Here in Taichung (I cannot speak for elsewhere in Taiwan) there is a recent govenmental policy switch which no longer allows students attending Chinese learning Institutes like TLI (Taipei Language Institute) to extend their Multiple Entry or Single Entry Visitor Visas.
For the last two years, I have attended Chinese class at a local language center here in Taichung. I currently have a 3 year Multiple Entry Visa that was granted to me in Canada that I use to travel in Asia using Taiwan as a base of operations. This visa allows me to stay in Taiwan for 60 days at a time. I must then exit the country and may return immediately. I then get another 60 days in country. I have, for the last two years, been able to extend this visa (not leave the country every 60 days) by taking Chinese class at the language center.
I simply go to class every day for two hours (5 days a week) and then provide the local Foreign Affairs Police with proof of attendence and they stamp my passport with another month extention.
Well, I went to the Foreign Affairs Police Department here in Taichung today and they informed me that anyone attending ANY language school that is NOT a University will have their visa extention summarily rejected.
This includes TLI.
I also spoke to the Foreign Affairs Office personally and they supported the apparent facts in this recent policy shift indicating that it was handed down from some other government agency.
According to everyone I’ve talked to, this policy switch is a week or so old but it could have massive broad-reaching effects for foreigners living in Taiwan who are using Chinese school to extend their visas.
Has anyone heard about this change anywhere other than Taichung?
Does anyone have additional information about this issue?
Is this issue somehow connected to some related issue?
Any factual information in this regard would be really helpful.
Maybe Taichung City Government has finally decided to do something about people like you who come here on tourist visas, sign up at non-university language schools for BS lengthy periods of time, work illegally and don’t pay tax. Good on them, as a tax payer I applaud this move and hope that other cities adopt it ASAP.
Quotas. End of the month. End of the year. Chinese New Year, etc. Once the chaps who run the language schools concerned have had a word with their contacts in the various ministries this problem will go away.
Maybe the bribes were late this month? Who knows?
Fairly standard line. It won’t be written down anywhere. You’ll just have to sit it out. It’s not like any serious effort is ever going to be made to investigate language schools. Too many vested (and tattooed) interests.
Surely this is a little unfair? The new policy also affects people like me who go to TLI and actually study Chinese. Studying for six months is not really that unreasonable. Expecting us to fly to Hong Kong every two months to renew our visas is.
i was under the impression that it wasnt all that difficult to extend your visa… can anyone fill me in on what the qualifications are for extending visas?
Well if this is true, the way to go Taiwan!!! What a better way to show the world how “welcoming” Taiwan is to international community who are going to join the new language rat race. I guess China is going to be in the position to really be the leader in this industry. And Taiwan can just go ahead and stop with those Chinese language aid websites they are setting up to enable foriegn students learning Chinese…
I spoke to the director of TLI Taipei on the phone and she told me that this situation is in fact TRUE and that the Foreign Affairs Police are not currently extending Multiple Entry / Single Entry Visitor Visas for folks attending english language centers that are not affiliated with Universities.
She mentioned to me that she believes that Universities have been lobbying government officials recently to do just this.
I agree with Hexuan who indicated that this may simply be an end of the month / end of the year scenerio whereby officials must be ‘seen’ to be following some mandate or another.
Clearly when each school gets their respective ‘Guanxi’ rolling, the situation will be back to normal.
Doesn’t change the fact that I’ve gotta do a visa run this weekend though.
[quote=“mp3taichung”]I spoke to the director of TLI Taipei on the phone and she told me that this situation is in fact TRUE and that the Foreign Affairs Police are not currently extending Multiple Entry / Single Entry Visitor Visas for folks attending English language centers that are not affiliated with Universities.
She mentioned to me that she believes that Universities have been lobbying government officials recently to do just this.
I agree with Hexuan who indicated that this may simply be an end of the month / end of the year scenerio whereby officials must be ‘seen’ to be following some mandate or another.
Clearly when each school gets their respective ‘Guanxi’ rolling, the situation will be back to normal.
Doesn’t change the fact that I’ve gotta do a visa run this weekend though.
Rats!
