Unique circumstances - am I ineligible to teach in Taiwan?

Work Teaching English in Taiwan
1

I have read on this website and elsewhere that there is a list of countries, approved by the Taiwanese Government, from which English teachers must come in order to be able to work legally in Taiwan. At first glance that seems like a reasonable and clear requirement.

In reality, life is not always that simple. I was born, raised and educated up to Master’s Degree level in the United States. So far so good. As an adult, however, I emigrated from the United States to another (minor) English speaking country that is NOT on Taiwan’s approved list.

I have read in one place that a person must “come from” one of the approved countries. Well, I do. But I have read elsewhere that in order to teach here, one must have a passport from one of the approved countries. I don’t - anymore - although my place of birth (the U.S.) is mentioned on my current passport.

So which is it? Does emigrating from an approved country to one that is not approved, in spite of the fact that I am a native speaker FROM an approved country - with an MBA - render me ineligible to teach English in Taiwan?

I called the head office of a major English language school in Taipei today and asked this question. The lady I spoke to told me that they have never had such a situation and she didn’t know the answer to the question - but suggested that I have nothing to lose by trying. Well, I’m afraid that’s not going to be good enough for me. Before I apply for English teaching jobs in Taiwan, I want to know beforehand if I’m eligible to teach here.

Does anybody have any insight into this rather unusual situation? Thanks in advance.

2

Um, I think what she meant was she has nothing to lose by you trying.

Sorry, I’ve never heard of anyone getting around this rule.

3

As far as I know, it’s the country that issued your passport. They don’t care where you were born, or even if you can speak English.

Which country is your passport from?

Doesn’t it have to be “a country of which English is the official language” ?

4

Are you still a US citizen? If so, just get a US passport.

5

[quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”]As far as I know, it’s the country that issued your passport. They don’t care where you were born, or even if you can speak English.

Which country is your passport from?

Doesn’t it have to be “a country of which English is the official language” ?[/quote]

The country is Belize, which does have English as it’s official language. But it’s not on the list of approved countries.

It’s not like I’m asking to teach German, which I also speak - well enough to teach. But English is my native language!

6

“Goodness me Mr Wang, we can’t have people from Belize teaching here: they’re BLACK people!” Shock Horror.

“The only things that black people and South Americans can do in Taiwan is give us diplomatic recognition.”

“There is no racism in Taiwan.”

7

If you’re more interested in being in Taiwan than in the working part, since Belize recognizes Taiwan, you could probably come here as a government-subsidized language student (NT$25,000 per month?). Then after six months (?) you could work (while remaining a student). Sorry, I’m a bit fuzzy on the details.

8

Now you might just be onto something. Actually I am more interested in being here than in working. So this might be a way to take advantage of the fact that Belize recognizes Taiwan. If anyone has more information on this option, I would be glad to hear about it.

9

See An Introduction to the Taiwan Scholarship Program. It’s a pretty good deal if you can get it. If you’re officially an overseas Chinese, though, things get much trickier.

And perhaps your embassy here will know more.

Good luck.

10

Did you ever have US nationality? Did you have it and renounce it? Otherwise, how did you lose it? If you had US nationality but now longer have it, could you reclaim it?

11

That is a sucky situation. Falling between the cracks. Did u give up your US citizenship to become a Belize-ian (or whatever u guys call urself)? If not , then of course get urself a US passport and solve that problem. YEs I agree this law is pretty stupid. Some guy who thought it up didnt get all the facts. We could certainly have nonnative speakers of english get a Us passport for example and be able to teach english. Say someone from Mainland China that got a US passport and a masters from the USA but who doesnt have a real strong command of the language.

They should switch this requirement to an actual test of English , verbal and written and/or perhaps an interview in person to assess the ability to teach english.

I know several Germans who speak the Queens english just like Brits. I wouldnt have been able to tell they were not native Brits (they went to school partially in England).

So yes, they need to amend that law.

I remember being at the DMV in Taipei to get my TW license renewed and the new law came into place that said one had to have an ARC. This was not the case before. And they wouldnt renew it for me as I was in TW with a tourist visa (had been for 15 years). So I took up the case with the manager telling her that iv had a TW license for a long time and my car was parked outside, if she didnt give me a renewed license what am i supposed to do? She said ok, but she cant do it again five years down the line. Approved it for me and told me I better come back with an ARC next time. She said "dont you have a girlfriend? You better marry her and get an ARC ok? " Was funny. Nice of her though. TW bureaucrats are given a lot of leeway to make a decision sometimes and sometimes that works in your favor, other times not.

good luck to you and keep us posted.

