Will be arriving on the 1st of april

hello, i will be arriving in taiwan on the 1st of april and have a few question of what i should expect when i get there.

-what is the average rent for a furnished 2 bedroom apartment (i’m coming with a friend)?
-what are the average wages for a hundred hours a month?
-are jobs hard to come by right now?

this is all i can think of asking right if there is anything anyone would like to add please feel free. i am brand new to taiwan and any extra info you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

p.s. niether of us have jobs yet were hoping to find them when we get there.

[quote=“woda123”]hello, I will be arriving in Taiwan on the 1st of April and have a few question of what I should expect when I get there.

-what is the average rent for a furnished 2 bedroom apartment (I’m coming with a friend)?
-what are the average wages for a hundred hours a month?
-are jobs hard to come by right now?

p.s. niether of us have jobs yet were hoping to find them when we get there.[/quote]

Don’t do it Woda !!

Firstly getting a job in Taiwan is difficult because you need a staying and a working permit. No job no working permit. No working permit no staying pemit. No Staying Permit you have to leave the country every 90 days

I know this from experience. A lot of expats there fly to HK every 90 days for the visa and it is a pain in the bum.

There are two ways round this though.

You can get a staying visa if you go and learn mandarine 10 hrs (minimum) per week in the school. This still doesn’t allow you to work

If you have a degree in english you are OK you can teach and get both permits automatically

You don’t mention what you do but the average salary for a local skilled worker can vary a lot 50-100,000 NT$ and taxes are quite low (20%). For 160-200 hrs/month

A furnished 2 bed appartment. Well the start at 10,000 NT$ for an absolute hole in the wall in Taipai (complete with pets - the good old cockroaches) and end for something really nice with 70,000 in Tienmu

Taiwan is not simple to settle in there are a lot of things to learn. Having said all this, its a place that you either love of hate. We have been out of the place for 4 months and i have to admit I miss it.

Finally, do it right Wooda !! Visit first for a few weeks holiday find a job, do the paperwork and then settle down. if you don’t it will be stress and expensive.

For anything about visas, work permits, leasing agreements, etc. you shoud look in the legal forums here, or check out tealit.com.

There are plenty of threads about jobs and salaries in the Teaching English forum (here), and you could also look at the housing classifieds here and on tealit.com to get an idea about apartments.

Not doing thorough research on your own before arriving would, I think, be foolhardy.

Here’s my situation:

I work an average of 21 hours a week and am paid between NT$58,000 and NT$68,000 per month. I found my job as the Fall semester last year was commencing. I hear the job market is quite tight right now. I have a work permit and ARC from my current employment; in exchange I am contracted to work until the end of June.

I know at least one person who is able to renew his visa once a month (without leaving the country) based on his enrolment at a school here. He does, however, have to leave the country every six months.

I am renting a furnished room in a 3-room apartment for NT$8000 a month, all utilities except A/C included. It’s in the Da-An district, which is considered by many one of the more expensive areas in the Taipei metropolitan area. I found it with the help of a friend of my mom’s, who could read the Chinese newspapers. My initial housing search was also done with a friend, but we found it too difficult to find suitable, affordable units for only two people. More common are studio-type arrangements, or 3+ bedroom apartments. But give it your best shot anyway.

My boyfriend’s apartment would be perfect for two people, and he intends to vacate it in the middle of May. Each month, his rent and bills come to about NT$18,000. It’s sunny, beautiful and convenient to the MRT. If you think you’ll be interested, PM me your contact details once you are here.

1: About 50000 to 70000 per month depending on pay rate. Don’t go below 500/hr. Try and get 550 600/hr.

  1. Lot’s of jobs on line. You can arrange some interviews before you come. If that works out you’ll be able to process your paperwork toute suite. (right away). If not, be prepared to take a trip to hingkong for a day or two.

  2. Depending where you live you can pay as much as 40000/month to as little as 5000/ month. The cities are more expensive while the smaller cities are cheaper. The countryside is the cheapest.

First you need to know where you want to go. Taipei is the best, lots othings to do. Taichung has an advantage of being warmer and less prone to rain and still alot to do. Kaoshung is great except for the dirty dirty dirty air.

Cost and earnings vary a little between the places. If you specify where your going then people can give you more specific information.

Ski