Hello folks, been longtime since i been here… Had some Q’s to ask… I was married to taiwanese in the usa… we moved there in 2007… we alread been married 5 years, and after a yr in taiwan we divorced. It wasnt bitter or anything, just grew apart… I had renewed my ARC for the 3 yr one,which was marriage based ARC… So I was good till 2011
I actually left Taiwan in summer of 2008… I wasnt told I had to stay 183 days per calendar yr to keep that valid… is this true? My 3yr ARC is now trash…? i want to come back and possibly start small business there with my gf, who lives in Taipei… We do plan on getting married… Would anyone be so kind as to point me in the best direction on what kind of visa I will now want to get… Can I get one when I land at airport… I mean the 90 day expendable one… Or will I need to send my passport to Taiwan Embassy in my state, and apply that way? (this is how my ex wife and I did it) but her parents did everything, and guided my ex on things she would need to do, for easiest way for her, and I to live there…
On these “visa runs” I also dont really understand… I never really was fully told everything involved either… When the time comes near to 90 days, I just take a weekend flight to HK, or something? Fly back to Taiwan, and apply for another 90 day visa at the airport?I have searched online for the info, and what i find doesnt make any sense to me… I really dont know anything about going to get visas, and all the jargon that is associated with it… Same goes for info i seen in here… Need like a “Taiwan: Visa Run For Dummies”
If possible, I will try to be married by end of the year, if not little sooner… So also any tips going that direction very welcome
Your old ARC became invalid once you were divorced from your ex-wife. You would have had a window of 14 (??) days to inform the NIA of your divorce and they would have given you a definite date by which you’d have had to leave the country.
I can’t give you much advice on the visas, but if you choose to marry and get a resident visa through marriage you will need a criminal background check from your home country (because Taiwan doesn’t want convicted child molesters marrying its women; they have to apply for work permits at buxibans instead). It has limited validity and is generally much easier to get while you are actually IN your home country.
yes I plan on doing just that, but i just want to know more about these “visa runs” incase the process takes longer then expected, or any unforeseen delays… I appreciate the advice thought ! any and all possible links, or resources would be great. So long as they are not going to just talk jargon which will not be so easy to understand
For a visa run, you really just need to leave the country… Plenty of people go to HK, go through immigration, take a walk around the airport, go back through immigration and get back on the plane to Taiwan…
You basically just need an ‘exit’ & ‘entry’ stamp for TW.
Sounds like a perfect excuse for a mini holiday every few months to me, tho
ok thx i really appreciate any input on this… What I really dont understand, is I thought that is just a “landing visa” which was only good for 30 days. How can i get a 90 day landing visa when i get there… and I should still get my police background done before I get there?
No, you cannot get a 90-day extendable visa at the airport upon arrival in Taiwan. With your U.S. passport you can gain visa-free entry to Taiwan and remain for 30 days. But this cannot be extended; nor can visa-free entry be changed to a regular visa within Taiwan. If you want another 30 days you’d have to leave the country and fly back. (You wouldn’t have to go through immigration in HK or elsewhere. It only matters that you officially leave Taiwan, not that you officially arrive anywhere else before returning to Taiwan.) Or if you want longer than 30 days after arriving in Taiwan, you’d have to leave the country and apply for a visitor’s visa outside Taiwan.
In short, visa-free entry is not a good solution for Americans wanting to remain in Taiwan indefinitely, unless you like to fly and have a lot of money for airfare.
What you want is a multiple-entry visitor’s visa (preferably one good for up to five years, if they still have those), which you would need to apply for at your nearest Taiwan embassy/consulate equivalent. That will give you up to [strike]90[/strike] 60 days (not five years!) per visit. The 60-day stay can be renewed within Taiwan if you convince the immigration authorities here that you have a good reason to be here. You should plan on doing a visa run after six months.
