Hi! I urgently need to open a local bank account but only get my ARC on 8 August. I’ve started working already and need the bank account so I can get paid on 5 August.
I saw some posts about this dating from 2004. Does anybody have up-to-date information?
Also, how much money does one need to open the account with?
[quote=“GrobFran”]Hi! I urgently need to open a local bank account but only get my ARC on 8 August. I’ve started working already and need the bank account so I can get paid on 5 August.
I saw some posts about this dating from 2004. Does anybody have up-to-date information?
Also, how much money does one need to open the account with?[/quote]
I asked Changwha Bank about this, they said foreigners need an ARC to open a bank account.
[quote=“GrobFran”]Hi! I urgently need to open a local bank account but only get my ARC on 8 August. I’ve started working already and need the bank account so I can get paid on 5 August.
I saw some posts about this dating from 2004. Does anybody have up-to-date information?
Also, how much money does one need to open the account with?[/quote]
There is more recent information around here, too. 
I openend two accounts (Taishin Bank, Post Office Bank) two years ago, when i was here as a tourist - to do that i needed to get a piece of paper from the immigration office which they printet out for me (free of charge) within a minute of asking. This document shows and identification number for the purpose of opening a bank account.
Minimum deposit? Not sure whether there is such a requirement, but i put NT$100 in at the time…
Maybe you need to go to my branch? 
Don’t ask people at the bank - often they don’t know. Get the paper first and show it with your passport and tell them that is the way how it’s done. 
See here:
english.moe.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem= … 0778&mp=11
—> Point 2
Thank you so much, will try to get that paper and bank account tomorrow, and report back!
If it’s really urgent, I’ll let you borrow my mine.
The information in this thread is incorrect. You can open up bank accounts without an ARC at (as far as I know) all banks. The trick is to get issued an ID number, which is the same as the number that you would use on your ARC if you are ever issued one.
You just go to the NIA and ask them for the document that allows you to open a bank account:
http://www.immigration.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=1090223&ctNode=30085&mp=2
[quote]Who needs to apply for a Uniform ID Number:
1. People without a Uniform ID Number who wish to open a bank account, file tax, obtain joint health insurance or a driver’s license.
[/quote]
The process takes all of about 5 minutes, get the form, fill it out, show them your passport, and they print you out a document you can take straight to the bank. You should be able to get the whole process done from NIA to bank within an hour or so. The bank usually has a minimum deposit of $1000 or $2000NT.
I opened my bank account with the “Bank of Taiwan” including being given an ATM card 2 years before I got an ARC card.
Borrow your ID number or bank account? LOL Thanks, but with all this info I’m sure I’ll get helped in no time flat. However, you exceptional kindness will be remembered.
[quote=“pqkdzrwt”]The information in this thread is incorrect. You can open up bank accounts without an ARC at (as far as I know) all banks. The trick is to get issued an ID number, which is the same as the number that you would use on your ARC if you are ever issued one.
You just go to the NIA and ask them for the document that allows you to open a bank account:
http://www.immigration.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=1090223&ctNode=30085&mp=2
[quote]Who needs to apply for a Uniform ID Number:
1. People without a Uniform ID Number who wish to open a bank account, file tax, obtain joint health insurance or a driver’s license.
[/quote]
The process takes all of about 5 minutes, get the form, fill it out, show them your passport, and they print you out a document you can take straight to the bank. You should be able to get the whole process done from NIA to bank within an hour or so. The bank usually has a minimum deposit of $1000 or $2000NT.
I opened my bank account with the “Bank of Taiwan” including being given an ATM card 2 years before I got an ARC card.[/quote]
Thank you so much, I’ll do all of this first thing in the morning and report back.
This is what I did 6 years ago.
Some information in this thread is incorrect - but that has been clobbered now. 
SUCCESS!! Thank you for the good advice, I have my bank account! I went to the National Immigration Agency, exactly as pqkdzrwt explained earlier, received the form with ID number within 5 minutes. The sweat didn’t even have time to dry off my face! Then I went to Union Bank in Neihu where a friendly lady helped me to fill in the forms, and 15 minutes later I walked out with with my new account’s bank book. Yeehaaa!
congrats
Why are you giving people this information when we have a thread here every month that results in another explanation about how to get a bank account without an ARC?
You’re very welcome! 
Why are you giving people this information when we have a thread here every month that results in another explanation about how to get a bank account without an ARC?[/quote]
In Japan you can end up being sued for libel and losing the case even if what you have reported about the person who sues you was/is true.
Hi , I downloaded the application form, but what shall I fill in for the statement of authorization portion? Pls advise. Thanks!
No need to worry: leave that field empty and IF someone tells you that you need to write something there, ask them to tell you what you should write there. Whatever it is that i may have written in that field a few years ago (i filled in the form in the NIA office) was certainly nothing more complicated than something i either could make up on the spot or copy from my passport or visa (long forgotten what was the form asked me).
This is, by the way, a useful approach to filling in forms in Taiwan or Japan in general[super]*)[/super] (whether in government offices, hotels, or wherever): fill in what you are sure about, and ask the staff to help you with the rest.
*) I wrote “in general” - this is meant to cover my rear in regards to the few (rare) exceptions where an official may not accept your form if even one dot is missing (a citizenship application might be such a case)