NWOHR questions about applying for TARC + Citizenship

Legal Dual Nationality
1

The post is long, but hopefully the details will help you figure out my situation faster. My background:

  • I was born in the 1970’s in U.S. where I’m a citizen and I have a Taiwan passport without 身份证

  • Both parents married in Taiwan and moved from Taiwan to U.S. in the 1960’s

  • They are nationals with current passports + 身份证, but expired HHR.

My parents are older, so I’d like to keep their traveling to a minimum by making sure I do everything right the first time.

  1. What documentation do my parents need to restore HHR? HHR title says “户籍謄本 (除户全部).” Can either parent restore it? Mother 稱謂: 戶長; Father 稱謂: 夫. They no longer own property in Taiwan.

According to TARC application website, I need:

  1. Application form + photo
  2. The identity certificate of the place of residence (U.S. passport?)
  3. Taiwan passport
  4. FBI criminal report
  5. Health exam certificate
  6. Entry permit

When I called Taiwan immigration office, they also wanted

  • translated birth certificate
  • HHR? (I wasn’t 100% clear if they wanted this)

  1. Is this everything that I need? Previously, TECO authenticated, but did not translate my birth certificate. Do I translate it myself and ask TECO to authenticate the translation?

  2. What health test should I request in a U.S. hospital? I don’t see many details listed. Does anyone know a rough cost if I’m examined in Taiwan without insurance?

For the permanent residence application, I need:

  1. Application form + photo
  2. TARC
  3. Proof that the original residence conditions are still met
  4. Health exam certificate
  5. police criminal record (my record in Taiwan?) certificate

  1. Is this everything? Does the 1 year continuous stay start when I first enter Taiwan or when the TARC is issued?

  2. How does either parent add me to their HHR? Do they need to wait until after the one year continuous stay? Is there a way to add me from while in U.S. and avoid a second trip to Taiwan?

Thanks in advance for your help!

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Q2: I saw on a few Forumosa posts telling you to translate the document yourself, then ask TECO to authenticate it. Everyone seems to authenticate the FBI criminal report in the D.C. TECO, so I assume that’s necessary.

Q3
I found this health check form by googling “居留健檢” and clicking on a “cdc.gov.tw” website. I’m guessing you could hand the form to your doctor and request the tests, but it would help to hear from someone who’s done this before. Here’s a related site for health info for foreigners that includes links to authorized hospitals and other info.

In 2018, Tiff Ting (google “Tiff Ting Taiwan citizen.” New users are limited to two links) paid NT$2000 for a health test in Mackay Memorial Hospital and the results came back in nine days.

Q5: Tiff Ting says “The date your residency begins is the day the immigration office approves your application, not the date you land in Taiwan or when you submit your application.”

I’d appreciate anyone who wants to jump in to confirm the answers or answer the rest of the questions about HHR. Thanks.

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I can confirm that you can translate your documents like FBI background check and send it and translation to TECO, and they will validate it if all looks good.

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@CTaitung That helps. Every application seems to require 2-3 visits to TECO, so I’m sure not having to go through D.C. will save time.

Q1: This site explains how to restore your HHR, although I’m not clear on whether the head of household needs to be present.

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Everything you wrote here is technically correct, but some important things to note:

Per the question:

Does the 1 year continuous stay start when I first enter Taiwan or when the TARC is issued?

And this answer:

Q5: Tiff Ting says “The date your residency begins is the day the immigration office approves your application, not the date you land in Taiwan or when you submit your application.”

That’s the date of the residency on the TARC itself, but that won’t be relevant in many cases. Three prominent examples:

  • Number of days in calendar year physically residing in Taiwan, if you want to apply for your 身分證
  • Number of days in calendar year physically residing in Taiwan for calculating local tax obligations
  • Number of days residing in Taiwan before you can apply for National Health Insurance and 健保卡

So for example, you can’t get your TARC on Jan. 1 in another country (let’s say the U.S.), and then fly to Taiwan on August 1 and expect to be approved for National Health Insurance on day 1 physically in Taiwan (though it was possible many years ago, the rule was revised many years ago as well).

So, when we read “the date your residency begins,” we should be careful about what that actually implies and what rights you get from it (very little in my experience, other than your TARC expiration date starts counting down from that issuance date).

I will also add that the health check is easier to do in Taiwan simply because they have a standard process for it with standard departments that specialize in it at most/many major hospitals in Taiwan, because it’s a health checked that is used for many purposes, such as for foreign workers, etc. In the U.S. it’s a little awkward to tell them, “I need the signature of the person who runs this entire hospital system.” In Taiwan, that’s just a stamp that a clerk can press onto the papers.

