Spouses/children of HK/Macau/Mainland residents (Teaching in Taiwan)

Hi everyone,

I am planning ahead for a move out of Hong Kong to Taiwan hopefully when covid restrictions are lifted. I am a British guy married to a Hong Kong Chinese citizen (with I believe also has a BNO passport).

As far as I know she is technically considered to be an ROC citizen without any rights to live in Taiwan as per the constitution right, rather than a complete foreigner.

To be honest I am not keen to go back to the UK and I was already settled in Hong Kong but obviously there are reasons to move at the moment. :slight_smile:

Reading the naturalisation procedure as part of my research into what a possible future in Taiwan could entail, I stumbled upon the fact that the path to naturalization is cut from 5 years to 3 years on the basis of a spouse being an ROC national.

From what I can see there is no requirement for it to be an ROC citizen with a household registration (which confers the right of abode in Taiwan). for this shortened access to naturalisation.

From what I understand HK citizens travel to Taiwan with a ‘permit’ rather than a visa and so on as they are technically not foreigners as per the constitution.

Not trying to get political at all just curious about the legal status if anyone has any experience with a similar situation of having a Hong Kong / Macau / Mainland spouse / parent / etc.

iiuc, a foreign spouse should reside as a spouse of a ROC national to naturalize after 3 years, which means you should be on an ARC based on marriage to an ROC citizen. I checked the instruction and found I was wrong, you can be on an ARC based on marriage to an ROC national.

iiuc, she needs to reside for a certain period to be considered to be a citizen. If she has a lineal relative with HHR, the minimum is a year. If not, 5 years. Before that, she may be considered to be a HK resident, not an ROC national, like mainland people are not considered to be ROC nationals.

You may find details in Laws and Regulations Regarding Hong Kong & Macao Affairs.

*If the residents of the People’s Republic of China (including Hong Kong and Macau) seek to settle permanently in Taiwan and gain citizenship rights, they do not naturalize like citizens of foreign countries. Instead, they merely can establish household registration, which in practice takes longer and is more complicated than naturalization. *

This is quite interesting.

They don’t do naturalization, but are not considered to be ROC nationals before they get their HHR in Taiwan.