12

Would Belize then be the only native English speaking country which has diplomatic relations with Taiwan? And yet not on the approved list! What a cock-up!

13

Here are some more: Swaziland, Gambia, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia (many or most people speak French Patois but English is the official language), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Nicaragua and Panama have English-speaking areas but I’m not sure about its legal status. I’m not sure about the tiny South Pacific nations, either, so I’ll leave them out.

…
Reference: ROC diplomatic allies (Grenada and Malawi - both English-speaking countries - went over to Beijing quite recently.)

14

Here are some more: Swaziland, Gambia, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia (many or most people speak French Patois but English is the official language), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Nicaragua and Panama have English-speaking areas but I’m not sure about its legal status. I’m not sure about the tiny South Pacific nations, either, so I’ll leave them out.

…
Reference: ROC diplomatic allies (Grenada and Malawi - both English-speaking countries - went over to Beijing quite recently.)[/quote]

Oh fair enough. I was actually thinking “dominant-native” rather than official. Most people in the African countries where English is official don’t speak it as a first language, or even at all, and in the islands you mention it’s mainly Creole Englishes. I was thinking that English in Belize was like Spanish or Portuguese in the rest of Latin America, with the standard form of the colonial language being spoken, but it turns out that most Belize English speakers speak a Creole form too.

I’ll be more careful next time.

15

Now you might just be onto something. Actually I am more interested in being here than in working. So this might be a way to take advantage of the fact that Belize recognizes Taiwan. If anyone has more information on this option, I would be glad to hear about it.[/quote]

When I was on a student visa three years ago, it was like this:

You can theoretically work once you’ve been here for six months. You need your school’s permission to apply for a work permit. Most of the time they won’t grant it. If they do, you also need to persuade the MOE, and NIA. Even if you get it, you can only work something like 14 hours a week, which isn’t a lot – about half what it takes to scrape out a living on.

Meanwhile, you need near-perfect attendance and test grades just to keep your visa open – which is a lot of work. I had to spend a couple hours every day on writing (on top of the three hours actually in class) to keep up, despite having been here for several years, knowing all the spoken vocabulary already, and a lot of the reading too. In one three-month semester I missed class four times, and had to sweet-talk the MOFA lady pretty hard to not get kicked out. My school, FengChia, is regarded as one of the easiest in the country.

To keep a scholarship up, you need even better attendance and grades.

Oh, and after all that you only get two years anyway. After that you either transfer to a degree program rather than language courses, or you get a work-based visa, or you leave.

It’s probably not a great plan.

16

To the OP:

As another non-Native (Me) whose qualifications (degrees), fluency in English and teaching experience do not matter in terms of the possibility of working as an Ensglih teacher, I’d say at first it seems to be unfair, but it is their house, their rules.

If you had the passport of one of the seven approved countries, your birthplace wouldn’t matter at all. I know several non-Native speakers of English who got US and UK passports, and hence teach English legally. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.

Nevetherless, as a citizen of an “allied” country, as it has been pointed out, you are first in line for certain benefits, such as the Taiwan Scholarship. The ICDF progam allows you to get a degree and they throw in free accomodation, free Chinese lessons -especially designed for you guys, not run of the mill-, and a monthly generous estiped, not to mention invitations to fancy diplomatic events for photo ops…

This would be a nice starting point. From there, other options such as working for local companies will be available more easily -since you will have then a local degree and hopefully working knowledge of Mandarin. Plus, if you participate in the college’s interships, good references and experience. Salaries may not be the top of the line, but you said you want to stay, and then you could then stay comfortably as long as you like, and build from there.

Best of luck then. Hope things work out for you.

17

I know a dude who is from Belize who is teaching English wth an ARC here in Taipei. He actually has a kind of strange accent and I thought he may have been from a European country. He told me as Belize is an English Speaking Country he can get a work permit. I also knew a girl a few years back who got her work permit and ARC in Taipei a few years back with her Singapore passport…

[quote=“henryrearden”][quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”]As far as I know, it’s the country that issued your passport. They don’t care where you were born, or even if you can speak English.

