What is life in Taiwan like without an ARC?

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
43

When did you actually do this? Your record of ID number printout above was from 2014. I think it hasn’t been easy to open a bank account with this since like early 2017.

By “not easy” I mean difficult to impossible at >90% of banks. I tried around mid-2017 and wasn’t able to do it then because of some purported “new rules”, and I remember reading of many others who couldn’t either. AFAIK, a limited account at the post office bank was and still is one of the few exceptions, but most banks won’t accept it.

Still being able to open a bank account with this also wouldn’t be consistent with regular ARC holders having their accounts locked when their current ARC expires and/or they’re forced to update to the new number. It would be weird if somebody without an ARC using this form to open an account would have more rights to keep their account open indefinitely than somebody with an ARC.

There’s also no expiry date on the form, which I imagine would be a problem in the eyes of the typical Taiwanese bank clerk trying to deal with a foreigner.

44

Also if you’re able to open a bank without an ARC, I believe it would be very limited - no online banking, no USD/foreign currency accounts, no foreign currency exchanges, only local Taiwan ATM usage allowed, etc. So you can only receive and withdraw TWD from a local ATM. Not sure what are the use cases of this, other than to deposit some temporary tourist spending money or some illegal work.

45

It’s not mine it’s a google search. I did it I think it was 2017 or 2018, i forget exactly.

It’s possible at 100% of banks. You just have to hold you ground and not accept their bullshit and throw their own terms and conditions at them. Look at every banks website. Every single one will say the minimum to open an account is a unified ID and passport. Some may also ask for proof of address.
The tellers are just on a power trip and saying ‘no’ gives them a jolt of energy

You’re right, it’s better. My account I opened this way never became locked or inactive.

Taiwan is not the place of things that make sense.

That’s because the number is assigned to you forever(ish)
Passports have an expiry though

46

I remember this being an issue years ago, they didn’t know what to enter for an end date as there is no end date on the form.
Mind blown.
They called Taipei to get direction but I don’t know how it was resolved.

47

Very skeptical of this 100% claim. You’ve seen in the other thread how much hassle foreigners have had opening accounts at even a “foreigner-friendly” bank and how little use the FSC typically is when foreigners report problems, saying it’s up to the banks who they open accounts for and how they assess risk.

If people go in there with the form and keep being told “no”, as I and others have done, how much do you expect they can argue with that?

Are you just basing this on the fact you were able to open a single account with a single bank in 2017/2018, or have you or someone else done it more recently?

Skeptical about this too. Even for the few banks with functional English websites, I’ve definitely seen some saying they want an ARC for account opening. I seriously doubt all banks list on their websites that the proof of ID number is sufficient.

48

They do in Chinese. Just not in English

49

I never claimed that it was easy. Only possible.
You don’t have to believe me but according to 100% of (branch based) banks, the minimum required is a passport and UID number.

The only one I know of is the recent online Richart account but if you go into Taishin you can open an account with a passport and UID.

I’d be interested to know if there are others.

I have about 7 banks accounts here and I checked all their requirements before going into the branch. All of them say the minimum is a passport and UI number, occasionally proof of address.

I’m not claiming banks to be foreigner friendly or good deal with.

I’m saying that it is factually possible to open an account without an ARC at every branch based bank. If you give up dealing with a teller that doesn’t make it impossible, it means you gave up on your entitlements

Life wasn’t meant to be easy. Especially life as an immigrant

50

Haha, a Taiwanese friend told me this when I showed him this thread:

He said that indeed your ID number follows you almost forever, but the exception he heard of, of getting your ID number changed, was if it contained too many 4’s.

Then you may ask for a change, and the system complies. Does not make sense, indeed :rofl:

51

Oh, I’m not shocked at all. I’m halfway surprised use of the numeral four for IDs was allowed at all, given Chinese numerology.

52

Perhaps you could clarify what you mean by having an ARC isn’t a requirement? Specifically, could you speak to how you did those tasks, and what companies and specific offices you went to in order to accomplish them? My experience without ARC is very different to yours.

I can say from experience that life in Taiwan without ARC sucks. Even if you have a visa, such as “language student visa”, which is really just a “visitor visa” with a footnote. The language student visa has a different rule set to degree student visa too, so they information you get will likely be conflated between the two. You can eventually get an ARC on a language student visa after having enrolled in 9 months (4 months complete, + additional three months already enrolled, of which they only come in 3 month semesters AFAIK) of classes. But there’s alot of gotchas. You need to visit two different government departments to get it, and they don’t talk to each other, so you’ll need to speak to both of them separately every time to get the right information, because you need both of their approvals to get ARC. I ended up getting erroneous information from immigration and the school, and it meant that I would need to leave Taiwan and start again.