As for restoring HHR, I’m not sure what that process is like, unfortunately. However, it’s important to note that you may not even need to do that if your parents had active HHR at the time that you were born. For more on this, you can read the whole ordeal that Lain and I went through here: Reasons for NWOHR getting TARC - #15 by multipass

Lain confirmed that his Taiwan parent had a cancelled HHR but it was active at the time Lain was born, if I remember correctly, and NIA ultimately accepted that after we explored the option of getting lawmakers to explain the purpose of the particular laws to NIA. Hopefully that might spare you some pain @pull_forward , depending on your situation. If so, you can thank Lain for having gone through that whole painful ordeal :slight_smile:

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Thanks for pointing this out - I should have read Ting’s post more carefully. Let’s assume I arrive and stay in Taiwan starting February 1. I then apply for TARC on February 15 and the application is ultimately accepted. To qualify for 身分證, I assume the continuous one year starts on the 15th?

If I can apply from the U.S., it would save a lot of trouble. I’ll need to read through your older posts. My parents’ HHR was active when I was born. For others in a similar situation, I read that now the HHR is canceled after two years, but I was surprised that the HHR was active for over 10 years after my parents’ last visit to Taiwan in the 1980’s using their Taiwan passports. The HHR that I requested a few months ago has visit and cancellation dates.

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Totally understandable. If that’s the post I’m thinking of, I think a lot of people read that post and assumed that was the full story, but things are so much more nuanced and there are many scenarios based on individual background.

Let’s assume I arrive and stay in Taiwan starting February 1. I then apply for TARC on February 15 and the application is ultimately accepted. To qualify for 身分證, I assume the continuous one year starts on the 15th?

Your residence time in Taiwan and the TARC issuance start date would both be the date the NIA issues the TARC. In your example, it would likely be a few days after the 15th, if I recall correctly. I don’t think they make the start date immediately the day your application is taken into the hands of the staff, but my memory is a little fuzzy. In any case, that’s just a few days of possible difference.

However, for 身分證 if you’re trying to go the 1 full year route, I believe that is in calendar years. If January is already over, you likely don’t have enough days in the calendar year (i.e. from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023) remaining to meet the requirement. You would probably have to aim for the 2 year method of 270 days per year, or do the full year method the following year. So, it’s really important to plan ahead if one of your goals is to keep the timeline as short as possible (not sure if it matters to you; not everyone cares).

If I can apply from the U.S., it would save a lot of trouble. I’ll need to read through your older posts. My parents’ HHR was active when I was born. For others in a similar situation, I read that now the HHR is canceled after two years, but I was surprised that the HHR was active for over 10 years after my parents’ last visit to Taiwan in the 1980’s using their Taiwan passports. The HHR that I requested a few months ago has visit and cancellation dates.

Note that people often confuse the English language terms ‘cancelled’ or ‘lost’ by associating it with two distinctly different HHR statuses, which are probably closer to ‘inactive’ vs. ‘cancelled’. If simply inactive, it’s rather easy to become active again.

In your case, since your parents’ HHR was active when you were born, you may want to ask NIA if that meets the requirements without needing your parents to try to return to Taiwan and do paperwork (or trying to use some intermediary with a power of attorney). If they say you don’t need to do that extra work, it may save you some pain. That said, definitely try to confirm it with them, because these cases can be so nuanced that it can be a real headache if you later find out your preparations are based on some slightly mixed up information, etc.

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Thanks for your detailed replies.

My parents’ HHR must be ‘inactive’ rather than ‘canceled.’ The title is “戶籍謄本 除户全部,” and it had a date followed by “遷出登記.”

I called NIA yesterday and they said that it’s not calendar years.

NIA said that my parents don’t need to return to Taiwan, but that I need to have one parent’s 身分證正本 among other things. My dad lost his 身分證正本 - the only documents he has are his Taiwan passport and HHR which NIA said aren’t enough. He can go back to Taiwan to get a new 身分證正本, but they said that he first needs to get a residence or add his name to someone’s HHR because he sold his residence prior to leaving Taiwan. My mom has her 40 year old 身分證正本, but her name on my birth certificate uses her anglicized first name and her maiden last name. The combination never appears on any other ID’s or official documents, so I don’t think NIA will accept that I’m her son. I’m looking to change her name on my birth certificate, but I doubt the U.S. government will let me.

If anyone else is applying for TARC, I asked my local TECO worker about the health check form. She said that I just needed a signature, not a stamp and seemed surprised why I was asking so many details about the form. She wasn’t reviewing the TARC application, so maybe the reviewers are more strict.

Another note is that NIA said that “gaining citizenship” isn’t a valid reason to apply for TARC. There’s a list of valid reasons and what they check floating around on Forumosa, so make sure to look at that when applying.

