Another visa question on behalf of a friend:
If one wishes to apply for a visitor visa (60 days) for tourism purposes, one must show proof of funds, correct? My friend is American - do these funds have to be in a US account or is it ok in a Taiwan account in his name? Bear in mind that he will probably be braving the visa Nazis in Hong Kong (unless others would recommend different).
He no longer has an account in the US, so transferring funds back is not an option.
For more than one reason, actually. The hag in Chicago said you have to have bank statements for more than three consecutive months, to prove that you didn’t just borrow the cash temporarily from your parents or something. 
And after I went through all the hoops, she only gave me a 2-week visitor visa. :raspberry:
EDIT – my account was in the US; I hadn’t ever been to Taiwan yet. That was 1994.
For more than one reason, actually. The hag in Chicago said you have to have bank statements for more than three consecutive months, to prove that you didn’t just borrow the cash temporarily from your parents or something. And after I went through all the hoops, she only gave me a 2-week visitor visa. :raspberry:[/quote]
Bangkok Thailand TECO:
I used a downloaded statement from my Washington Mutual checking account. It only showed my available balance total for one month. No problems, visa was issued for 180 days Single Entry.
Using a Taiwan statement, I have heard, is tricky: You probably will need 3 months of statements, or just tell them that you closed your accounts in the US and opened an account in Taiwan to avoid foreign transaction fees. The account is new because you havent been here for three months, thus impossible to show proof of 3 months. This should all be ok. Avoid HK if you can, there are other options for TECO.
For more than one reason, actually. The hag in Chicago said you have to have bank statements for more than three consecutive months, to prove that you didn’t just borrow the cash temporarily from your parents or something. And after I went through all the hoops, she only gave me a 2-week visitor visa. :raspberry:[/quote]
Bangkok Thailand TECO:
I used a downloaded statement from my Washington Mutual checking account. It only showed my available balance total for one month. No problems, visa was issued for 180 days Single Entry.
Using a Taiwan statement, I have heard, is tricky: You probably will need 3 months of statements, or just tell them that you closed your accounts in the US and opened an account in Taiwan to avoid foreign transaction fees. The account is new because you havent been here for three months, thus impossible to show proof of 3 months. This should all be ok. Avoid HK if you can, there are other options for TECO.[/quote]
Thanks for the responses.
My friend has been in Taiwan for the past three years on an ARC, so showing three months of statements will not be a problem. Again, I hear you on avoiding HK (too many bad experiences there myself) but I’m trying to convince him of this.
So, it seems like as long as you can show three months, it doesn’t matter where your account is. Can anyone else confirm or refute this?
For more than one reason, actually. The hag in Chicago said you have to have bank statements for more than three consecutive months, to prove that you didn’t just borrow the cash temporarily from your parents or something. And after I went through all the hoops, she only gave me a 2-week visitor visa. :raspberry:[/quote]
What good is a 2 week visitor visa??? That is crazy! Your passport lets you stay longer that that without a visa! TECO = :loco:
At the time you had to get a visa in advance; there were no free 2-week landing visas AFAIK. That was 1994.
At the time you had to get a visa in advance; there were no free 2-week landing visas AFAIK. That was 1994.[/quote]
its 4 weeks now…to be more accurate: 30 days. 1994,that was eons ago, you ol’ Geezer!..stuff seems to change overnight here.
As far as avoiding HK…
Is TECO still keeping an office in Guam? I used to go there back in the day, and they were great. The airfare was about the same as Hong Kong, and I could roll around in the strange “American-ness” of the place. Great diving, and really really nice locals there, as well.
I’m sorry, but I have a question. I thought that you needed an ARC to have a Taiwanese bank account. If you friend no longer has an ARC how can the account be allowed to stay open? (or is it just the case that you need an ARC to open an account and after a passport will work for ID?).
