Tourist visa to resident :Philippines

Hello!

I applied for a teaching job in Taiwan and am now processing my contract with the school.

I was planning to apply for single entry tourist visa in the Philippines, and then change it to resident visa once in Taiwan.

However, I heard that recently, there was a Filipino who did this, but was not awarded the resident visa. I was advised to register with POEA and follow its procedures. But processing a direct hiring application takes a long time.

Any advice guys? I’d really like to get out of the country and work abroad, even for just a year.

You can’t apply for a resident visa using a tourist visa from the Philippines. People who get a resident visa must have a work permit, and that permit would entail lots of paperworks/legal checks. Other folks who come here on a tourist visa, usually from countries with a 90-day visa regulation, come here jobless and process their work papers here. So the assumption is that they got the job while they are here. Countries have their different requirements, I suppose. Check with yours.

I think the rules are different for Filipinos, mostly because folks from SEA are also hired as blue-collar workers. You might want to ask your school to just do it the way it should be done when hiring folks from the Philippines.

10 posts were split to a new topic: Does the government consider you a native English speaker?

are you by any chance half-Filipino or something? Your username hints on it.

I think there is an agent processing my work permit. I will need that for application from visitor to resident visa. After obtaining a resident visa, I will then apply for ARC.

Is it true that the resident visa is good only for 90 days? Will the ARC (that is good for a year) supersede it?

Sorry, I’m not a native English speaker.

Have you had any experience converting visas? I saw in another forum that the “official” interpretation of the rules and procedures depend on the official you’re talking to.

Yes, I was hired as a white-collar worker from the Philippines. But when my employer hired me, the visa that TECO issued me back home was already a resident visa. It said on my resident visa that upon arrival to Taiwan, I should apply for an ARC within 15 days. Anyway, these were done by my employer on my behalf. I didn’t need to apply for a visitor visa then come here to get a resident visa.

I’m not sure how you’re going to go through the visitor visa-resident visa-ARC process. It just seems weird to me. I think it’s best to go through POEA because that also serves as your protection as an overseas Filipino worker. I think if your papers are complete, it should take you about 2 months to accomplish everything. It’s better to do it this way so that if you ever encounter problems with your employer here (which may happen, who knows) the MECO here can help you out no problemo.

Was this your first time applying as white collar worker?

The company’s agent informed me recently that MECO will not allow direct
hiring for first-time overseas workers, hence I should look for an agency
to “sponsor” me. But according to the POEA website, there are no current
job orders for white collar workers, so it would be better if I find a
Taiwanese agency.

Also, there is nothing in the POEA guidelines about this “first time
rule”.

How long was the validity of your resident visa? I cannot find any
information about this (except for the Taiwanese website for Australia).

Yes, I was hired as a white-collar worker the first time I came here. Strange…as I know that no direct hire rule only exists for blue-collar workers. I also had some difficulty with the agency thing but as long as your company never hired a Philippine recruitment agency to hire Filipinos for them, you should be fine. You should PERSONALLY check with POEA. They’re the only ones who can verify this, not MECO nor TECO. Those two aren’t even really embassies to begin with.

I know Filipinos who went here and somehow managed to get an ARC as a white collar worker. But they worked for multinational companies who helped them every step of the way. But I’m telling you, that work permit is the most important thing. Even if you come here on a visitor visa, it would be illegal for you to start working without a work permit.

Is the ARC the same as the resident visa?

I won’t be teaching English though.

The direct-hiring process takes a lot of time. Just requesting for approval of exemption will take approximately 4 weeks according to POEA regional and head offices. I will need to arrive at my (future) post before second week of August (and if possible before July ends).

No, the ARC is a separate document.

The resident visa is a prerequisite for an ARC. Reason for this is that the resident visa can’t be obtained without a work permit and all the needed docs to certify that you are being hired legally as a foreign worker.

It will really take time with POEA, a month is good but it’s better to give it a couple of months. The reason, to be fair, is that they are going to verify your employer in Taiwan.

I’ve heard some folks come here on a visitor visa then process everything here. But that usually works for other nationalities. I’m not sure if Taiwanese govt has hiring rules per country, especially when it comes to giving resident visa, when employers decide to hire here in Taiwan. Also, you have to make sure you have all the docs you need to get an ARC if you do come here on a visitor visa. I really won’t recommend this route especially if this is your first time coming here. Or is it not?

Btw, are you going to work in an office? I thought you were coming here to teach.

Yes, but it won’t be English.

Ok, then. I’ll just share to you what I did when I was direct-hired from the Philippines.

  1. Get the list of requirements for resident visa from TECO Philippines. I think this is listed on their website.
  2. Accomplish all the requirements then submit for processing of your resident visa via same TECO.
  3. After getting your resident visa from TECO, go to POEA to process your Overseas Employment Certificate or OEC. Check if there have been changes as I know OFWs are now exempt from getting an OEC. POEA will also conduct your PDOS or pre-employment seminar. In any case, they should formally list you as an OFW working in Taiwan under the specific name of your employer. You can eventually change this at any Philippine embassy/TECO overseas if you decide to change jobs abroad.
  4. Secure OEC, and together with your resident visa and passport, present to Philippine immigration on the date of your departure to Taiwan.
  5. Present resident visa and passport to immigration in Taiwan.
  6. Hand over resident visa and passport to your HR. They will process your ARC. If not, then get a list of requirements—usually includes the work permit, a contract of lease (your apartment in Taiwan), and employment certificate—original and a copy.
  7. ARC processing takes about 14 work days.

You probably want to opt out of #3, but in that case I can’t guarantee that Philippine immigration will let you pass with just a resident visa ESPECIALLY if you tell them you are coming to Taiwan for work. I also can’t assure you that as a Filipino, Taiwan government will allow you to change from tourist visa to resident visa once you are here. Keep in mind that all the requirements needed for a resident visa in the Philippines will probably still be asked of you here when trying to secure your resident visa.

In my case, I’ve been honest with my boss and HR that it will take me 2 months and that I will update them every step of the way. In the end, it worked out for both of us.

This is the ideal way. Now if you do want to get a visitor visa and change that to resident visa here, that’s another thing. I know some people who did that but they were able to do so because they actually graduated from Taiwan as scholars then went on to work here. There are some who used the visitor visa-resident visa route but it’s been 8 or 9 years ago since they did that. And they now have an APRC so they don’t have to worry about the ARC renewals yearly/after 3 years. Well, I guess you can try. Just make sure you have your requirements. But you should also be prepared to be denied a resident visa. I’m just not sure what the repercussions are from the Taiwan gov’t side. Also, if you have a work permit, you can only work for as long as your visitor visa allows you to stay here.

Good luck kabayan! :slight_smile: Do keep us posted, if you’re cool with it.

Thanks for this @theyouhan.

But apparently, MECO required my application to be coursed through an agency (as a first-time OFW; couldn’t find any legal basis on this though). I will be applying for a resident visa before leaving the country.

I just have a few docs to prepare. I hope everything work out well.

Godspeed!

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Hi! @theyouhan Did you submit the original copy of your work permit to TECO, or did you print a soft copy sent via email?
I’m asking because my employer said that they’ll send thr permit via email. I appreciate your help.

In our case, we just printed out the e-mailed work permit in two copies. It worked for us.

I submitted the original copy. Your employer should send you an original copy too. I believe they receive multiple copies when they apply for it, one they keep and one they give to you. It should be an original hard copy. My employer sent the hard copy to me, back in Pinas, together with the employment contract.