I am an overseas Chinese with Singaporean citizenship. My grandparents are from China. I want to live in Taiwan for a number of years.
Is there a way to get ROC citizenship that is shorter than the route of getting an ARC and waiting 5 years to apply? An HK friend said he got his ROC citizenship after living in Taiwan for one year on a work permit, instead of having to wait five years to apply. He said this was because he was an Overseas Chinese.
I see a number of posts on the topic, but nothing definitive as to the answer. If I’ve missed something, would appreciate being directed to any information source. thanks!
[quote=“tayster”]I am an overseas Chinese with Singaporean citizenship. My grandparents are from China. I want to live in Taiwan for a number of years.
Is there a way to get ROC citizenship that is shorter than the route of getting an ARC and waiting 5 years to apply? An HK friend said he got his ROC citizenship after living in Taiwan for one year on a work permit, instead of having to wait five years to apply. He said this was because he was an Overseas Chinese.
I see a number of posts on the topic, but nothing definitive as to the answer. If I’ve missed something, would appreciate being directed to any information source. thanks![/quote]
You could see if you can apply for Overseas Chinese status but you would lose your Singaporean citizenship. Singapore does not allow dual naitonality as you would be aware.
tayster, to get the Overseas Chinese status, I believe one of your parent would have to be Chinese, not ethnic Chinese,mind you.You would need to prove that they were Chinese nationales eg birth certificates etc; either that, or they would have to be Taiwanese.
Another thing is, once you get the Taiwanese passport, you’d be considered a citizen, no go, if you want to keep your citizenship in Singapore.
Contrary to popular belief, a green Taiwan passport does not convey citizenship - unless your green passport has your national ID number written on the front page. I have a Taiwan passport, and I am a Taiwan national. But I am not a Taiwan citizen, meaning I cannot vote, do not have to serve in military, etc.
What type of criteria does one need to meet in order to become a Taiwan National? I was born in 69 (1980) in the U.S. and both my parents are Taiwanese citizens who currently live in Taiwan. I last entered Taiwan on Sept. 27th on my U.S. passport, but could not stay for more than 30 days, so am currently in PRC on a multi-entry visa, good for 60 days per stay through Mar. 2011. I recently accepted a position at an I/E trading company, and may be required to travel from time to time, so multi-entry privileges would be a must. Any insight on this matter would be greatly appreciated, and apologies, if this has already been covered elsewhere in the forum.
In order to be a Taiwan National, you’d need to have parents who are citizens of Taiwan. In other words, if your parents still have valid national ID cards, you’re all set. You can apply for a Taiwan passport. But if you compare your Taiwan passport to your parents’, you’ll notice that your passport does not list your national ID number (simply because you don’t have one!).
Long story short: based on what you’ve told me, it sounds to me like you’re eligible! Go to your TECO office the next time you’re in the US. That’s how I got mine. Or if you’re in Taiwan right now, you can try going to the National Immigration Agency although I should warn you: the staff there are not used to cases like you & may give you the wrong information. In fact they may or may not have the “authority” to issue you a Taiwan passport. I believe only overseas offices (i.e. TECO) can do that but I’m not certain. For the record, there are no TECO offices in mainland China. There is one in Hong Kong under the name Zhonghua Travel Service (中华旅行社 or 中華旅行社) and their website is taiwaninfo.org.
Since you brought up the subject of PRC 60-day multi-entry visas…
I entered mainland China with my US passport & a L visa (tourist visa) back in late 2008. Like you mentioned, it was multi-entry and good for 60 days. For personal reasons, I needed to stay longer. You can get that extended by going to the local Entry/Exit Bureau in mainland China. I was in Qingdao & it costed me 2000 RMB to “extend” my tourist visa for another 6 months - which is less expensive than a round-trip plane ticket to Hong Kong/Taiwan. Just an idea!
No. As an Overseas Chinese (aka Taiwan National), I do not have residency rights in Taiwan. But I can easily get those if I apply. The primary question is- what are you looking to do in Taiwan?
If I want to take a vacation for less than 30 days, I’d enter on my US passport. Very simple. Simply get on a plane & land in Taipei.
If I want to take a vacation for less than 3 months, I’d have to take my Taiwan passport to the local TECO office (which is the equivalent of a Taiwanese embassy/consulate in all but name). They will issue me a visa. I’d get a sticker placed into my Taiwan passport. I believe it takes a few business days for processing.
If I want permanent residency, there are two ways and it depends on your age. If you’re under 20, you’ve lucked out! :discodance: Go apply for citizenship IMMEDIATELY! It will literally take one week.
If you want permanent residency & you are over 20 years old, you can apply for naturalization. The minimum is to live in Taiwan for one year of uninterrupted stay (during which time you cannot leave the island). I believe you can go longer but I am not certain. In my opinion, this is pretty much a dead route because you cannot legally work while during this one-year period. Once you’ve naturalized, you’ll also need to join the military.
In the end if you want “real” permanent residency, you’ll need to get a foreigners’ work visa & thereby obtain an ARC. Or be a citizen with a national ID card.
that says people with overseas ROC passport who possess another nationality can work, provided they go through the process of obtaining a work permit and getting an alien resident certificate, same as any other foreign national. So it does mean that overseas ROC passport holders with another nationality can work, just not on basis of having this single document. It also says those with overseas ROC passport and with no other nationality don’t need to get a work permit to work in Taiwan.