Your FBI background check would probably expire before it would be of use to you.
ok thx, its little more clear, but what or how are people coming to taiwan, and every 90 days doing visa run, and when they return get another 90 days ??
thats what i do not understand… some of the teachers i worked with never really mentioned details, just that they needed to do a visa run, so they could get another 90 days… are they going somewhere to apply at taiwan embassy and getting a 90 day visa before they coming back into taiwan?
They do not need to convince anyone to let them have longer… atleast if they are, i didnt think they were doing it… They make it sound so simple… like u leave, come back… and poof 90 more days… this is what i am hoping to understand, how its possible, and if I am able to do this, just maybe once or 2 times… till we can get the marriage requirements in order… i dont think i can get everything i need now, and have ready in 1st 90 days there… :eh:
thx again, im sure this has been talked about alot, but i didnt see anything that really made any sense to me…
I used to do the 30 day thing. My company paid for the flights, so why not. Of course officially I was never in Taiwan so never paid any tax there either.
Perhaps what’s confusing is that people do visa runs for different reasons:
[ol][li]those who arrive in Taiwan using visa-free entry and who need to get a visitor’s or resident visa (as appropriate to their circumstances) – they may need to leave Taiwan and get a new visa abroad (usually HK, but other places are OK too).[/li]
[li]those who, like Edgar Allen, arrive in Taiwan using visa-free entry and want to continue to rely on visa-free entry – they have to leave Taiwan but don’t have to pick up a new visa while abroad.[/li]
[li]those who arrive in Taiwan on a non-extendable visa (because that’s what the Taiwan visa-issuing office gave them, for whatever reason) – they have to leave Taiwan and get a new visa abroad if they want to stay longer than [strike]90[/strike] 60 days (or perhaps six months – see below).[/li]
[li]those who arrive in Taiwan on a single-entry visa – they have to leave Taiwan and get a new visa abroad.[/li]
[li]those who arrive in Taiwan on a multiple-entry visitor’s visa – they do not have to leave for a new visa. The reason for this is that they already have a valid visa (usually for a year, but sometimes for longer) and so don’t need a new one (unless they change their visa from a visitor’s to a resident visa, and this can be done without having to leave Taiwan). Rather, they’re just using again the visa they already have. But it’s supposed to be just for visiting Taiwan, not living here. So you can’t stay here indefinitely without leaving, because then the government authorities would have a harder time pretending that you’re just a “visitor.” So every 60 days some people – usually those who are here working illegally – leave Taiwan and then return, not having to worry about a new visa. [/li][/ol]
Those in the fourth and fifth categories can sometimes convince the immigration authorities that they have a valid reason to remain in Taiwan longer and so can get their stays extended within Taiwan for another [strike]90[/strike] 60 days. But this can’t be kept up forever. People with visitor’s visas cannot legally remain in Taiwan for longer than six months (specifically, 180 days, which is a bit shorter), regardless. So those with multiple-entry visas just leave; upon their return their [strike]90-[/strike] 60-day clock is reset and everything starts all over.
ok thx for all the break down of it… its little clearer now… i guess since people that have come here, and doing the visa runs… they already had the 90 day visa, and just leaving tw, coming back… and it gets extended again?
Maybe something im not getting obviously… if u can get it extended by giving just reason… why have to leave, and come back… and how do they get the 90 day visa with out applying for it first… ?
the way i understand it , as just like a landing visa at the airport… i never ask details… so they are actually applying for one in another country, going there to pick it up, and then fly back to taiwan?
And u said the police check will maybe expire…? will i be able to get one done from taiwan…? does it have to be a FBI check, or would a local police dept work… thats all i needed last time…
thx alot for trying to help me understand this… sorry if im little slow. Just so confusing to me how the 90 day visa run works…
No, a visa does not get extended by leaving Taiwan and returning. If someone has a multiple-entry visa, leaving Taiwan and returning gives that person a new start on the same visa.
Also, above I wrote 90 days. But it may well be 60 days instead.
See point 5 above.
Visas for Taiwan are not given unless people apply for them.
