I have so often read a posting about some new law passed that changes this, or prevents that, so I am hesitant to post this, but nevertheless, here goes.
I just received a letter from the Cram School Association that says, starting next year, foreigners who wish to change their visitor visa to a resident visa…ie. ARC…will have to leave the country. This means, no more can you simply arrive, process your papers…such as medical exam…and get the resident visa. You’ll have to leave first.
Anybody else heard this? Is this another one of those laws that never gets implemented? As I said, don’t want to breed paranoia, but it seems very black and white as I stare at this piece of paper. Feedback welcomed.
[quote=“jamesdeanwashere”]I have so often read a posting about some new law passed that changes this, or prevents that, so I am hesitant to post this, but nevertheless, here goes.
I just received a letter from the Cram School Association that says, starting next year, foreigners who wish to change their visitor visa to a resident visa…ie. ARC…will have to leave the country. This means, no more can you simply arrive, process your papers…such as medical exam…and get the resident visa. You’ll have to leave first.
Anybody else heard this? Is this another one of those laws that never gets implemented? As I said, don’t want to breed paranoia, but it seems very black and white as I stare at this piece of paper. Feedback welcomed.[/quote]
It used to be like that back in the day. Last time I converted from a visitor to a resident visa I had to leave the country and re-enter…it was 1993.
However, leaving the island is easy, and there are so many amazing destinations nearby that one could go to. And to get the ARC you ould only have to do it once. I was not imaginative back in 1993 - I went to Hong Kong. But one could just as easily go to Manila, or Brunei, or Seoul, or Bangkok - anywhere there’s a Taiwan representative office. A smorgasbord of travel destinations for cheap.