Resident visa

Hello everyone!
Quick question.
2 years ago I married my taiwanese wife in Taiwan. Now I want to move to Taiwan and my question is:

How long did it take you to get jfrv after landing in Taiwan on visitor visa? :slight_smile:
(Let’s say you got all documents).

BOCA page says

Applicants who enter the R.O.C. (Taiwan) on a Visitor Visa with annotation 「TS」 may apply for a Resident Visa 8 work days before the duration of stay expires.

So, i guess 8 work days.

Damn, yeah we are married already so i am TS. Seriously only 8 days?

Idk about jfrv but my student visitor visa was changed to resident in 7 days

I’m on an ARC. My wife’s ARC is jfrv, but a bit different from yours. But my wife transferred to jfrv the same day we applied.

She received her ARC card in the mail about a week after she applied. But NIA cancelled her visitor visa and said that she was effectively on the ARC that day.

But still, I wouldn’t wait until the day the visitor visa expires. Our application was rejected twice. We had to secure more documents (which took a long time) and apply again.

So, in theory, it’s really speedy. But the time between when we applied the first time and when we got it (on the third try) was about 4 months. Granted, they had legitimate reasons to reject us each time. But each time we applied we thought we understood the rules… only for them to explain them more clearly to us. We even showed them all our documents and asked, “are you sure we’re only missing xxx?” and they said yes. Then we applied again after securing that document and we were missing something else.

If you’re better at following instructions than me, you might have an easier time.

So u think the best option is just to apply for resident visa as soon as i get get visitor visa and land in Taiwan? Also is your wife taiwanese?

No, we’re both foreigners. So, my wife’s jfrv will be different from yours. If someone else can chime in who has gone through the exact process you’ll need to go through that will be better.

Here’s the mistake I made. I talked to people who had done the process before but didn’t talk to NIA. But guess what. Rules change. I thought I understood the rules but sometimes wording is fuzzy.

If I were to do it again, I’d call NIA and rehearse all the documents I need. Then, I’d call them again. If you know exactly what you’ll need and you’re prepared, you should be fine. But I’ve read many cases where people say the process is super straightforward. Maybe we’re just really bad with paperwork.

But don’t worry. I messed up my wife’s jfrv in every way possible. But after four months, it all worked out. So, even if things go terribly wrong, it’ll all be ok in the end.

Honestly I think maybe that’s why you had so many problems. Because you are both foreigners. I heard people say that when someone who is taiwanese talk to them, they are nicer and try to explain more. I will check all documents for visitor visa and resident visa but in case I can use my wife or her parents for help haha. I married my wife without visa before should I writte my name in household registration before changing visitor to resident?

What did they ask your when she was trying to get visitor visa for joining? I’m sure I need to show marriage certificate but what else?

If you change from Visitor Visa to ARC after coming to Taiwan and registering your marriage, you will very likely need to wait for NIA to make a house visit to verify the marriage before your ARC is issued. That will happen within 30 days, and then a further 10 days for your ARC. Including the up front time to register and get health check, you’re looking at around 2 months.

But thats actally funny, I married my wife without visa 2 years ago and I needed also to register it in my country. Now as I plan to live in Taiwan and if I get my visitor visa and change it for resident (after registering all plus health check) they will come and how they will check that we are married? If we wear ring or have wedding photos? :smiley: Sorry fir question it’s just funny for me.

Depends on the NIA officer who takes your application, they can mark your case for a house visit or not. In our case, we were married for ~1 year or so, and even brought wedding photos to NIA but were selected for house visit anyway and had to wait.

  1. Were u married in Taiwan? Because I am already married (taiwan) but I am not in Taiwan now, I only plan to move here soon after I get my visitor visa and chage it for jfrv.
  2. What did they ask u when u had house visit?

If you are already married in Taiwan you should apply for resident visa directly, then you will not need health check.

House visit was easy just asked what we do for work, took some pictures and left.

How is that possible? In my country page it says I need health check for resident visa doesn’t matter what , thats why I wanted visitor visa and get health check in Taiwan while i change visitor for resident.

Btw what work has to do with mariage? It’s a weird question. Of course as I will just come to Taiwan i wont have a job. Also how they can see if we are married by job? :smiley:

my guess is your spouse or you has to have enough income to support your livinghood in taiwan to support your resident visa.

You can get the health check in your own country, and apply for the resident visa directly.

Well the question was about skills and previous jobs, since I was also not employed at that time. They want to make sure that the foreign spouse will be financially supported (whether by themselves or by their spouse). Not a weird question at all.

It is weird for me. If someone decide to get resident visa and stay in Taiwan means they 1. have a job 2. their husband/wife has a job 3. have savings. Theres no way to get job so fast right after someone got arc.

Have you called TECO to ask the requirements for your situation?

You should be able to get a resident visa from what I can tell. No need to spend any more time wondering, and nobody on Forumosa can help you much further - call TECO, ask what you should do.

As I asked they just said to apply foe resident and get arc in Taiwan. No one said anything about checking how much money I have.

Yep, thats what I thought. So get the resident visa and then ARC. No marriage interview needed.