Re: Work Permit Hassles

Legal Legal - Work
1

My school applied for my work permit for me about 6 weeks ago … and I still haven’t received it. They did manage to get me a 30-day extension on my Visitor’s Visa, but that expires in less than a month, and still no work permit. They keep saying “this Friday, this Friday for sure!” … but they’ve been saying that for the past 3 weeks. What can I do?

I thought the Ministry of Education handled work permits for foreign teachers, but I went down there and they told me that some other department in the Taipei City government handles work permits for bushiban teachers. Where can I go or what can I do to find out what the heck is going on with my work permit? I’m at a total loss and am really getting frustrated with this whole mess …

2

The best advice I can give you is relax. Most schools never tell you, but it actually takes one to two months, sometimes even a little longer to get a work permit and visa. It depends on how busy they are, which county you live in, etc. Six weeks isn’t bad. I believe so long as your paper work is in the goverment you do not have to leave. I could be wrong on that, but that is what I was told before. We all go through it, for now don’t worry.