Thank you everyone for all of your help. I have a quick question. Hess said because I am from the United States, that I need to pay 4700 TWD to switch my landing visa for a visitor’s visa.
Is this a real thing? Did anyone else have to pay for this kind of visa?
Well, it’s not a landing visa, it’s visa exempt. If you got a job and are starting to apply for the ARC, you will have to convert your visa exempt to a visitor visa first before you can apply for the ARC.
When I showed up in Taiwan (waaaay back in the day) I was explicitly told that I could not switch from a visa exempt entry to a work visa; I needed to enter on a single-entry visitor visa, which then needed to be switched to a work visa after my arrival. I thought this was an odd way to do things (actually I had more colorful language than that–why the h*ll did I need to pay for two visas when the purpose of my arrival was clear?).
Its similarly confusing. You arrive visa-exempt, you pay a fee to get a visitor visa issued (but not a resident visa) and then you pay another fee to get your ARC issued which includes your multiple entry resident visa. My company reimbursed me 4600 so Hess is exactly correct in its maths. You will also need a tenancy agreement in your name to get that resident visa issued in country, i.e. proof of residence.