What are your opinions?
If a school is willing to hire someone without a working visa, and they want the employee to sign a contract…should that person sign it?
Doesnt make sense to me, how can they enforce a contract if the employment was illegal in the first place?
That would depend on a number of cirumstances.
No 1 cirumstance question would be: Are they going to provide the work visa for you or do you need to organise it yourself?
As for legality…Taiwan has a lot of grey areas…most teachers are technically working illegally when they wait for their ARC to arrive.
They can’t.
But they can try to hold it over your head.
Not that a legal contract always makes that much difference here.
Derek, you’ve been poking around this site for nearly a year. Why ask such a foolish question? Now you’re in Taiwan, no BA, and looking for work. Dude you KNOW the score. Stop being niave.
Let me put it this way: I wouldn’t hire you. Not in a million years. You are a liability to any school.
The ONLY way you can teach legally in this entire country, short of getting your degree, is to get married. Do not think for a moment that because the school hires you somehow THEY will get into so much trouble that they will cover your ass. That’s crazy noob talk.
You’re a bad story waiting to happen. Comprende?
jdshoots
[quote=“jdsmith”]
The ONLY way you can teach legally in this entire country, short of getting your degree, is to get married. [/quote]
I would follow JD’s advise and get married !!! 
Besides that, how do illeagals handle health insurance for example? Just too much of a risk living in TW without it.
[quote=“jdsmith”]Derek, you’ve been poking around this site for nearly a year. Why ask such a foolish question? Now you’re in Taiwan, no BA, and looking for work. Dude you KNOW the score. Stop being niave.
Let me put it this way: I wouldn’t hire you. Not in a million years. You are a liability to any school.
The ONLY way you can teach legally in this entire country, short of getting your degree, is to get married. Do not think for a moment that because the school hires you somehow THEY will get into so much trouble that they will cover your ass. That’s crazy noob talk.
You’re a bad story waiting to happen. Comprende?
jdshoots[/quote]
Yeah, comprende comprende comprende…comprende untill im blue in the face. But that doesnt change my question. I’m not being specific to me, this is a general question for anyone out there contemplating signing a contract without a work permit. You didnt answer the question. Although I appreciate your concerns for lil ol me, please stay on topic, comprende? 
Of course you’re not. 
The contract is meaningless, and basically you or the school can screw one another anytime either one of you sees fit. If you don’t pay taxes, it’s not a job.
So, you want to SIGN A DOCUMENT that says you work at an illegal school? To make sure there’s a paper trail if you get busted? To give the school a hold over you so you have to do whatever they say? So they can fire you and withhold your wages with absolutely no comeback if the parents figure out you don’t have a degree/don’t like you?
Those are possible scenarios off the top of my head. No doubt dozens more.
For your “hypothetical” situation, lots of people do all over Taiwan. Some do well, some get deported. “Do I feel lucky today?” That’s what you gotta ask yourself and let it roll.
If you want the job, sign the contract. It’s not legal, but you’ve still got a job that you wouldn’t have otherwise. You can use your contract to negotiate problems that will no doubt arise, but don’t regard it as an “iron clad” legal document. Do a good job, hope you don’t get caught (the chances are very small), and you’ll do fine.
You are prolly better off asking this question for your friend over at tealit 
you know it is against the rules to discuss anything illegal, and of course no one on this web site would do anything illegal let alone condone anything illegal 