My family would like to move to Taiwan for one school year. We would love our children (and my husband) to experience the cultural and also learn mandarin. They are currently in a mandarin immersion school right now and going to Taiwan for a school year would do wonders for their mandarin. We are Canadian but I was born in Taiwan (have a Taiwanese passport with a Taiwan ID). My kids will be 4 years old and 6 years old when we want to go and we would want to put them in public elementary school. Is this possible? I would apply for Taiwan passports for my children. What kind of visas will we need? My husband will be traveling back to the US for work every 8 weeks - will be need a visa or can be just come on visitor visas since it will be less than 90 days.
quick answers. yes, your children can go to public school. search forumosa, there is a bunch of threads on this. a bunch. i repeat, a bunch.
if kids don’t have ROC passport they can come in on visitor visa and then you will have to get them registered. that’s a whole other topic. there are threads on this too, or others may chime in.
yes, the hubby can go in and out of Taiwan on 90-day landing visa.
planning for fall 2019?
Just so you know, Taiwan is patriarchal. My mom is Taiwanese but my dad is not. I don’t get Taiwanese citizenship. But your kids will be eligible for extendable visiting family visas which isn’t quite as long as a school year… I think it’s 6 months… But I’m not completely sure.
What are your husband and kids going to do for health insurance?
I think that your kids could get Taiwanese citizenship if your husband got it (he’s eligible, being married to you). I don’t completely understand all the rules, but this is my rudimentary understanding of how things work.
It depends on your birth year. They set a cutoff year. For people younger than the line, mom and dad are equal. People born before the line, it is still unequal.
In attempt to get this thread back on topic after I diverted it… I don’t think the visa type matters for the kids. If you’re going to get Taiwanese passports for them, they’ll have to leave and enter again on their Taiwanese passports.
Not entirely sure, though. Just hoping someone will correct my if I’m wrong
if you have not used your taiwan passport for 2 years, your hukou may be deregistered, so you need to get it registered when you come to Taiwan. Then you can register your kids there.
Wait, you have a passport, but no citizenship? In that case, it is not mom or dad, but whether you have a hukou to be registered. After living here for certain years, you can get your hukou.
Thanks for the replies.
Anyone know if I can register them using a Canadian passport? From what I understand, if I get them a Taiwanese passport; I also have to apply for the entry and exit permit which allows them to stay in Taiwan for 3 months (same as a Canadian passport)? Is there an advantage of getting them a Taiwanese passport?
Are your kids very outgoing and sociable? Just curious, what do they think about going to Taiwan?
I tried enrolling my son in preschool for a few months but he just sat in a corner and drew circles. Didn’t really help his language skills. Then again, he’s two. I know that ages 4 and 6 are a bit older than my kid.
I also teach middle school and 99% of my students are native born Taiwanese, except for two students. They have both been in Taiwan for a few years but I can tell that they don’t have as many friends as their peers. Again, middle school isn’t the age of your kids, either.
Just a few thoughts that will hopefully give you something to think about
Thanks so much for the info I got about getting a Taiwanese passport! In 4 years (when I don’t have to do conscription), I’ll do that and then try to get my hukou instead of going for my APRC (I keep changing visa types)
If you will be in Taipei, be sure to check out Xinsheng Elementry in DaAn. We plan to send our 5 year old there next year. They have a special program for foreign kids and you don’t need to live in their school zone. Their CSL program gives foreigners extra Mandarin learning each day, and its known to be one of the best public schools (free). There are threads with more detail here already.
