So I’m currently working for a company through which I have an ARC. My wife also has an ARC through her school. I would like to quit my current job and transfer as a dependant to my wife’s ARC.
From what I’ve heard I can do this without leaving the country. Does anyone have any experience with this?
I was told by my employer that they have to provide proof that I’m leaving the country if they want to terminate my contract/work permit/ARC.
What would be my first steps assuming I have an official day that I know will be my last day? Can I start procedures to transfer onto wife’s ARC WHILE they are canceling my other one? Any tips or advice would be appreciated.
[quote=“Plastic Rat”]So I’m currently working for a company through which I have an ARC. My wife also has an ARC through her school. I would like to quit my current job and transfer as a dependant to my wife’s ARC.
From what I’ve heard I can do this without leaving the country. Does anyone have any experience with this?
I was told by my employer that they have to provide proof that I’m leaving the country if they want to terminate my contract/work permit/ARC.
What would be my first steps assuming I have an official day that I know will be my last day? Can I start procedures to transfer onto wife’s ARC WHILE they are canceling my other one? Any tips or advice would be appreciated.[/quote]
Your case is very special cause your wife’s residence is based on a ARC.
That means if for whatever reasons your wife’s ARC gets canceled you must both leave the country on short notice.
Not sure if this gives you an advantage really.
I changed my work ARC to JFRV (my wife is Taiwanese) and I didn’t have to leave but I had a bit of a paper run getting the hospital check, marriage certificates and police record. Suppose you would need similar documents. Its best you just talk with the NIA. I found them very helpful especially if you go with someone who can talk Chinese.
With a JFRV I can take any job. Not sure you can do that with a ARC that is based on depending on someone else’s ARC.
I have never heard of a requirement to prove you’re leaving the country before they can cancel your contract.
You’re not on a contract from what we discussed previously (the employer has continued your employment beyond the original contract term).
People get fired by their buxibans all the time and just suddenly wake up to find that their ARCs have been canceled behind their backs.
I smell bullshit.
What I’m curious about is whether you’ll need to undergo the medical exam and authenticate all those home-country documents again if you go this route.
If your wife is here on a work-based ARC you can simply jump through the hoops and switch to a dependent JFRV.
Be aware, though, that this will NOT allow you to work here legally.
I was previously (a few years ago) on her ARC. I know the rules (no working) and that if she loses her ARC, I leave the country.
I just want to find out what it takes to move from my current employment ARC onto hers. I’ll have to go and get a medical checkup, which will likely include pooping in a bottle and offer a notarized copy of our marriage certificate and which will hopefully not involve pooping. I have the notarized marriage certificate from last time already.
I’m also smelling bullshit on the ‘having to provide proof of leaving the country’.
Sandman, do you mean I can start undergoing the process to change over while still on my other ARC?
Unless your wife is a Taiwanese citizen with a household registration, you’ll still need a work permit from anywhere you get a job from so I’m not sure what benefit it’d give you.
Of course, if you’re independently wealthy and don’t need to work then it’d be a good choice.
[quote=“cfimages”]Unless your wife is a Taiwanese citizen with a household registration, you’ll still need a work permit from anywhere you get a job from so I’m not sure what benefit it’d give you.
Of course, if you’re independently wealthy and don’t need to work then it’d be a good choice.[/quote]
Thanks! I really hadn’t thought about the benefits or negatives of the decision yet. I just kinda woke up today and figured it would be fun to quit my job and spend, say, the rest of my life sponging off my wife.
Do you perhaps have any information about the actual process of transferring?
Right, so I went and found out today. There are two ways of doing this.
Go through the visa office.
Wait till the work contract is cancelled and get the hell out of the country asap. Go to an embassy outside e.g. Hong Kong (heaven forbid) or Bankok. Get a spousal ARC there. Come back in.
Go through the immigrations office.
Apply BEFORE your work even starts cancelling your contract. In fact the office cancels it for them automatically on receipt of your new spousal visa, so they shouldn’t have to do anything.
You need:
Photos (duh…)
A notarized copy of your marriage certificate
A translated copy of your notarized marriage certificate (About NT500 from a place across the road from the immigration department in Kaohsiung, not sure about Taipei.)
Police clearance (EDIT: for Taiwan)(In Kaohsiung, it’s also right next to the place you get translations done)
A medical checkup (For South Africans at least, we all have cooties)
Once you submit all your documentation (the medical should take about 10 days for your results), it should take another 10 days to get your new ARC. When you receive it you may no longer work, so make sure your boss is aware of this. They will notify your company that you no longer have a work visa attached to them. By the sounds of it your employer doesn’t actually have to do anything.
They also said I don’t need to sign anything my employer gives me about quitting for them to give me the ARC. By the sounds of things, if I was actually leaving on bad terms, there wouldn’t be too much my employer could do to me as this is all pretty much handled by the immigration office.
Plastic Rat has been Taiwan for quite some time. I think, though I’m not sure, that he will only need a local police certificate as that’s all he’d need for joining a local spouse. However, since his spouse is also a foreigner it’s possible he’ll have to get police clearance from his home country. PR - you need to clarify this point with the NIA.