well-deserved reputation as a ‘foreigner-unfriendly’ department. You can be expect to be hassled there and subjected to requests for additional documentation. The most effective route might be to complain to the Taipei County government.
It’s the police department right? I think it’s the one by Chung Shan Sec. 1 or 2. Never been there like I said, so I’m not sure. Let me know if you want me to check with him.
If they don’t give you a written refusal could you still do an administrative action?
Wouldn’t that be the same as the drivers license issue?
In this thread, a reason for their reluctance in giving the 3 year ARC is due to their about fake marriages.
If one was granted a three year ARC before and spent more than five years in this country, I any competent administrator could figure out that this person is in a real marriage. He has a job, a child or two, a house.
Written refusals are better as you have something in paper to prove you got an refusal with probabily the signature else stamp
Next time give them a dodgy phone number so they have to mail you the refusal
I got a three-year extension in February in Taoyuan. If they only want to give a year, I’ll happily lodge an administrative complaint. It worked for my drivers license.