[quote=“Traveller”]
The result of investigations so far - info mainly from the Foreign Affairs Police - indicates that in this event the Taiwan authorities do not consider the marriage to be at an end, marriage can only be ended by divorce. At such time as my JFRV based ARC was about to expire then I would need to take certain documents, including household registration, death certificate etc along to the FAP and they would then give me a new ARC still based on the JFRV.
Just wondering if this goes along with anyones elses knowledge or experience.[/quote]
Well, as someone who has gone through this personally recently, I still can’t say that I can give you a completely clear answer.
First telephone call got the results that, if you have children who are Taiwan citizens, you are allowed to continue to reside under your deceased spouse’s name. As this was not the case for me, upon describing my situation, I was told that I would be given one extra year and had to provide all of the documents you mentioned above, plus a letter stating my living conditions and financial status. There was no statement that this is a standard provision. This extra time was explicitly given to have the funeral, clear up any issues related to my wife’s estate and any other related issues, but the underlying understanding was that it was also to give me enough time to apply for an ARC on my own (ie: investment, employer, etc).
Upon actually going there, I was surprised that they extended my JFRV for 16 months to the exact date that would have marked me having a JFRV for 5 years and entitling me to apply for an APRC. I’m assuming that the fact that I previously had almost 6 years of employer based ARCs before shifting to a JFRV might have made some difference here and the good people at the FAP cut me a break.
It is very clearly stated, though, that a foreign national holding a JFRV based ARC has to report the death of his/her spouse within 15 days under risk of having their ARC cancelled and, presumably, being deported.
All in all, they (the FAP) were very helpful, sympathetic and understanding, so I can’t corroborate with all these stories of people being tossed out as soon as their spouse passed away. I was actually very grateful at the kind and gentle way that all of the officers that I dealt with handled the situation.
Hope this helps someone.