My career has been as a university professor and high school teacher, and I’m qualified to teach English based on experience, but no certificate. When I hit 65 in a few years, I want to retire and live in Taipei, or stay there as long as possible, as I spent a rewarding period of my career there. I’m able to stay in Taiwan visa-free for 90 days at a time, but I want to find out if it’s possible to get at least a part-time gig as an English teacher that would include an ARC. Is working part-time past 65 allowed in Taiwan? They used to say it was easy to get teaching jobs that were legit even though the job was crappy if you didn’t know the ins and outs of that market. I don’t care too much about that because any teaching income will be extra for me. This is all about staying in Taiwan legitimately and keeping mentally active.
Maybe covid has skewed things there, especially with the recent situation. Since I’m talking about years from now, I’d like to find out how it was during more normal times as a best guess how it may be when I’m ready to make the move.
I should have clarified: I haven’t lived in Taiwan in years. I’m thinking of moving there when I retire from full-time work. So I’m asking first if teaching English in a legit place past 65 is allowed, or is retirement by 65 mandatory. Second, is it possible to come to Taiwan and get an ARC for a part-time job. Full-time would be fine, I just thought that full-time employment past 65 might not be allowed.
Here are the requirements nothing is stopping you unless you don’t have an associates degree and tefl at minimum (tefl is easy to get). Or a bachelors without tefl will suffice. No maximum age, just a minimum age. Some older people find landing a job more difficult but it’s not impossible. If you look outside of Taipei landing a job will be really really easy.
Minimum of only 14 hours per week. Most cram schools only count teaching hours so actual work hours will will probably be around 20, 6 hours office, 14 hours classroom.
You just need an employer to sponsor your visa. After 5 years you could apply for nationality or an APRC and live a life of leisure or keep working or find a new job wherever or whatever you want to do in your retirement if you plan on spending all your remaining years in Taiwan.
I would make sure your employer does payroll correctly during the interview as income above a certain amount is a requirement for both APRC and nationality.
You could work full time or part time. It’s up to you
if you want to stay mentally active, why not sign up as a language student or to a degree program. you get ARC and national health insurance with that.
@justintaiwan, thanks, that gives me a lot to look forward to. I’ll start working on that in a few years, if not sooner. I expected it would simply be a matter of a legit operation who found me a reasonable risk despite my age to sponsor me, but I wanted to rule out in advance that I won’t have somehow aged out of the possibility. When the time comes, I expect I’ll consult with a lawyer in Taiwan about the whole thing because at that stage of my life, it would be a disaster to walk in to a bad situation. I have an old contact at a law firm there, so I guess I can get a referral from them.
It would have to be Taipei, or at least close to an MRT station somewhere. A life of frugal leisure is my most realistic likelihood. @izzy, you make an interesting point about taking a class instead of teaching one. I hadn’t thought of that that. It’ll come down to a question of finances, and I’ve thought that a small but positive local income to supplement would make me feel a lot more secure. Perhaps arriving to study for maybe a year, then setting things up for a longer future once I’m there might be a viable and desirable plan. If you change from a student visa to a work visa, I’m guessing you have to exit and re-enter, so there’s that.
That works great for me. Looking through the info, I see the Gold Card has a three-year term, and I don’t see anything about renewal. So it’s a workable strategy to arrive on a Gold Card, then I have up to three years to get a contract somewhere that will qualify me for an ARC (then APRC after 5 years), right? I’m hoping to stay in Taipei long term once I make the move.
Yes, I also now see this listed under the benefits: “Eligible to apply for permanent residency after three years (excluding Hong Kong and Macao residents).”
Maybe consider Kaohsiung. We moved there after 20+ years of living in Taipei (and wife Taipei-born and raised). With retirement, your finances will go a lot longer down south than in Taipei. Kaohsiung’s MRT line can take you to most places, along with street-car network being extended.
Taipei less than 2hrs away by HSR if you need to see old friends. My wife’s family/friends all in Taipei, and living in Kaohsiung never been a hindrance to maintaining relationships, especially as everyone has their own family obligations.
nothing is stopping you unless you don’t have an associates degree and tefl at minimum (tefl is easy to get). Or a bachelors without tefl will suffice. No maximum age, just a minimum age. Some older people find landing a job more difficult but it’s not impossible. If you look outside of Taipei landing a job will be really really easy.