Addendum: Ok, the wording is kind of vague, so I’m not sure if overseas ROC passport holders with another nationality can work using their ROC passports or if they would have to use their other passport to get that work permit…and does anybody know if you can still apply for a national ID after a year if you entered and are staying in Taiwan on a foreign passport but possess an overseas ROC passport? Or if for you to be eligible for the national ID you would have to have entered and stayed in Taiwan on your ROC passport?
[quote=“rkn”]
If you want permanent residency & you are over 20 years old, you can apply for naturalization. The minimum is to live in Taiwan for one year of uninterrupted stay (during which time you cannot leave the island). I believe you can go longer but I am not certain. In my opinion, this is pretty much a dead route because you cannot legally work while during this one-year period. Once you’ve naturalized, you’ll also need to join the military.
In the end if you want “real” permanent residency, you’ll need to get a foreigners’ work visa & thereby obtain an ARC. Or be a citizen with a national ID card.[/quote]
[quote=“allya”] Addendum: Ok, the wording is kind of vague, so I’m not sure if overseas ROC passport holders with another nationality can work using their ROC passports or if they would have to use their other passport to get that work permit…and does anybody know if you can still apply for a national ID after a year if you entered and are staying in Taiwan on a foreign passport but possess an overseas ROC passport? Or if for you to be eligible for the national ID you would have to have entered and stayed in Taiwan on your ROC passport?
[/quote]
Immigration in Taiwan only recognizes you by the nationality you entered on…unless it is to keep you here for military service if you enter on another passport while still holding Taiwanese citizenship.
Thus I would assume if you come here on the non-Taiwanese passport you wouldn’t be gaining time towards your eligibility for a national ID.
[Caveat: my assumptions regarding how things work government-wise has been known to be wrong~~]
[quote=“rkn”][quote=“masa-G”]If you want permanent residency & you are over 20 years old, you can apply for naturalization. The minimum is to live in Taiwan for one year of uninterrupted stay (during which time you cannot leave the island). I believe you can go longer but I am not certain. In my opinion, this is pretty much a dead route because you cannot legally work while during this one-year period. Once you’ve naturalized, you’ll also need to join the military.
In the end if you want “real” permanent residency, you’ll need to get a foreigners’ work visa & thereby obtain an ARC. Or be a citizen with a national ID card.[/quote][/quote]
I have been on this dead route for eight months now (four more to go for the ID).Since I am foreigner with acquired Taiwan nationality I can work just like any other Taiwan citizen here, and I can also leave the island at any time during this one year period, but if I do so, I will have to wait one more year (2 years total)with 270 days residency in the ROC to get the national ID card.
This is a very informative thread. Thanks very much for the insight thus far.
My girlfriend wants to start the paperwork for her ROC ID when we move to Taiwan next fall, but isn’t sure what she is going to be facing when she enters on her overseas ROC passport. I’ve done a fair amount of research in the “Dual Nationality” forum, but still have some lingering questions. I have the feeling that a visit to the TW government’s website would answer a fair amount of these questions, but am on the mainland right now, don’t have access to a VPN, and am short on alternatives. Apologies in advance if I’ve missed the answers to these questions on these websites or on Forumosa.
For starters, my general sense is that those who enter on an overseas Taiwan passport are very limited when it comes to pursuing higher education or work (I’m talking the work that requires you to present your passport and fill out many a form, not the informal tutoring kind of gig ). I’m hoping that someone might be able to offer some insight regarding this and/or paste a link to either a thread or a website with more information. At some point I should be able to get around this firewall…
In regard to establishing residency and pursuing a ROC ID: can someone outside of her nuclear family (grandparents or uncle and aunt [ROC citizens w/ hukous, respectively] who currently live in Taiwan) petition for her residency? This thread ([Taiwan ID: already processing TW Passport, what's next? suggests no. Additionally, while her parents were married in TW, they never established residency, as they immigrated to the US shortly after they tied the knot. I’m not sure about their Taiwanese hukou status. Could it speed up processing the ROC ID if she were to have said family members petition for her, and could she avoid the year spent waiting in limbo by pursuing this end?
In regarding to studying in Taiwan: My girlfriend wants to either continue studying Chinese or start at a graduate degree program in Taiwan, but wants to avoid having to take an entrance exam (not because she’s lazy, but because she wouldn’t be up to snuff). That being said, is it possible for her to enter Taiwan on her overseas Taiwan passport and to enroll at a university as a foreigner? Is there perhaps a specific set of rules for overseas ROC nationals who want to come to Taiwan to study? Again, I’m more than happy to pour over a different website if this question has already been answered.
If she is left out in the cold in regards to studying, is it possible for her to apply for work with her American passport if she entered on her Taiwanese passport? I’m assuming that she can’t apply for an ARC after having entered with her Taiwanese passport…
As the above shows, there remains a fair amount of questions to be answered here. I’m going to have her get in touch with TECO back in the States; hopefully they will be able to offer an official recommendation. Any other thoughts?