Which country is your passport from?

Doesn’t it have to be “a country of which English is the official language” ?[/quote]

The country is Belize, which does have English as it’s official language. But it’s not on the list of approved countries.

It’s not like I’m asking to teach German, which I also speak - well enough to teach. But English is my native language![/quote]

18

[quote=“TaipeiSean”]I know a dude who is from Belize who is teaching English wth an ARC here in Taipei. He actually has a kind of strange accent and I thought he may have been from a European country. He told me as Belize is an English Speaking Country he can get a work permit. I also knew a girl a few years back who got her work permit and ARC in Taipei a few years back with her Singapore passport…

[quote=“henryrearden”][quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”]As far as I know, it’s the country that issued your passport. They don’t care where you were born, or even if you can speak English.

Which country is your passport from?

Doesn’t it have to be “a country of which English is the official language” ?[/quote]

The country is Belize, which does have English as it’s official language. But it’s not on the list of approved countries.

It’s not like I’m asking to teach German, which I also speak - well enough to teach. But English is my native language![/quote][/quote]

All this does is confuse me even more. Supposedly there is an approved list of countries whose citizens may legally teach English in Taiwan. And then there are exceptions, such as the ones mentioned above.

I cannot make plans based on the possibility of an exception to a law. And at 49, I’m too old to be thinking in terms of starting a degree program at a university, followed by a career. What I was looking for was a nice place where I could semi-retire and teach just enough to cover some basic living expenses. Actually I don’t even need to work at all, but it would be nice to have something to do that would allow me to interact with locals in a mutually beneficial way. From what I gather, though, due to certain unexpected quirks in its laws, Taiwan will not be the place for me to do this. I’ll just have to look elsewhere.

Thanks to all of you who have contributed to my enlightenment on this topic.

19

Taiwan is revising its laws regarding retirement in Taiwan. This is mainly to attract the many well to do Japanese who are retiring or have retired. So keep your eye out, there could be better laws in the near future for the purpose of retiring. Barring that, if you are not currently married you could check out studying here for two years and chances are more then fair you will end up with one of those nice female Taiwanese creatures (who likely will be younger and fairer then those from whence you came that you can attract)?

Then you can live and work most any job you want.

They also are talking about giving legal residence to people who invest a certain amount of money in Taiwan.

But I think a lot of westerners in your shoes now go to Thailand for the purpose of semi-retirement. And a Thai forum mentions never to will anything of value to your Thai wife as very often when you are worth more dead then alive, you will end up dead…and fast.

20

[quote=“TaipeiSean”]I know a dude who is from Belize who is teaching English wth an ARC here in Taipei. He actually has a kind of strange accent and I thought he may have been from a European country. He told me as Belize is an English Speaking Country he can get a work permit. I also knew a girl a few years back who got her work permit and ARC in Taipei a few years back with her Singapore passport…

[quote=“henryrearden”][quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”]As far as I know, it’s the country that issued your passport. They don’t care where you were born, or even if you can speak English.

Which country is your passport from?

Doesn’t it have to be “a country of which English is the official language” ?[/quote]

The country is Belize, which does have English as it’s official language. But it’s not on the list of approved countries.

It’s not like I’m asking to teach German, which I also speak - well enough to teach. But English is my native language![/quote][/quote]

That is not an exception, just circunventing the laws. I cannot believe he’s got a work permit for teaching, as the MOE would definetively NOT allow it. This is not an exception. They cannot give him a proper work permit specifically for teaching, but they can hire him as an editor, consultant, translator, etc. and then have him teach. This is a very dangerous gray area, and the only one who would end up with the short end of the stick is him if the s*** hits the fan.

Either that or he’s got an APRC or another passport. The MOE is very clear on this issue.

Singapore is even easier. If she’s got relatives here she can even get an Overseas Compatriot ID. Or work as an editor/teacher.

Henry, it is definetively wise of you not to make the plunge based on exceptions or even gaps in the rules. Taiwan’s legislation is definetively behind when it comes to retirement packages. However, you can still try to get work in other areas not related to teaching. Those only ask for two years relevant experience.