Hey guys
I need some advice please . I might have to do a visa run . What is country near Taiwan to go and what documents do I need . I have all my documents ready to apply the one year ARC but don’t think enough time . So for the visa run do I need an invertstion letter from my cram school ? Do I apply the one month visa in the other country or do I apply when I arrive at the airport in Taipei . Please any help would be great .
There’s two ways to do this. You could fly to HK and apply for a visitor visa with the invitation letter but then you’d still have to have the visa converted in Taiwan after you get the work permit.
My advice, if you are on visa free arrival (country pls?) fly to Hong Kong and transit inside the airport. i.e. do not go through immigration. So buy a China Airlines or EVA return ticket and once you get off the plane go to a transfer counter in the airport to check-in for your return flight. Once you get the work permit go to Foreign Affairs and apply to have a visa issued.
My guess is you are going to struggle to process all this so read all the previous threads on this subject.
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Thank you for the advice . Yeah I’m holding a South African passport not sure if it’s visa free arrival. When I applied the visitor visa in South Africa is was for one month and it was free , but needed an invitation letter from the school. So if I take your advice and do the HK way do I just apply the visa when I land back in Taipei ? And changing the visa to a one year ARC shouldn’t be a problem cause I have all the documents ready …
Bad luck then. As a saffer you have to apply for a visa. So that means to do it in one day fly to HK on the earliest morning flight head to the Taipei office on HK island and apply for the visa. I think you present the invitation letter but not sure what else you need. Take all your documents including proof of a residential address in SA. You can pick it up in the avo so long as you pay the express fee. Note they can only give you a visitor visa but it will be the type that allows a change of purpose of visit. Then when you come back you go to foreign affairs and apply for a residence visa with your work permit. When that is issued you go to immigration and apply for the ARC.
Ok thanks for the info bear , yeah I have proof of my residence in South Africa and pretty much most of every document . But the visitor visa I’m not sure they will give to you on the same day . I remember when I got it in SA it took like 4 days to process . Yesterday they started the application for the work permit takes 12 days . My arc expires on the 19th this month . Would they let me pay a fine if over like 5 days and still process the arc or just tell me to f@ck off .
You have an ARC already? Have you extended it?
I had a one year arc with a government school . Then left that school and they gave me a 6 month job hunt visa .
OK. Processing times in HK are not the same as in SA. AFAIK same day issuance is still possible.
Bear if not HK what is the next best country ?
Not sure. You need to get a visa. The HK office is set up for visitor visa issuance. Other offices have a higher risk of tomfoolery. You can get cheap flights to Manila of course but I’ve never dealt with their office. Bangkok if you fancy Thai food.
Ok thanks bro , I’ll try Manila then .
All good bear didn’t have to do a visa run . Pleaded with labour department and they did my work permit in two days . So getting my ARC next week . Happy days , thanks again for the advice .
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Nice one. It’s pretty obvious the word has been passed down to extend all assistance to foreigners in these matters rather than the bad old days when they’d make you jump through hoops.