Mp3taichung[/quote]
This likely won’t help you in Taizhong, but when I was attending CLD classes in Taibei, I noticed something on their wall one day which had the name of some University on it. They explained that they had enterred into some kind of relationship with this university and that this would ease extension concerns and even allow some students to obtain ARCs. I had a work sponsored ARC at the time, so don’t know much more about it. You’d have to think, though, that schools like TLI would follow suit and get affiliated with some wild chicken uni or other soon enough.
[quote=“Toasty”][quote=“mp3taichung”]I spoke to the director of TLI Taipei on the phone and she told me that this situation is in fact TRUE and that the Foreign Affairs Police are not currently extending Multiple Entry / Single Entry Visitor Visas for folks attending English language centers that are not affiliated with Universities.
She mentioned to me that she believes that Universities have been lobbying government officials recently to do just this.
I agree with Hexuan who indicated that this may simply be an end of the month / end of the year scenerio whereby officials must be ‘seen’ to be following some mandate or another.
Clearly when each school gets their respective ‘Guanxi’ rolling, the situation will be back to normal.
Doesn’t change the fact that I’ve gotta do a visa run this weekend though.
Rats!
Mp3taichung[/quote]
This likely won’t help you in Taizhong, but when I was attending CLD classes in Taibei, I noticed something on their wall one day which had the name of some University on it. They explained that they had enterred into some kind of relationship with this university and that this would ease extension concerns and even allow some students to obtain ARCs. I had a work sponsored ARC at the time, so don’t know much more about it. You’d have to think, though, that schools like TLI would follow suit and get affiliated with some wild chicken uni or other soon enough.[/quote]
Probably right. Universities must have been complaining about the private schools making too much dosh at their expense, and without their costs, and this is their way of getting a slice of that pie. It’ll All Be All Right In The End.
[quote=“hexuan”][quote=“Toasty”][quote=“mp3taichung”]I spoke to the director of TLI Taipei on the phone and she told me that this situation is in fact TRUE and that the Foreign Affairs Police are not currently extending Multiple Entry / Single Entry Visitor Visas for folks attending English language centers that are not affiliated with Universities.
She mentioned to me that she believes that Universities have been lobbying government officials recently to do just this.
I agree with Hexuan who indicated that this may simply be an end of the month / end of the year scenerio whereby officials must be ‘seen’ to be following some mandate or another.
Clearly when each school gets their respective ‘Guanxi’ rolling, the situation will be back to normal.
Doesn’t change the fact that I’ve gotta do a visa run this weekend though.
Rats!
Mp3taichung[/quote]
This likely won’t help you in Taizhong, but when I was attending CLD classes in Taibei, I noticed something on their wall one day which had the name of some University on it. They explained that they had enterred into some kind of relationship with this university and that this would ease extension concerns and even allow some students to obtain ARCs. I had a work sponsored ARC at the time, so don’t know much more about it. You’d have to think, though, that schools like TLI would follow suit and get affiliated with some wild chicken uni or other soon enough.[/quote]
Probably right. Universities must have been complaining about the private schools making too much dosh at their expense, and without their costs, and this is their way of getting a slice of that pie. It’ll All Be All Right In The End.[/quote]
Yeah. Now that I think of it, the uni’s certificate on the wall was preceded by a tuition hike.
This likely won’t help you in Taizhong, but when I was attending CLD classes in Taibei, I noticed something on their wall one day which had the name of some University on it. They explained that they had enterred into some kind of relationship with this university and that this would ease extension concerns and even allow some students to obtain ARCs. I had a work sponsored ARC at the time, so don’t know much more about it. You’d have to think, though, that schools like TLI would follow suit and get affiliated with some wild chicken uni or other soon enough.[/quote]
Or perhaps they’ll turn into a “university” like all the other schools nowadays.
I trust this post is a harbinger of even more community-spirited interaction.
The information provided in the OP was useful. Those of us who are doing/have done time at TLI will be particularly interested.
What a better way to show the world how “welcoming” Taiwan is to international community who are going to join the new language rat race. I guess China is going to be in the position to really be the leader in this industry. 
And Taiwan can just go ahead and stop with those Chinese language aid websites they are setting up to enable foriegn students learning Chinese…