Taiwan ARC criminal record check

Hey guys, I don’t plan on staying in Taiwan or Asia. I’ve been applying for jobs and have interviews back in the states so I’ll be leaving in a few weeks. I can honestly say this has been the worst experience of my life. I came here exciting, fresh out of college, and ready to enjoy life. It turned out to be the exact opposite of what I was hoping for. But, this experience has made me stronger and I’ve learned so many valuable lessons from being here. I also have a better appreciation for back home. The Taiwanese people have been incredibly hospitable. I have never met so many friendly people in my life. The United States can learn from them. Also, the countryside is very beautiful. With that being said, I am not totally upset with going back home. I’ve been here for almost three months and I know enough that staying here for an entire year would have been a struggle for me.

But, for all of you that are in my same situation, I wish you luck in your endeavors. Be resilient and make the best out of this situation. Grow from it and become a better person. If you do that, I believe you will benefit greatly in the future. When you look back at this period in your life, you will know that you have grown from this experience and become a better version if yourself.

Good luck everyone.

Excited*

I may be lucky. I got a different type of criminal check in Australia, which is a national check, however it is technically for employment. Basically it says I am ‘clear’, and has a stamp and stuff and is from a government department. I gave that to my school and now they are asking me to do the transition from visa-exempt to visitor visa, so I am assuming they have my work permit now.

I guess I will find out in due time… If not, cya in Vietnam in October

Has anyone heard about a school being able to appeal a work visa rejection? I heard it’s up to the school what to do once the government says no the first time.

Administrative decisions can be appealed to the Executive Yuan and to the administrative courts. The government usually wins, but if a buxiban is completely in love with you it can at least try.

If they do appeal, they should get a lawyer to make sure all the t’s are crossed. Otherwise the petition can simply be declared “not received”.

The denial is coming from the application of work permit, which is applied for by the school, therefor it is only the school that can dispute it.

I don’t know how familiar you are with law, but generally an original case to test statutes and create precedent will go to a relatively high level and cost a lot of $$$. Having said that, i know nothing about the ROC legal system… i have nfi if they use common law

Thanks everyone. Looks like I’ll be visa hopping and finding a job that pays me in cash. Didn’t want to do this life but it is what it is.

They don’t, although foreign (especially German) jurisprudence has some influence.

I suppose the consensus seems to be they are taking the “NO criminal history” interpretation of the guidelines. The actual language of the legislation says “provide a certificate of good conduct” and underneath that paragraph it mentions all manner of sexual misconduct being absolute grounds for termination. Seems completely bizarre to me that one person earlier mentioned that someone was denied a permit because they had a speeding violation on their background check. This is an unfortunate circumstance for many people, I would imagine, if they take the strictest interpretation.

It is possible that it will depend on the immigration officer. I think one person getting denied is not enough to say for sure, let’s have a few more people tell us what happened to them before we draw conclusions. Although yeah not looking good. Thank God my check came back clean.

I will know in late October about my DUI. I will keep everyone posted.

Hope your Halloween isn’t too scary.

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hahaha, thanks!

Did you get an answer?

I was denied my ARC.

I do visa runs now every 3 months and every now and then use one of them for a nice vacation.

I am lucky enough that my school didn’t fire me and pays me in cash. No other school wants to really hire me because of my limitations. But there are schools out there willing to help you.

I was able to open a bank account here as well with no ARC.

I am going to look into online teaching as well.

Cannot wait until I have a clean record again. #2021

Please let me know your experiences.

Nick

Was there anyone with anything on their record that got approved?

I heard from my school that Taiwan will try to adjust the policy in the summer— I’m not holding my breath though.

That sucks. At least you’re still working, I guess.

It looks like you had a couple different things on your record though didn’t you? I just have a DUI from 6 years ago. I really don’t want to risk going over there without knowing for sure though. So you leave every three months then?

Edit: Actually, I think that was a different person who posted their background check with multiple infractions. If you don’t mind me asking, did you just have the DUI?

Aren’t DUIs eligible for expungement after 5 years? Maybe it depends on the state.

CC,

I have a DUI on my record from 2011. People were getting denied here for trespassing and even smaller misdemeanors. I have to leave every 3 months so if you’re not up for traveling Asia, think it would be tough. I try to look at my visa runs as mini vacations. It made me not get in a comfort bubble in Taiwan it forces me to travel. Also, you would need to be honest with schools. When you get a job here, it’s not like you apply and wait for everything to go through. You start working and then it takes a month for the government to review your work visa/ARC. Then it’s up to your school about what happens next. I haven’t heard anything good about someone with a DUI.

The law literally changed as I already quit my job back home, sold everything, and was ready for a complete life change in Asia. My friends who live here, to no fault of their own, said the DUI was no issue because the law wasn’t in effect yet. My friend actually had a DUI on their record. But they came here before the law change. So I was so frustrated. I had a friend with the exact same record as me but they had a work visa. So there could
Be thousands of teachers working with misdemeanors/felonies here and just because they came over during a certain time period, they are able to get a visa/arc.

I talked to teachers and recruiters here. Everyone said, “Oh, your charge isn’t violent or anything against children. You will be fine!” Nope. Not the case. You see, the law is so new no one knows what the hell is going on. I would probably wait it out if you want to come to taiwan until they adjust the law or you can get your record clean. It really sucks not being able to go to any school I want. I think that’s worse than the visa runs.

At least you know before you came over. I didn’t know and some other teachers didn’t either. I had a few bad months here when I found out. I refused to go home. This is just my life now and I will look back on it in a few years and be so proud of myself for getting through it. I also love Taiwan so much. So it’s worth it to me because I am doing so much more now, loving working with kids, and traveling the world. Such a cool story.

You could always do Vietnam or Thailand with no work visa issues I think.

DUI expunge timelines are all dependent on state/city laws where you got in trouble.

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