I’m relatively fresh out of college with a BS (I graduated this past May 09) and I am planning on moving to Taipei on January 18. I already have my plane ticket. I’ve been accepted to MTC at NTNU and am waiting on the admissions letter to be mailed to me here so I can apply for a multiple-entry extendable visitor visa. I am hopeful that I can find work as a research assistant in a neuroscience lab.
I have been blitz emailing professors at several different universities around Taipei, as well as people at Academia Sinica and have gotten a few positive responses. One such researcher at NTU, however, stressed that I would have a hard time getting a work permit as a “low-tech” foreign worker. I don’t have 2 years of experience since graduating, because I’ve only been done with school for about six months. I really want to get a job researching neuroscience. If I can get through the hurdles of finding someone with funding for a research assistant, what are my chances of getting a work permit for such a position? I don’t think I can prove myself to have any unusual special skills that a Taiwanese college student couldn’t obtain.
Is there anyone out there who had similar specs when they went to Taiwan and were able to secure themselves a job in science research? How did they do it?
You could try to apply for admission into a masters program in the department and school you’re interested in, then get a student visa that way. Masters programs in Taiwan require research work and a thesis and can be completed within two years’ time.
Academia Sinica does offer a short summer internship program to foreign students I believe.
I am working in Academia Sinica right now, but I do have a MS (in the US).
Thanks catfish, I am actually entering on a student visa - I’ll be studying mandarin at Shida. I didn’t think that would allow me to work, however? I still have to apply for a work permit, I think.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but you aren’t allowed to work with a student visa…to get a work permit you need to have a work visa, which still has the stipulations of 2-year working experience intact.
The Mandarin program at Shida is 6 months right? So if you’re coming next month then you might be able to do the internship program at AS, then decide for sure if you want to stay in Taiwan.
[quote=“catfish13”]Correct me if I’m wrong, but you aren’t allowed to work with a student visa…to get a work permit you need to have a work visa, which still has the stipulations of 2-year working experience intact.
The Mandarin program at Shi-Da is 6 months right? So if you’re coming next month then you might be able to do the internship program at AS, then decide for sure if you want to stay in Taiwan.[/quote]
Yeah I have been rather confused about visa types and what they are good for. I was going to apply for a visitor visa for the purpose of tourism, but I knew that I wanted to be taking classes at Shi-Da. My visa type is “Visitor” - I applied with the intent to study and with an Admissions letter from Shi-Da. On the Remarks section of my visa, it says “FR” and that I am here to study at Shi-Da. I keep hearing about this supposed “student visa” but I’m unsure if it is what I have. Is it simply a Visitor visa for the intent of study or is it different from that? I’ve read that you can apply for the “student visa” but only after four months of study in Taiwan. I don’t want the student visa because, as you said, technically I would then not be allowed to work with it. In addition, my boyfriend is coming with me to Taiwan and he has a regular Visitor visa for purpose of tourism - it explicitly states on his visa, under the Remarks section, “P - unauthorized employment prohibited.”
I heard that studying Mandarin in Taiwan is one of the best ways to ensure that your visitor visa will be extended at the end of 60 days. The program is three months long - I will take classes from March to June. At which point, perhaps I will apply for the AS summer internship. What I really wanted to do, however, was work at AS as soon as possible. If I applied for a work permit under my Visitor visa for study, would they outright deny me? Or could I have the potential of gaining a work permit - I would just have to also apply to change my visa status in the process?
I am also considering teaching English. I’ve heard it’s pretty easy to get a work permit for this - could I do that on my FR Visitor visa? (I assume that people teach English and study Mandarin simultaneously in Taiwan all the time…)
Yeah I have been rather confused about visa types and what they are good for. I was going to apply as a tourist, but I knew that I would want to be taking classes at Shi-Da. Also I heard that studying Mandarin in Taiwan is one of the best ways to ensure that your visitor visa will be extended at the end of 60 days. The program is three months long - I will take classes from March to June. At which point, perhaps I will apply for the AS summer internship. What I really wanted to do, however, was work at AS as soon as possible. If I applied for a work permit under my student visa, would they outright deny me? Or could I have the potential of gaining a work permit - I would just have to also apply to change my visa status in the process? [/quote]
Most students enter on an extendable visitor visa which can usually get you an ARC after a few months. You’re allowed to apply for a work permit for ten hours a week, after about a year, if your grades are good. Of course, if you apply for a job and meet the work permit requirements, you can get them to apply for a work permit and ARC and dump the student visa which can be a bit of a hassle (getting printouts of your grades and bank statements to extend it, etc)
Your work permit is tied to your employer and an ARC is issued on the basis of that. It’s totally illegal to work on a student visa and you’ll be fined and deported if you get caught teaching without the proper paperwork. If you come here to study, you can apply for a teaching job, do a visa run to HK, enter on a new visitor’s visa, and have your employer apply for a work permit and a work-based ARC.
Disclaimer: it’s been a while since I dealt with all these shenanigans so please correct me if things have changed.
[quote=“Buttercup”]
Your work permit is tied to your employer and an ARC is issued on the basis of that. It’s totally illegal to work on a student visa and you’ll be fined and deported if you get caught teaching without the proper paperwork. If you come here to study, you can apply for a teaching job, do a visa run to HK, enter on a new visitor’s visa, and have your employer apply for a work permit and a work-based ARC.[/quote]
Ah ok, so theoretically if I find a job and meet the work permit requirements, I could get my potential employer to apply for a work permit and work ARC for me. If I am still on my extendable visitor’s visa for study (that is, I will be studying at Shi-Da, but I will not have gotten a study ARC), would I still have to leave Taiwan to HK for a visa run to get a new visitor’s visa? That doesn’t really make much sense to me. The purpose of issuance for my visitor’s visa was study, but it’s not explicitly a “study visa,” is it?
By “study visa,” do you mean, study ARC? Or do you mean an extendable visitor’s visa for the purpose of study?
My biggest hurdle will be meeting the requirements for a research job work permit in the first place, I think, as I lack 2 years of experience in the field since graduating college.
Just a note to new readers of this thread, my above question was answered (ever so kindly!) by Buttercup in: [url]Just what exactly is a "student visa"