They are starting to do that on exit. Remember that if you stay more than 183 days in a year⊠you become a tax resident! Regardless of the visa/visa waiver youâre on.
No need to worry for now. However⊠this is not a long term solution at all and you CAN be stopped anytime and lose all of your things. (I suggest having some friends in Taiwan who could help you in this kind of emergency)
Personally I would use it to find a job or a stepping stone before a marriage visa etc⊠Donât be like the many who were living in Thailand, Mexico etc on these waivers and be stopped!
It will be stopped in the future. Not a matter of if but when.
I did 15 years visa runs in Taiwan
Never had any real problems
Sometimes you just have to deal with a situation best you can in life even if you wish it wasnât so
Be prepared for issues but donât let it keep you from whatever it is
Life is not for worrying
Someone said if you want to progress you need to be uncomfortable
Good to seek the ideal situation in life but if you need to slog through shit in the meantime âŠ.then by all means slog through shit just donât get bogged down
I understand it can work. But I wouldnât suggest it due to the legality of it and itâs not difficult to get a gold card or any other ARC nowadays. Unless you donât have a degree and even in that case a JFRV isnât difficult either. (Iâd presume youâd be dating Taiwanese girls anyway.)
Thatâs right. But also cover you butt and donât be f@#Ked like what happened recently to many on waivers in other countries. Especially if you can prevent it.
You could have had your APRC by nowâŠ
@tommy525 just be careful mate. Make sure that you are prepared for that one day because you honestly never know.
I did visa runs for a number of years, I donât have any regrets about it, it was great and I got to visit most of asia in the process. imo the worst thing is not having a (scooter) driving license, that became quite a pain in the ass.
As was said earlier, they will tighten things up when Visa runners become a problem.
As an example, the EU restrict the Visa free entry to 90 days within 180 days. USA has restrictions too, from memory, jumping over to Canada or Mexico for a week does not restart the clock.
Taiwanâs problem with visa runners is a bit different than other countries IMO. Like mentioned earlier, Taiwan is nowhere near as popular as other digital nomad destinations like Mexico, and I hope it remains that way.
The main problem is with dual citizen draft dodgers who want to live in Taiwan on a foreign passport. If Taiwan ever cracks down on draft dodgers, all the laowais doing visa runs may end up becoming collateral damage.
They do have a law on this though I havenât seen anything about further enforcing it:
Any draftee having maintained his household registration in Taiwan area, and at the same time having the status of double nationalities, should enter into and depart from Taiwan area by presenting his ROC passport; any draftee entering into Taiwan by presenting a foreign passport and is duly subject to conscription shall be restricted from departing from Taiwan are until completion of his conscription obligation. Regulations for Exit of Draftees - Article Search/Content Search Result - Laws & Regulations Database of The Republic of China (Taiwan)
There is proposed changes related to illegal work and overstaying. According to the gov the punishments are not strong enough currently.
Article 18 of the immigration act is proposed to be amended to:
If a person meets one of the following circumstances, he shall be fined between NT$ 2,000NT$4000 and NT$10,000NT$20,000:
⊠For foreigners who overstay, reside and work illegally, 18% of the income from illegal work shall be expropriated. In addition to tax, if the overdue period is less than one year, a fine of NT$30,000 will be imposed; if the overdue period is more than one year but less than two years. A fine of NT$60,000 shall be imposed on those who have exceeded the deadline; a fine of NT$90,000 shall be imposed on those who have been overdue for more than two years but less than three years. A fine of 150,000 NT dollars will be imposed on those who have exceeded the deadline for more than three years. The employer during the period of illegal work shall be jointly and severally liable for the income tax and fine imposed in the preceding paragraph. Immigration Act - Article Search/Content Search Result - Laws & Regulations Database of The Republic of China (Taiwan)
It doesnât help that government departments themselves arenât very clear or consistent on work permit requirements for work conducted for overseas employers.
This is the response an acquaintance of mine recently received when asking about whether she needed a work permit for a side job for an overseas employer while on an ARC - according to this MOL employee, no work permit is necessary:
Just how many visa runners are there? This figure was pretty interesting:
âAccording to the NIA, more than 420,000 foreign nationals have been able to stay in Taiwan under the automatic monthly visa extension programâ
That would make visa runners one of the largest group of foreigners on the island. And the way the program was structured, you canât add to this number since its only applicable if you entered before XYZ date.
I wonder if those numbers are the number multiplied by the amount of times there were extensions? Probably not.
Do those numbers include persons whose ARCs ran out - including SE Asian migrant workers, students, businesspeople whose business visas expired, people waiting to get married, etc.? I very much doubt there were that many âdigital nomadsâ and under the table teachers.
Yeah, just because MOL, WDA says it may be ok doesnât mean its ok with MOI, NIA. Additionally MOF, NTB takes tax obligation based on the number of days in Taiwan than the visa status of âresidentâ so there could be issues raised there if a visa-exempt foreigner decides not to file.
I do agree the government departments should be more clear and consistent on the rules.
Well what if you have dual citizenship with two countries that have visa free access to both Canada and the US, and you just swap the passports?
This is gold. We have it in writing from a MOL employee which is a division of the same government as the NIA, that if your employer isnât in Taiwan then you donât need a work permit. This could be grounds for appealing a deportation order of someone caught working remotely without the appropriate visa/permit.
Well, I guess the more Passports you have, the more you can do. Just donât forget what Passport you entered on when you next leave - like a person in front of me did at the Immigration checkpoint at Woodlands in Singapore a few years ago - entered on a Canadian Passport and tried to leave on a British Passport. They turned him around!!
