I’m a British national and I’m wanting to move to Taiwan and start my own consulting company which should be netting $4500-$5500 USD a month and have enough to gain me a work permit which is fantastic for me…
But I also have a Mainland spouse, we married in Hong Kong a few years ago. I assume Taiwan will not put a dependant visa in her Mainland passport. She says she needs some sort of card from the Mainland authorities which they’re not giving at the moment?
Is it possible to do without this card and get her granted dependant status from somewhere like Thailand?
She won’t get a visa in her passport (or an ARC as you are not Taiwanese). She basically needs a pass from the Chinese government which allows her to go to Taiwan and then a reciprocal one from Taiwan which allows her to enter Taiwan. China is still giving out their passes but not as freely as before. Best bet is to contact your local Chinese embassy, explain what you need and see if they can do it from the embassy. It may require your wife to visit and apply from wherever her Hukou is registered.
You can live here with your spouse but as far as I know under current covid restrictions entry permits are only issued to mainland spouses of ROC citizens, not foreigners.
You would need to contact Taiwan immigration to get a definitive answer on wether your spouse can join you right now
Also better to get the mainland permit too in advance because if she travels from Taiwan to China without it there is a possible haul to the side at the airport
Mainland spouses are given residency. But it is complicated by COVID regulations. So I would assume right now it’s a no go. However I could quite likely be wrong. Ask the authorities
And the To/From Taiwan Pass, known as the 往來臺灣通行證. This is issued by Communist authorities. Taiwan’s immigration and emigration officers will never ask for this. They only ever ask for the Exit and Entry Permit of the ROC. Shown below.
The To/From Taiwan Pass is only ever reocgnised by Communist immigration and emigration officers. Taiwan will never ask for it and does not recognise it. The To/From Taiwan Pass is needed to exit China and Enter China when coming to and from Taiwan directly. The To/From Taiwan Pass is not permission to enter Taiwan, but confusingly, is the Communist government’s way to pretend Taiwan is part of China by ‘allowing’ you to go to Taiwan. However, in practise, since Taiwan is a sovereign country, this document is nothing more than a useless piece of paper/plastic in Taiwan as you need permission from Taiwan to enter Taiwan.
Since it is not asked for by Taiwan immigration and emigration. The loophole is, if you leave China and go to…let’s say Korea, or Thailand and then simply acquire the Entry and Exit Permit of the ROC at a TECO there, then there is no reason to attain the To/From Taiwan Pass.
Just head back to a third country before going back to China. So, if you’re having trouble attaining the To/From Taiwan Pass, just head to a third country.