Student work permits: up to date information?

Can an international student legally work in taiwan? Is the law the same for bachelors and graduate students?

Yes, at least for bachelors… Your school must apply for a work permit on your behalf. You would need to get an application from your school and return it to them filled out. Though I don’t know if every school would do this. You are supposed to meet some criteria that shows you need money and not work more than 20 hours per week, but those things might not be strictly enforced.

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Thanks. Has anyone actually done this?
I remember a normal kind of guy (40 year old) doing a phd in taipei working in GVO part time - so it can’t be impossible.

If you’re a grad student, the easiest way to work may be just to get yourself a work visa, rather than a student visa. If you do, usually it’s a good idea not to tell the school that you’re working, because many Taiwanese grad programs take the attitude that “our program is so incredibly rigorous that you wouldn’t possibly have time to work”. That may be true or not depending on the program, but in this case “what the school doesn’t know won’t hurt you.” As long as you’re covered on visa issues to work and reside in Taiwan, you can go to school without any problem.

For an undergraduate this might not be possible because of possible degree-plus-experience requirements for work permits.

As far as I know, the working visa is only for full-time. If OP is looking for a part-time job (since he still need available time for classes) that may not work…

When I was a graduate student, the rule was that, after completing one semester, the student could apply for a work permit, up to 20 hours a week, but only if the job was related to their studies.
I’m not sure if it was the same for undergrads.

There are all sorts of jobs, and all sorts of schedules. It could very well be possible to work full-time and still go to grad school full-time as well. Depends on what he can find and/or negotiate. Many trade-related jobs require contacting overseas companies at night, for example.

Good information, thanks to all.
the exact scenario would be:
BSc/Msc and 16 hours week GVO.
(16hrs/week was the minimum for ARC back in 2012, so can go that route with MSc)
How do you go about proving you’re poor???

If there’s no specific requirement, a printout from the tax office of your income for the previous year and another one of your assets should do it.

This then begs the question - what is poor?
(compared with taiwan people i am not poor in any way, but with Americans i am 100% financial dropout)

I was notified of this article only recently. It sounds like a good idea.

Foreign students can work part-time without school consent form (and other documents previously needed) since March 23, 2018.

Here’s the news article.

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