Visa Confusion

Legal Visa & Residency
1

I am a Canadian citizen that has been living in Taiwan for the past years, and throughout that time have possessed a valid resident visa and ARC. My current ARC will expire on July 29, but I have been accepted at NTHU as a Master’s student, and will begin full-time classes in September.

I have found out that in order to obtain a student visa, I need to physically leave Taiwan and apply for it abroad, which seems completely counter-productive.

I have three questions:

  1. If I leave Taiwan on the 29th, do I apply for a student visa or a visitor visa?

  2. If I renew my ARC and continue working, can I legally be enrolled at a university? A friend informed me that you can’t work on a student visa, but can study on a work visa.

  3. If I apply for permanent residency (I meet the qualifications), can I work and study legally?

I am hoping someone can assist me. Any of the government agencies that I have contacted have been of little help, as has my university.

Thank you.

2

Hi Taro…and welcome to Forumosa :bow:

[quote]I have found out that in order to obtain a student visa, I need to physically leave Taiwan and apply for it abroad, which seems completely counter-productive.
[/quote] This is true…you will need to leave the country and come back on a Visitor Visa…AFAIK, there is no such thing as a student visa…what you will get is an Extendable Visitor Visa with the option to extend it twice…I had to do this about 6 years ago.

  1. [quote]If I leave Taiwan on the 29th, do I apply for a student visa or a visitor visa?[/quote]…As mentioned above, you will need to apply for a Visitor Visa to come back in…you will need to take all necessary documents from NTHU (Admission Letter etc…) and fly to the nearest TECO to get your Visa…once you have joined NTHU and studied there for 4 mths, you can then change your Visitor Visa to a Resident Visa and apply for an ARC.

  2. [quote]If I renew my ARC and continue working, can I legally be enrolled at a university? A friend informed me that you can’t work on a student visa, but can study on a work visa.
    [/quote] Yes…I think this is the better option for you…and your friend is right!

  3. [quote]If I apply for permanent residency (I meet the qualifications), can I work and study legally? [/quote] With the APRC, you can do anything you wish (certain jobs may not be applicable)