My newborn son was born in the USA, and we live longterm in the USA.
Should I register him in Taiwan and obtain ROC citizenship for him before he reaches the age of 18? Please list out the positives and minuses of doing so and making the choice for him to have a second passport/nationality. Obviously, the first one is conscription.
Yes
I believe if your son is recognized as an Overseas Chinese by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Competent Authority (or something like that), then he can be exempted from military conscription when he is of age (18 to 35yo). He needs to have lived overseas at least 6 consecutive years while under the age of 14. “Living” abroad means spending the majority of a year residing outside Taiwan.
So, look into laws like the following
https://law.ocac.gov.tw/law/EngLawContent.aspx?lan=E&id=4
And ask about what Overseas Chinese status is
Benefits of being an ROC citizen might include participation in the National Health Insurance System and easier access to Mainland China as an ROC citizen is better than as an American
We did it for our two children. There’s a lot of positives to having another citizenship.
Even with Taiwanese conscription it’s not difficult to get an exemption.
Not sure that exemptions will be quite as common in the next decade or so. I’ve heard from my Taiwanese male friends that military service is a crucial life experience. Naturally any parent would be concerned by the prospect of their child having to serve. It’s a big sacrifice and there are real risks.
We got ours about 6 months ago without any problem.
I haven’t been keeping up with the news. Has there been indications that military exemptions will be halted?
I doubt they will be halted across the board. More likely a gradual tightening up. There has been a lot of grumbling in Washington about the fact that only 6% of those eligible were actually inducted in the first year of one-year service.
Plus there were all of President Lai’s National security announcements yesterday…
Can we please get back on topic? Why should my son get ROC citizenship versus an ARC if he wanted to work and live in TW?
Bec they can cancel your ARC anytime for no reason. If you commit drunk driving they can ban you 4 life.
ROC citizenship harder to cancel.
Example my relative had aprc (permanent resident) in taiwan
It got cancelled for no reason and was deported.
Appeals didnt work. Etc.
So always get citizenship when possible.
It is always up to you. Having choices is good. You do you.
Conscription would be the only consideration for me and my family as well. Still worth it though, they can avoid it.
Moving forward it’s likely we will have some kind of war with china. At the very least martial law is on the table if China continues down this path. So, at least for males, it is a consideration for sure.
You can stay on the TARC as an NWOHR until you pass military age or have 2 kids.
I think in the next 10 years females may be included. There are increased calls for them to be included in military conscription. I wouldn’t be surprised if soon they have them do some form of mandatory training and have a support role. Could have an intensive first aid course or something.