No, just showing up in Taiwan with a U.S. passport valid for longer than six months does not give one a landing visa. It gives one visa-free entry. They’re different.
But forget about visa-free entry and landing visas. You don’t need those. To start with you need a multiple-entry visitor’s visa. You’re an American with only a U.S. passport, right? And that passport won’t expire for a fairly long time, right? And you’re in the United States now? Then apply (by mail or in person) for a multiple-entry visitor’s visa at your nearest Taiwan embassy/consulate equivalent there in the United States.
People do lots of different things, as I noted in my previous post. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you apply now, there in the United States, for a multiple-entry visitor’s visa. That’s what you need now.
Yes.
The rules changed. Yes, it will need to be an FBI check. But don’t worry about that yet.
ok, im sorry for kind of circling around the same questions… So I understand it now… If I get a 60/90 day visa, when time comes, and almost expire…
I can leave, and return, and its automatically reissued at the airport…?
Or i will go some place and I dont have to beg, or give any real detail for why I want to stay longer… Show proof of funds or anything…??
About the back ground check… You said not to worry about that yet… I do not have anyone there in USA to help process any of this for me… I can somehow do it all while in Taiwan… Will I need to send FBI a self addressed pre paid envelope for them to return the documents?
Can I then just get it certified, and translated to Chinese while in Taiwan…? Or will I need to have it sent from the FBI, to TECO… THEN shipped to Taiwan??
Another poster here said I will need to get background check, while still here, cos will need Taiwanese Embassy to certify it…
Also my ex wife, and I did declare bankruptcy about 6+ years ago, and was foreclosed on… Will all this be in the FBI background check… anyone have any ideas…? I just dont see why it went from local state to a federal check now, and what different kinds of info maybe on it…
Im no angel, but I have never been in jail, or prison… Was arrested for misdemeanor stealing (under 20$ and about 10 yrs ago) and for driving on suspended license… I had to pay some fines, and 2 yrs probation…
and that was looong time ago… I just dont know how bad a persons background has to be, to not be allowed to file for residency there…
Thx for baby stepping me with all my questions… I really appreciate it!
Also I was looking at the official APRC check list… will I need to, once i get past the first phase… have to get yet ANOTHER FBI check when/if the time comes to apply for one… and they will want to see 5 million NT in my savings? and my spouse will need to have proof of her own savings of about 500,000 NT?
You need to have lived in Taiwan at least 5 years to qualify for APRC.
You need to prove that as a household -that means you and your wife- have assests worth 5 million - meaning adding house and car and business and stuff- ONLY if your own salary in those previous 5 years has been less than 34 thousand nts a month… I don’t think so.
Joe, you are, as we say in Spanish, making yourself into a tangle.
Or in Chinese, you think too much. It is simpler than that. One step at a time. Come, get married, have a big party, look for a job -there is a JFVC for that- , a place to live, and ease into The Island.
OMG !! I had a ex gf there in taiwan, who always said “I think too much” but could never explain what she mean by it…
So that is including both of us combined, and assets as well… ok thx… BUT still will when the time comes, need to get another FBI check…?
AND as for looking for jobs there… Is there anyway to get a job, thats not teaching english, and doesnt require a degree in business or marketing… if I learn at least speak good mandarin, if some type of alternate work possible… I guess teaching english pays more? unless in medical/law/banking field, engineer or something along those lines… which i do not qualify for … :neutral:
[quote=“joeblow420”]OMG !! I had a ex gf there in taiwan, who always said “I think too much” but could never explain what she mean by it…
[/quote]
OFF TOPIC ALERT!
I also knew someone in Taiwan that said that often that I think too much (not a girlfriend thank goodness) but she was also dumber than a load of bricks and wondered why no one was interested in dating her, as even the local guys weren’t interested.
I keep seeing the term 90-day VISA. The truth is I had only managed to obtain a 60-day Visitor’s VISA which I had had to visit the Immigration Kiosk to have it renewed twice. After that, I was asked to leave Taiwan.
