I am thinking about moving to Taiwan for work in the near future (most likely as an ESL teacher, still haven’t looked into other jobs in Taiwan related to my current field) but I am not sure what difficulties I might encounter with this due to my situation.
I was born overseas in the US but I recently applied and obtained my NWOHR passport. I’m slowly working through the process of applying for my local household registration to become a full Taiwanese citizen. However, I am most likely not planning to complete this step until late 2026 as I am a male who will be subjected to military conscription prior to turning 36.
If I obtain local registration first and then apply to jobs in Taiwan as a citizen will the process generally be easier? Or is it better to keep my Taiwanese status as a NWOHR and apply to opportunities I qualify for as a foreigner instead? I am a strong conversational speaker in Mandarin but I cannot read Chinese and I feel like that would put me in a rough spot if I apply to jobs as a full citizen.
I did come across TEFL job posts before where the companies said for NWOHRs to apply under their foreign passports and omit their NWOHR info but wanted to know will local companies discriminate against the fact that I am currently a NWOHR passport holder?
*In the past I did apply for an ESL job in Hsinchu and received an offer but did not follow through in accepting the role as I had accepted a different offer instead.
You apply using your U.S. passport (because they hire you based on it)
When you arrive you use your NWOHR passport and give your boss both and tell them you want to apply for the work permit using your NWOHR passport.
You also have the option of using the new work permit exemption in the professionals act. Basically the way it works (if you can’t get a Taiwan area residency card) is you use the visa waiver exemption of 3 months on your NWOHR and work. You are expedited in certain (professional) jobs which include cram schools and private schools. And keep coming back and forth until you can get your HHR in a year. You no longer need a full year (11ish months now) so you can get your Taiwan ID card within a year.
With me my contract is written using my Australian passport but they also have my TARC and NWOHR passport on file.
No. It’s usually based on skin color. If you look Asian the companies that discriminate won’t care if you have an NWOHR passport or not.
“A person who has acquired nationality of the State by naturalization but has not established household registration in the State, and who enters the State as holder of an ROC passport to engage in professional work or seek employment, is exempted from applying for a work permit.”
This is the exemption I am using.
You can however, get a work permit using your NWOHR passport and flashing your U.S. passport as proof of native language.
Oh ok. I think I understand. So basically enter with my US passport and then use the NWOHR passport for the work related stuff to cut down on the paperwork needed basically?
No. You enter with your NWOHR passport but show your American passport to the school as proof of native language.
When entering to be eligible for the 90 day exemption you need to show both passports. The NWOHR passport to be stamped and the American passport (not to be stamped) to confirm you are from a country eligible for the 90 day exemption.
It’s the residence card code for those with a parent with a HHR. Pre-2024 this is what most adult children of Taiwanese citizens have to go through. 1, 2 or 5 years on a TARC before establishing HHR. Nowadays it’s usually what children of those who did not have HHR during their birth goes through but you fulfill that criteria as well.