I’ve done a search but can’t find any relevant information on this.
I’ve been resident in Taiwan for 4.5 years, with 6 months prior to that as a visitor, so I have no residence in the UK. Having recently quit my job I will be applying for a visitors visa and it looks like I have to prove residency in my home country. How can I do this when I have been in Taiwan for so long? I only have an old, and I mean old style, UK drivers licence. Will this be sufficient? Do I actually need to worry about this?
You are a much more esteemed member of this board than me - but is it necessary to prove residency in the UK? I didn’t have to prove my residency when I got a 60 day visitor’s visa at the Saigon TECO. Or are you applying in Taiwan… or somewhere else more fussy…? I know some countries insist you prove citizenship or residency in the country in which you are applying… Eg a Chinese national applying for a Schengen visa at the French embassy in London must prove UK residency. I don’t think Taiwan TECOs worry about such things.
I know things have changed now, but when I left my job in Taiwan, the police were quite happy to extend my stay so I could sort out my affairs… actually I only needed a few days, but they just “rounded it up” to the end of the following month. They might have given me more if I had asked for it.
I don’t know what a “drivers license” is (I think they have them in the US)… but I do have a “driving license” ha ha ha… its also old, green and without a photo. Can’t imagine it proves anything much. But I suppose they could take it! (Maybe get a local Taiwanese to countersign it as a guarantor…?)
You could always leave and re-enter on a 30 day landing visa if that fits in with your plans…
Ahem… Driving, drivers, all the same to me :. Mine is also old, green and without a photo but its all I’ve got so I hope they accept it, if they do indeed need proof.
Thanks for the info. I didn’t even think about proof of residency until I saw it on a Visa Info website last night, which states drivers as being acceptable…
So does being out of the UK for 5 years lose your residency? How do they assess that? NI contributions, entry and exit records?
Also do you gain by being in TW for 5 years (like relaxed working restrictions?) assuming of course that you’ve got continuous whatever it is they’ve decided this week for those five years?
:. Mine is also old, green and without a photo but its all I’ve got so I hope they accept it, if they do indeed need proof.