I am slowly starting to think that this kind of thing is standard ‘dealing with your embassy 101’ like not even Taiwan specific.
This is the solution 
This also works, but there is probably no need to do that long term.
I converted from landing to ARC before. But not sure if they still do that. You can also apply for a visitor visa in a neighbour country, makes the visa run longer though.
To be fair, my only experience with governments are the USA and Taiwan, so maybe I don’t have a great sample size. I’ll contact BOCA and see if they can’t get the wheels moving on this.
Landing visa is different to visa free and I don’t think they really do landing visas anymore. I could be wrong though
Oh right, well I mean I converted visa free to ARC, before, not sure if it still works. This would be something that they could ask immigration I guess.
My only sample size is Au and Taiwan but that’s enough to know bureaucracy isn’t normal 
Good luck! Complaining worked for me. I got a bit sick of being an asshole though
Take your marriage certificate to a JP and have it stamped. Then take that to a BOCA office in Taiwan and have it authenticated again.
After that, TECO should accept it in the US.
I just had a thought. Visa free is only 90 days, isn’t it?
Just tell TECO you will be there over 90 days so you need a visitor visa. You might need a flight reservation, any travel agent can do this for free and then you can pay for it/change the dates after the visa is issued.
Although as a previous leisure travel agent I would say still purchase the ticket with them because having time wasted is not fun and frequent.
I think it would save you the most amount of stress and frustration to apply for the ARC in Taiwan and bypass TECO.
Yea, sometimes you need to be firm and to at least cause them to duck out back to ask the more knowledgeable higher up at the back. Our process would have died if we didn’t at least insist on our way a bit. At least now it’s still alive.
Sorry, I said “landing visa” earlier, but im not experienced with travel terminology and believed that was the same as visa-exempt. According to BOCA, “Visa-exempt entry cannot be converted to visa-based stay, unless any of the following applies:” and goes on to list acute illness, white collar workers that obtain a work permit, and apparently canadian/british citizens can apply for short extensions. As far as I know there’s no way to land in taiwan without a visa and get a change of status, except for the earlier poster that mentioned they achieved this somehow.
Edit: And thanks everyone for the help so far, I really do appreciate it and knowing im not crazy is going to save me some sleep tonight
Yeah that all sounds correct.
I think your easiest path is to apply for a visitor visa at NY TECO then apply for an ARC in Taiwan. That’s what I would do if I was you. This will probably save you some hassle and arguments
I honestly don’t know why they offer resident visa applications, there isn’t any benefit
In 2020, the LA TECO said they could accept our Taiwan marriage certificate but that we would need to somehow prove that we were still married. Ended up putting off the move, so I don’t know how it would have worked out. Good luck sorting things out. We have not had good luck with the LA or DC TECOs.
My naturalisation wouldn’t have been processed if I listened to them. It’s a bit ridiculous
Oh, yea, that’s how I converted it.
Why would getting divorced be part of it?
Have you considered getting married online in Utah. It’s been used by several Brits to get married in Taiwan because the paperwork that Taiwan demands from people from the UK is impossible to get unless you live in the UK.
I don’t get it. Come here visa free and do it all in country. Forget about TECO. Worst case scenario a visa run to HK.
You can’t do it all visa free.
It’s been years for me but how about come here however you can. Then take your marriage certificate with translation if needed to AIT and maybe law office or court notorized here. Then apply resident visa in HK or Naha. Then come back and apply for ARC here.
I’m out of date but mine worked something like that.
If it’s any consolation, you are not alone. TECO rules for dealing with cross-national marriages are stunningly stupid.
Guy
What part of visa run is hard to grasp? Oh wait, you’re saying eventually you’ll end up at the HK teco. But by that stage the marriage should be kosher. IDK I never got married. 