One year till APRC, am I jeopardizing it?

I’m in need of a bIt of advice about Visas, particularly APRC and JFRV
Background first: I have been living and working in Taiwan for almost 4 full years now, continuously employed throughout. I have been aiming for my APRC for a while in order to free up work options. About a year ago my (Taiwanese) girlfriend started a business that seems to have a lot of potential for growth, but at the moment is just shy of breaking even. One of the main reasons for the shortfall is cost of staff. As a result, she’s asking me to come on board and help out by working with her full time. The store should be able to support us, and we can live above it for the time being. We won’t be saving much, but It’s something I’m willing to do, I’ve got a bit of savings and we have agreed that it would be an all out effort for a year to see if we can get this to work but I’m concerned about losing out on the final year for the APRC. Obviously I would need a visa, and we have thought about getting married as an option, giving me a JFRV.

My question is, if I do get married to her, and I get the JFRV, will i continue to accrue years towards my Aprc? Obviously if I remain married to my gf, it wouldn’t be an issue, but just in case shit goes pearshaped. Pressures of business n all…

Thanks for any advice. I’ve trolled though the forums trying to find more.information, as well as looked at government website, but I get a bit lost amongst it all.

If the purpose of your visa changes, i.e. work to marriage, I’m afraid the clock resets to zero.

Definitely not the answer I was hoping for…thanks all the same.
There’s the possibility that I could become a part owner of this as well. I know that owning a business and paying for the visa is an option, but would that constitute a change in purpose? Or would it still be a ‘work’ visa. Admittedly I don’t know how much must be invested in the business to qualify, but I will start looking around.

Still change. Still 0.

Hold on one year. Get APRC. A business is always a gamble. It takes years for anything to stand on its own.

Please also remember if you invest time/money on your gf’s venture: even married, the law is not on your side. Even if married. Check on your rights as co owner or investor. Leave a paper trail. You love and cherish each other now, but when the going gets tough, the foreigner will get the short end. Love is love, business is business.

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If you intend to work for her without compensation, continue your current job for one more year and invest all of your salary in her business so that she can employ a staff or two until you will get your APRC.

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Just not sure where that would leave the OP with regards to final Tax statement showing minimum salary?

That’s the one. All you risk is a year’s income. No brainer.

Your salary should be reported as income, no matter what you end up spending it on.

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Seems pretty solid advice, thanks. I’ve been supporting both of us since the business started, and for that I haven’t invested any money into the shop directly so far, only my time. I didn’t want my cash wrapped up in it in case things got ugly. But it might be time to now. I have reached a point where I wanted to start investing for the future so this might be the best way. As you say ill make sure to get a paper trail for everything, just in case.

holy shit, the purpose of mine changed this year from one category of work to another category of work. I hope this doesnt derail my ability to apply for ARC andor citizenship. i thought it was just continous legal residence…

If you just switched companies, and you weren’t on another type of visa in between (i.e. non-work visa), you should be fine.

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As I’m aware, immigration has another kind of Visa for taking a break for 6 months to travel or find new work. They told me that it doesn’t break residency for aprc but now you guys are making me question that