I never knew your Chinese name. According to the article your most salient attribute is that you are a “Yang nu xu” (“Foreign son-in-law” - for non-C speakers) - I thought your wife was Japanese ? I have confirmed with my wife that I too am a Yang nu xu, so I am obviously over the moon. But anyway, that is beside the point.
The crux of the matter seems to be that as Ms Chen holds only a PRC passport she is not therefore a foreigner and the Waijiaobu were correct to reject her application which should have been made to the Bureau of Not Letting Mainlanders into Taiwan.
Now, what would be the case if she had a German passport ? Would she then be a foreigner ? Not really, according to BOCA. She would be a second class German citizen, one who had previously been a Mainlander.
When she gets her British passport, will my wife be regarded as British by Taiwanese Waijiaobu, or as a Mainlander ? Same scenario - a British Citizen with Chinese Characteristics, if you like.
Is it then the case that Mainlanders holding foreign passports have to as well as being a foreigner also satisfy a further criterion of having lived abroad for four years ? Yes, it seems.
Does this living abroad have to be residency ? Does it have to be permanent residency (“Indefinite Leave to Remain” in the UK) ? It says “you ju” on the BOCA website - “you” meaning travel, and “ju” meaning “reside”. But “ju” in visa-speak means “reside” on a permanent or semi-premanent basis, so holidaying wouldn’t be enough, or would it ?
This is all obviously of paramount importance to my wife and I, and I imagine to subway52.
Where can I find online the “Taiwan diqu yu dalu diqu renmin guanxi tiaolie” referred to in the article ? Would it perhaps be an enormous and boring document only available in print ?
It also seems to me that Taiwan is not prepared to recognise validly issued passports issued by other countries, whether it be the USA, France, or the UK. The UK recognises ROC passports, and does not enquire behind the passport and grade ROC p/p holders into various classes of citizenship. How does the ROC ever hope to have itself taken seriously on the world stage as a sovereign nation if it will not recognise the travel documents of countries such as the USA and the UK ?
I am currently drafting a letter to my Member of the European Parliament to ask what is the official position on the ROC not recognising the Irish or British passport of a person who was once a PRC citizen and what implications if any that has on the recognition of ROC travel documents by member states of the EU. I expect a reply (if any) by my 60th birthday.
Taiwanstatus, your views on the travel document issue, with regard to the USA ?