Hi guys!! I’m an American born Taiwanese and in the midst of preparing documents to become a fully fledged Taiwanese citizen. I’m beyond excited, because this is something I’ve wanted for years! I’m not opting to do the 定居證副本/3-day exchange program and will probably take a month off later this year to get the health check and finish the process in Taiwan.
I’ve seen a bit of conflicting info online whether or not translations have been needed recently if applying for the TAPRC within Taiwan. Some say they were not needed. I’ve self-translated all my documents already (fbi background check, birth certificate, parents’ US marriage certificate) and would rather not spend extra money notarizing/authenticating if it’s not necessary, especially because this process is already quite expensive!
I anm curious if anyone has any recent experience with the process and if translations were even needed? I’m registering to a household in New Taipei City if that makes a difference. I know that each office seems to have its own rules and I’d call to confirm if I could.
If you’re not in a rush, you can always try without the notarized documents first (maybe just visit and ask while you’re waiting for your health check results?). If they request notarization, get it done and come back a couple of days later.
Notarization can also be done in Taiwan for self-translated documents - it should cost around NT$500 per document and takes around 2 days.
Just make sure the documents are already authenticated by TECO (if needed) - that’s something that’s not easily possible once you’re already in Taiwan.
If you get the translation notarized in Taiwan, you don’t need to authenticate the translation by TECO - only the original document!
Yeah I think that’s what I’ll do, thank you! I’m planning this trip with my dad so I could probably just have him call in and ask for me. (My Chinese speaking ability is uhhh very 爛 ）
Definitely not in a rush, and if there are any delays I could just plan to extend my trip, too.
The original birth certificate and parents’ marriage certificate are already authenticated and I’m waiting on TECRO to send me back my authenticated FBI background check at the moment!
In that case, best to let your father accompany you. And if you need notarized translations, maybe let him do it (i.e. let him translate the documents and then swore to the notary that the translation is accurate).
I could imagine the notary giving you trouble if you cannot speak Chinese well but want them to notarize translations you made.
It’s perfectly fine to have the translation done by a friend / relative. They just need to come to the notary in person for the notarization and bring their ID card / passport.
I was told by the HHR office to make sure that any translation translates literally everything: Your name must be translated into Chinese (English name can be in brackets behind, and some ID attached that shows the English and Chinese name) - but also any street address, place of birth etc. must be translated, too! Basically the translation shouldn’t contain any latin characters.
Not sure if that HHR office was particularly strict or if all agencies require this. But definitely something to look out for!
Oh random and probably silly question, do they generally ask for the English on the TECO authentication page to be translated as well?
I was pretty thorough with my translations I’d say, both sides of marriage certificate, and birth certificate (both pages because I had an amendment!) from top to bottom, including the seals
I’m kinda nervous about another thing. I had my parents’ marriage certificate authenticated about 9 months ago. They married in the US and never got it registered By the time I get around to applying for 定居證 in Taiwan, it’ll be a year old. I realized recently there’s a note on the authentication saying that the marriage must be registered within a certain timeframe in Taiwan or there will be penalties.
So, I’m totally fine with paying whatever fine there is for late registration but I’m mostly worried that the document will be too old to be accepted, resulting in my application being denied. Does anyone have experience with something similar and can weigh in?
I’m in the same boat and also self-translated all my documents. I opted to have my translations authenticated at our local TECO for $15/document. I figured that it’s one less variable to worry about once I am in Taiwan, since I’ve heard notaries in Taiwan are quite picky/strict about self-translated documents.
Depending on the TECO that services your location, they may also be more/less strict about the translations themselves. SF TECO doesn’t require translation/transliteration of street addresses and unrelated person names, and I did not need to get my translations notarized so long as I signed them in front of the TECO officer.
You can also consider authenticating just some of your documents—I’ve heard that NIA in Taipei doesn’t need English translations… so you could maybe skip authenticating the FBI background check translation since the HHR office won’t be looking at that document.
The issue won’t be the TECO / notary not accepting your translation, but the HHR / NIA rejecting it.
It really seems to depend on the agency and employee looking at your application on how strict they are in that regard (some NIA branches seem to accept English originals without translations while HHRs always seem to require notarized translation. Same with MOFA authentication: That one also seems to be optional depending on who is looking at your papers…).
Thank you for the reply, ilovebears!! I’m now planning on getting my translated documents authenticated at SF TECO soon as well. I figure that it’s good to have for peace of mind, even if I don’t need the in the end. Also helpful to know that you did not need a notary (although I did see someone on Reddit get turned away for not having their documents notarized, also at SF TECO!)
I was painstakingly thorough with my translations and did all the names, addresses, authentication pages, and boilerplate stuff too. Hopefully that won’t be an issue.
Anyways, I’m just gonna show up with my documents and hope it’s alright
You only need to notarize your translations if you aren’t going to SF TECO in person.
That said, the notary requirement isn’t a big deal here in the States. Some banks offer notary services free of charge for account holders. Just handwrite either 「聲明本人翻譯中文譯本與英文原件文義相符」 or “This is a true and correct Chinese translation of the original” in the blank space on the document, then sign and date in front of the notary. Since you’re in California, the notary will attach an acknowledgement (separate page) with their stamp.
TECO either authenticates your signature (if in person) or the notarization (if mailing in). They do basic checks of your translated document but don’t verify every single word. Try to match the original document format as closely as possible.
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