Hi,
I am about to start a new job and my school will keep my passport for one month. Does anyone know why they need it that long? It has my 60 day visa in it.
Thanks
It can take 30 days to get all the paperwork done for your visa and ARC, depending how fast everyone moves. Your employer doesn’t need it for more than a couple days at a time, but he will need it each time he visits a government agency during the process. He is simply being lazy, not wanting to return it only to ask for it again a few days later.
That sounds pretty dodgy. There is no need for an employer to keep your passport for any period of time, let alone 30 days. When I went through the process back in January, I only had to make copies of my passport to apply for the work permit. When that came, my boss and I went to MOFA together to apply for the resident visa, and again two weeks later to apply for the ARC. The only time my passport was gone was during the ten days it took to process the resident visa.
he’s making copies and selling them on the black market, helping spies to reach your country and making a mint.
next month, you won;t be able to go back to your home because your passport will be cancelled or trigger border alerts and imprisonment.
[quote=“urodacus”]he’s making copies and selling them on the black market, helping spies to reach your country and making a mint.
next month, you won;t be able to go back to your home because your passport will be cancelled or trigger border alerts and imprisonment.[/quote]
Well, I wouldn’t go that far. But it does sound like a sort of insurance policy to keep the new teacher from bolting.
My employer wanted to take my passport but i wouldnt give it to him. We went together to Ministry of foreign affairs and they kept it for 10 days same as barfom… It is scary not having your passport, but you should be ok.
Good luck.
One should NEVER allow their passport to be out of their direct control.
NEVER.
[quote=“TainanCowboy”]One should NEVER allow their passport to be out of their direct control.
NEVER.[/quote]
exactly. In fact, if you are a USA resident, I believe it’s illegal for other than the bearer(sp?) to have it. If you are in Taipei, your boss only needs it for about a day or so, if not a week because it goes to the MOFA. In fact,you should be able to go with them to do all the paperwork, that way your passport is always in your possession or at least you know exactly where it is.
Good luck.
let them keep a signed copy of your passport, never ever leave it anywhere out of your control.
on the individual photocopy pages of the passport copy (and you generally have to copy the entire thing, all the way from front to back), sign it, date it AND write : ‘for the purposes of visa application on date…etc etc.’ , and make the writing extend over unimportant areas of the copied page.
this prevents most kinds of misuse of the passport.
As said above, your employer only needs a copy of the front cover and the ID page. Write on both copies, “Copy same as original” and sign both. Also give them a copy of front and back of your Biometrics card if you have one. Give them one original copy of your health report. I was also asked this time for a copy of my last multiple entry stamp in my pastport and a copy of my embarkation paper from my passport. These also had to be marked as noted above and signed. (I don’t think these were really needed but they were easy to supply so - what the hell) You will also need the A4 income tax receipt mentioned in the taxes thread (if you worked here last year). They will no doubt also have you sign a contract in duplicate, give you one copy and that should be all they need.
They sure as hell don’t need your passport for a month. My guess is that this is an inexperienced person and doesn’t have a clue what they are doing which may ultimately cost you a trip to Hong Kong.
I also learned that your boss is charged 500 NT per batch of applications so some schools try to get as many into one batch as possible and this also may be a reason for a month long procedure. Again, a good way to spend a day in Hong Kong.
Remember, if time is short and there seems no hope by the last working day of the month, and all the paperwork is submitted and not processed, your employer can get a letter allowing you to extend your current visa for up to 30 days. I know this is possible for a work visa but I am not certain of other visas. Others may want to jump in or refer to other posts concerning this same topic.
EDIT: Ya I know, I didn’t differentiate between a work permit and a visa but why make it even more difficult.
Good luck.