Thanks for the detailed reply! The passport (dual nationality) looks straightforward. The www.immigration.gov.tw is difficult to decipher, but seems like the applicant needs to present to obtain a TARC and/or ARC. IE. Both parent and kids need to visit Taiwan to obtain the TARC and/or ARC. We originally were planning on moving in the summer. If we want to register our kids into a school earlier, I suppose this means we’ll need to make an earlier trip to Taiwan just to obtain the ARC?
With the disclaimer that I am no expert on this and have not actually done it yet, I have researched quite a bit and met with a school district official in Taipei about it. From my understanding the residency is pretty simple for foreign kids, no hukou is needed. As a foreigner on a US passport, you will need an address, ARC (may not be required, but probably), and passport to register with your “local” school assigned to the address you use. Note that if that school is full, you could be bumped to the next nearby school with openings.
That said, none of the local school stuff applies if you plan to transfer your kid(s) to Xinsheng for their CSL program for foreigners as we plan to. Xinsheng told us we simply register in the “local” school to our address, then ask at the same time to complete a single page form that requests a transfer to Xinsheng for CSL foreigners. The transfer is only valid for 2 years though, after that the kids must go back to their “local” school (*unless you BUY a home in Xinsheng district, no renting).
If you have parents there and can get dual citizenship, then its a total different game with the Hukou and such determining your school since you are a local at that point. In your case, for only 1 year, it seems best to just be a guest like us. The advantage to getting the citizenship though is you don’t need a visa tied to a job or investment.
Oh one more thing on school registrations. They (locals) register early for the next school year, like April I think. Since we are not coming until June we have no choice but late registration. As a foreigner they said its not a big deal as we are transferring to Xinsheng anyway, but if you go the citizenship route your local school may (likely it seems, for the best schools) fill up if you dont have your address in place by April and can register early with everyone else.
that is the same for kids with nationality with or without household registration. The CSL program is for taiwanese kids who returned to taiwan within 1 year from non-chinese speaking country staying there for more than 2 years, and foreigner kids who came to taiwan within 2 years. The process is the same for both kids.
If you or your parents read Chinese, here is the link to the introduction of the program at Xinsheng.
I noticed that those documents say foreign parents of kids should be on work ARC, and taiwanese parents should work or study in Taiwan. An employment certificate is listed as a required document for application. I’m not sure whether this is an optional,and if it is mandatory, how strictly the rule is applied.
One more note is in Taiwan nationality and citizenship are separated.