I am considering not reporting my change of home address to the government because I’ve heard that they now will make you get a brand new ARC ($1,000) instead of just amending the address. (FYI: I am an English Teacher)
Is this correct?
Also, what are the chances/consequences of getting caught not reporting the change of home address?
AFAIK they may issue you with a new ARC, but you won’t have to pay anything for it, as you have already paid the fee for the period that it is valid (same as when you change jobs early).
You have fourteen days to notify the NIA of your change of address, or they can fine you. You need to take proof of your new address (eg utility/mobile phone bills in your name). Don’t take along your contract unless you are registering it within the allowable time.
I guess the consequences are the fine, or not realising that something fishy is going on with your ARC, (like accidental overstay due to administrative incompetence by your employer), as any official notification would be going to an old address.
Breaking the law in a foreign country to save $1000? Not worth it.
A few years ago a friend of mine didn’t report her change of address and was caught. It cost her NT$3000. You do the math.
Had my ARC 3 years now. Just after we moved house a year ago, the police went to our old house to check I still lived there. Then they called my wife 
. So they do do spot checks on ARC holders. I wriggled out of being fined, as we’d only just moved.
Makes sense to get the new ARC, though it’s a PITA. If you’re only here for a year, you could chance not getting it, I suppose.
I never changed mine until I got a new one. They didn’t say anything.
The fact that the NIA needs to issue you a whole new ARC and you need to pay for it is actually a good reason to only renew a standard ARC for one year.
If you need to update your information within one year (I think) of them printing the plastic card, the change will be done free of charge. Otherwise you need to pay for it (thought it was less than $1000, though). Extending an ARC for 3 years offers no financial incentive other than the pain in the ass of going back to the NIA three times instead of one, but if you expect to be moving frequently then it might make more sense.
I’m a little pissed about the APRC situation to be honest. Every time I move I’ll have to update the card at my own expense, and my passport is due for renewal within the next few months, right smack-bang in the middle of my two-year lease…
[quote=“spaint”]The fact that the NIA needs to issue you a whole new ARC and you need to pay for it is actually a good reason to only renew a standard ARC for one year.
If you need to update your information within one year (I think) of them printing the plastic card, the change will be done free of charge. Otherwise you need to pay for it (thought it was less than $1000, though). [/quote]
I had to change address 6 months into one earlier this year and it cost me $1000. Definitely not free.
[/quote]
3 years means that you don’t have to go back 3 times, doesn’t it? Or did they change the rules again?
[quote=“cfimages”][quote=“spaint”]The fact that the NIA needs to issue you a whole new ARC and you need to pay for it is actually a good reason to only renew a standard ARC for one year.
If you need to update your information within one year (I think) of them printing the plastic card, the change will be done free of charge. Otherwise you need to pay for it (thought it was less than $1000, though). [/quote]
I had to change address 6 months into one earlier this year and it cost me $1000. Definitely not free.
[/quote]
3 years means that you don’t have to go back 3 times, doesn’t it? Or did they change the rules again?[/quote]
I changed my address six months into an APRC and it was free. And it used to be that extending for three years meant you didn’t need to go back for three years. I don’t know the current regulations.
I think I misread - I thought you meant even with 3 years you had to go back three times. My bad.
In all fairness I was less than clear.
Modest, my director told me the fine is now $5000 so I think it is definitely worth it to change the address even if you have to spend another $1000.
Some people report the change. Some don’t. I didn’t, because it would have cost me about five times more in lost wages, time spent and hassle than just paying the fine when they find out. But they CAN fine you if they want to. Depends, really, on how much your time is worth. For me, the fine was by far the cheaper option.
And don’t forget that they speak Englishee these days, so its easy to just tell 'em straight up that “no, I 'aint about to schlepp all the way out to fucking Banciao just to register an address change with you bozos! You think I have time for that kind of shit?”
A… ahem… friend lived in an apartment for nigh unto 5 years without reporting it. Didn’t even know it was necessary to do so until years into living there. Only after recently moving to a new apartment did I … I mean my friend decide to report the move. Nobody was the wiser.
Problem is, while in the old apartment, there was always the risk that the non-reporting would be discovered, and that a fine, or worse, would result. But everything is legit now.
I can confirm this; they do run spot checks.
I have moved about 8 times in Taiwan and usually just paid the fine when I renewed my ARC. Not worth taking some time off work to mission out to Banchiao.
Just renewed. The issue of not-being-at-home-when-the-cops-called was on my file and brought up, but we laughed and joked and smoothed it over. No fine, and I got another 3 years [strike]added to my sentence[/strike].
Thats cuz u are invisible.
I need to register my change of address soon and will be bringing in my tenancy contract as a supporting document. However on the contract my landlord has stated my floor of residence as being something different from my actual floor. Anyone know why they’d do this? It’s only one small discrepancy but I’d hate to get caught out if they did a check. The landlord’s contact details are on the contract and they also live in the building. I think I may ask them about it before I report the address change~
[quote=“spaint”]
I changed my address six months into an APRC and it was free. And it used to be that extending for three years meant you didn’t need to go back for three years. I don’t know the current regulations.[/quote]
I did the same and didn’t have to pay. Though I wonder if the fees are different between APRC and ARC, given that we pay NT$10,000 for what is basically a lifetime ARC. I don’t think anyone at NIA expects anyone to stay at the same address for decades…
Also, I made the mistake of going into NIA a couple of months late to change the address (caused mainly by my work schedule) but while they mentioned it to me, a couple of sorries (bu hao yi si’s) and I was ok… The Taichung NIA people have always been nice and very helpful to me…