I remember when I went in for my visitor visa; I brought in something official from my bank with the account balance. They didn’t ask any questions, of course I was with my Taiwanese girlfriend at the time, so that might have helped. 
you can get an application for a “Taiwan ID Number” at the FAP and BOCA having just your passport. I did it. Using that number, you can open a bank account. However, it is not good to open a line of credit.
iff.npa.gov.tw/enfront/form_down … search.y=9
ID Number Application
A friend of mine (who’s now left ) did a visa run in HK and took the “funds” in cash. He was made to count it out in front of them.
He got the visa.
I have a related question, I have been studying Chinese here in Taiwan for the past year, my visa is up at the end of the month, but don’t want to go home straight away. I’ll be going to China for a few days, leaving before the visa is up of course, and fear I will have to pay a visit to the dreaded HK office. I thought about just coming back here on the 30-day visa exempt entry since I’ll have a ticket back home, but I might be here longer than the 30 days, so will have to apply for the 60-day visitor visa.
The bank statement should be fine, I opened a post office account using my ID number, with sufficient funds to last a couple of months.
One question though, I also need a proof of residence from my home country. I haven’t got a bank statement from Australia handy, and unfortunately my drivers’ license is also in Australia as I had to send my old one back in order to renew it. What else can I use? I have some mail addressed to me from my university back home that was forwarded to me here. Can I print out a bank statement online with my details on it?
Odd, I didn’t have to show any bank statement in the UK when I applied for my visa…
Maybe showing a work contract did it for them?
On the topic of using Taiwan Banks as proof of funding. Are up-to-date bank books sufficient or is it better to have a proper statement from the bank?
Thanks,
Roach
Has anyone else had similar luck with Bangkok’s TECO accepting a downloaded and printed copy of bank statement?
I’m heading to Bangkok on Monday and that’s the only way I can prove that I have sufficient funds. I certainly hope it’s ok. Otherwise do I have any other options?
[quote=“stevegan”]Has anyone else had similar luck with Bangkok’s TECO accepting a downloaded and printed copy of bank statement?
I’m heading to Bangkok on Monday and that’s the only way I can prove that I have sufficient funds. I certainly hope it’s ok. Otherwise do I have any other options?[/quote]
Yes, I did it twice in Bangkok with a downloaded bank statement. Mine was from Washington Mutual. I brought 3 statements just to be safe. Each statement contained all my deposits, withdrawels, etc for 1 month each. So I had a total of 3 months of statements.
[ul]Make sure that it shows a steady balance each month.
The final balance meets the requirements for the visa.
Your full name is on it.
Your address is on it. (from your home country or Taiwan).[/ul]
That’s good news, thanks for responding!
My bank statements printed from online don’t have my address and only include my initials and surname so I’m hoping that’s still satisfactory. My statements cover 3 months and show a steady increase in funds and have never fallen near the amount required.
Thanks again, Steve
I’ve applied and received 60 day visas in both Bangkok and Hanoi and neither of them asked anything about funds and bank statements.
So I’m back from Bangkok with my new visa. For the most part it wasn’t too difficult. They were pretty strict about the size of my photos which weren’t quite 2" square so had to get some more re-shot - no big deal.
I can vouch that it does indeed get very busy in there very quickly. I was the 2nd in line and was seen to pretty quickly but after coming back with my new photos there were hundreds more people waiting.
I did ask the woman there (who seemed nice and helpful) if I would be getting an extendable visa this time and she said I would. Also on the form I chose ‘Multiple Entry’. When I got my visa it said Single Entry, 90 Days No Extension. When I asked her again why there was No Extension, she unhelpfully replied “That’s what we give you” and was too busy to explain it further.
So, looks like I’m going to have to do another visa run in ~90 days. Considering my class is 3 months long I hope that doesn’t mean I miss any final exams. ~sigh.
Multiple Entry Visas are virtualy impossible to obtain on a visitor visa for mandarin study. Every once in a while you here of someone beating the odds…but those are few and far between.
Good to hear everything went well though. The Bangkok TECO is pretty friendly and you are right, it can get crowded fast. There are lots of Thais, Philippinos, and other South East Asians, applying in large groups to come work in Taiwan through the Bangkok TECO. I have always found it best to arrive as soon as they open their doors in the morning.