You can’t get a phone number yourself. I tried on one occasion, and got one in my name but I had to have a Taiwanese vouch for me at Chunghwa. Even then, you have to use the older, slower 4G, despite 5G being available. And the maximum length of SIM service is 180 days. You can’t even make international phone calls from that number, even if you ask to add a package to do so. After that you can’t renew it, you need to get a different phone number. I tried later to get a Chunghwa SIM, and they said because I didn’t have enough days left on my extension I couldn’t buy a new one. This is despite the fact that you can only get 60 day extensions, and you can’t renew them more than 14 days in advance. How bizarre when phone companies play like they’re immigration. At that time, I tried to go to every phone shop, and none of them wanted to help me, all suggesting that I get a friend to sign up to a 2 year phone plan. So, the reality is, you’ll have a very tough time getting even a phone number.

Yes, you can get a temporary ID number from immigration, but none of the companies in Taiwan recognize it. No banks recognize this at all, except for the Post Office Bank. If you go to a language school with a relationship with a post office, you might be able to open a Post Office Bank account. But you’ll need a Chinese name and a stamp first, before you get the immigration document. But be careful, you might end up unable to access your money if you end up with any discrepancies in your paperwork or phone number not working later.

There are many many many things you can’t do without an ARC, and life will be very difficult.

53

Incorrect

54

I got my current Chunghwa phone number without an ARC and without a guarantor, just using my passport after I arrived on a visa exemption as a tourist. I don’t remember the issue of a guarantor even being brought up. I also got a second SIM card for my dad a few months later when he visited.

Both of those were in 2016 though, and I’m not sure if things are more strict now. I still haven’t updated Chunghwa with my ARC number, and the passport I opened the SIM card with is now long expired.

I wouldn’t really expect to be able to get a two-year postpaid plan without some kind of long-term permission to stay, tbh. (Though I understood that telecoms operators can be annoying with these even for people with A(P)RCs.)

55

Got my bank using the ID paper and passport. Chinatrust.

56

40 years ago it was not a biggie but today i would think you have many problems.

  1. no drivers license
  2. no bank
  3. no credit card
  4. no govt insurance
  5. probably have trouble renting an apt
  6. no cellphone
    what else have i missed? you basically are a non person and don’t officially exist in taiwan
57

None of that is correct

Life sucks without an ARC.
But you can do everything.

58

Just my opinion and a side note, temp if off-topic, nuisance, etc.:

Even if something (a situation, condition, rule, law, etc.) which was true or in effect when you were here is no longer true or in effect, I hope you keep posting your experiences about things, because it’s good to have that perspective (or it’s good for me, at least).

Now, in the past, I think some people have been heard to say something like, “But, @tommy525, you ain’t in Taiwan anymore.” Thing is, for me, not being in Taiwan is also a perspective worth communicating, especially if you have stereo (i. e., being in Taiwan and not being in Taiwan).

Edited to add: I’m just posting this. If people want to dispute about it, fine, but I’m not going to enter into the dispute, unless, possibly, the dispute is about something “meta,” i.e., a dispute about meaning. This is from September:

Again, I’m just posting it. :idunno:

59

Awesome they kicked me out of the dmv for a license renew pls advise how you got it
Rules changed maybe ? And what year that was

60

Awesome love to hear how all these I mentioned are possible now pls describe and how current is the info

Wonderful news as I could not get any of those in 99

Had a reread of other posts and many have had good success

What is the situ today regarding these items I mentioned for non ARC prople

Luckily medical in Taiwan is reasonable even without the govt insurance not like the US where it is simply astronomical

I dieted once for 4 months and I lost 4 pounds total and fell unconscious onto the floor in the house
Went to the ER and they looked me over and said I’m fine and the charge was like 500 nt in 99 without insurance

That would’ve been 10k or more USD in a U.S. ER

61

I’m glad that it worked for you. For me, I couldn’t get any SIM card in Kaohsiung. I only wanted prepaid, but they wouldn’t give it to me. They wanted me to get a friend to sign up to a 2 year post paid plan for me, regardless of if that’s what I wanted or what was suitable for me. It seems very unethical. I theorize that is because that’s what the staff need for KPIs or commission.

62

Yea the language student ARC is shite. Really disappointed me how shite it was, how much ma fan it would have been to get a driving license or health card and every time you need to update it.

You are no better off just having a visa waiver, unless you are going to be studying for a long time such as 2 yrs.

I also opened a bank account with an ID number, bare bones though, no online.
I had a sim card to a few years ago, although it was the type i had to top up when it ran out.

Imo the worst thing is if you want a scooter license. Besides using goshare up to 50cc it won’t be possible