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“Child of a national with HHR in Taiwan area” is one, right?

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I called NIA yesterday and they said that it’s not calendar years.

Yea, I think that’s my bad. Since I was looking at the other options, those tend to be more about x number of days in a particular calendar year, and that may have led me to think it could be the same for the 1 year option. To me, the way the it’s written isn’t super clear as 連續居住一年 as documented here: 移民署中文網-臺灣地區無戶籍國民連續居留或居留滿一定期間申請定居送件須知

、在臺灣地區連續居留或居留滿一定期間之計算方式，係指符合下列情
形之一：
（一）申請人為第二點第一款第一目至第六目及第二款之適用對象，
為連續居住一年，或居留滿二年且每年居住二百七十日以上，
或居留滿五年且每年居住一百八十三日以上。

I see now though a reference to 365 days here: https://www.moi.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=2&s=11211

If anyone else is applying for TARC, I asked my local TECO worker about the health check form. She said that I just needed a signature, not a stamp and seemed surprised why I was asking so many details about the form. She wasn’t reviewing the TARC application, so maybe the reviewers are more strict.

If it’s overseas, signature is fine. I got signatures from hospital staff in the U.S. If it’s in Taiwan, the hospital has stamps in lieu of pen-based signature. I’ve done a related health inspection in Taiwan as well, which used stamps. That’s simply what I meant there.

My parents’ HHR must be ‘inactive’ rather than ‘canceled.’ The title is “戶籍謄本 除户全部,” and it had a date followed by “遷出登記.”

Yea, that seems consistent with a discussion I had with Lain around that terminology: Reasons for NWOHR getting TARC - #46 by multipass

Everything you mentioned about required documents and name consistency also sounds correct based on my understanding.

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I wonder. Who’s gonna be the first to apply for a TARC using the HHR of a naturalized citizen?

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Yes, when the NIA receptionist said that gaining citizenship wasn’t valid, she asked if I was trying to move to Taiwan to be with my parents, which was a valid reason. In any case, for anyone applying, check the form floating around on Forumosa listing official reasons and how they’ll verify that you’re satisfying the conditions.

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I was at Kaiser’s immunization clinic today and asked for official documentation that I received various vaccinations. Their verification stamp is just their local address. I think a signature would carry more weight. In retrospect, I was told conflicting or wrong information multiple times by TECO staff for other matters, so I think your experience with the health form is probably the norm. Thanks again for your help.

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No problem. I did Kaiser as well, and of course they were totally unaware of the Taiwan NIA’s specific SOPs. For that section at the top of the paperwork, they ended up using some accounting stamp that I think may have had their address. For the 3 signatures, I think my doctor signed 1 or 2 and then I chased down someone in accounting/compliance or something like that.

In Taiwan it’s a totally different story because the hospitals do it routinely and even told me they would prepare the papers themselves instead of using what I prepared ahead of time.

I guess if I could suggest an improvement, I would suggest that they make an overseas version that focuses more on their ability to verify the information when the hospital is overseas. Not sure how that would work in actual practice at a detailed level, though.

In retrospect, I was told conflicting or wrong information multiple times by TECO staff for other matters, so I think your experience with the health form is probably the norm.

Right, since TECO is not part of NIA, they are also not the team directly responsible for creating the SOP nor understanding the purpose behind it, and it’s very likely they just ship it all over to NIA to review so TECO may also not understand how the review process fully works.

Their verification stamp is just their local address. I think a signature would carry more weight.

Just to add one last clarification, when I say stamp in terms of doing the evaluation in Taiwan, it’s like the official chop representing the person’s name/position. So, it’s also not a pen-based signature, but at least it’s supposed to be an official “sign-off” from someone authorized to use that stamp.

Thanks again for your help.

No problem!

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I should mention one more clarifying note here: if you later plan to apply for HHR and TW ID, you likely won’t need to do another health exam if you haven’t left Taiwan for 3+ months. For more info, you can check here: 移民署中文網-臺灣地區無戶籍國民連續居留或居留滿一定期間申請定居送件須知

I think this is where it’s mentioned, in a somewhat indirect way:

十三、依移民法第九條第一項第二款及第八款規定、第二點第一款、第三款之規定申請，於居留期間，每次出國在三個月以內者，得免附第四款及第五款文件。

It was confusing for me because previously I asked NIA if I needed to do another criminal background check and they said no, but I would need to do a health exam (maybe I missed it if they said ‘in case you travel’ or something like that). Turns out I didn’t need to do a health exam, either.

And of course, you can always ask NIA directly about your own case.

Just wanted to mention it in case it helps you or anyone else applying in the future.

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I’m not sure why I just recently got e-mail notification that you replied. Thanks for letting me know.

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