I just got a phone call from the head of my school. I have been working at one branch of their school for 4 years straight until last month when the branch closed down. At that point, we applied for a work permit for another branch in Taipei county and got it with no troubles, in fact i just got my adjusted ARC card back two days ago from the gov. My new branch doesn’t quite have enough hours so the school decides to apply for a secondary work permit for a branch in Taipei so I can take some hours there as well. He gets a call today saying that my degree (from Mexico city, UNAM) is not valid. That is fine but the woman says that my other work permit should not have gone through and that she is going to have that cancelled as well and fine the school 30000nt if I show up at the school again.
Can she cancel my work permit after they were the ones who let it through, twice? Do I have to be notified beforehand? My boss says he just tried to play dumb but that the lady seemed very agitated and not willing to talk about it. I understand that Taiwan has standards for degrees and the second largest university in the world is not on their list because it is not in an English speaking country, but I have been here for years and have a legit work permit, and I am only 8 months away from aprc application. HELP!! What can I do? If she cancels it without me knowing, then 4 years are down the drain.
My boss is a good guy and has always done right by me, but he says he doesn’t know what to do, and is asking me to reach out for answers.
I would go for the “I’m teaching Spanish approach” as you can’t legally teach English on a Mexican degree at the buxiban level.* Have your boss explain the misunderstanding that you are employed to teach Spanish otherwise you are SOL.
*I’m not being racist, xenophobic, nor am I imbred. I have lived in but wasn’t raised in a conservative state. The ROC govt only allows people with degrees from a certain set of countries teach English in Taiwan. Mexico, unfortunately in your case, is not one of those approved countries.
It sounds like the revocation of your work permit wasn’t without cause from the perspective of the ROC government. Someone let it through in the first place. They should not have (based on my understanding of their rules, although I’m not quite sure if the degree has to be from an English-speaking country if the passport is…worth checking out.)
Yes, it seems unfair after doing the job perfectly well for so long. Yes, I’d be royally pi$$ed as well. What I would be concerned about at this point would be finding a way to preserve my 4 years of legal work, if I were thinking about PARC in the future. Since everyone agreed at the time that your work was legal, I would hate to see them retroactively say “You were working illegally for 4 years” and disallow that time if you ever wanted to apply for PARC. If it’s possible, get something in writing (long shot, I know, but it could be really helpful in the future.)
[quote=“Okami”]I would go for the “I’m teaching Spanish approach” as you can’t legally teach English on a Mexican degree at the buxiban level.Have your boss explain the misunderstanding that you are employed to teach Spanish otherwise you are SOL.[/quote]Yes, yes! A Spanish Language teacher! That should work, just like the Japanese teachers that teach for the Japanese programs at Global Village, Kojen, and others. They have valid work permits and everything is gravy.
Just make sure that your boss explains that over the past 4 years you haven’t been teaching anything except for Spanish. He should be apologetic for filling out the application for your work permit incorrectly. He meant to fill in Spanish Language teacher for your application, but he’s so used to just filling in English Language teacher for his other teachers that he got a little confused…etc…etc…yada yada.
Thanks for the idea, I will see tomorrow if my boss will go for something like that. Does anyone know what the qualifications are to teach any other language than english. My spanish is pretty poor and I think I’d be found out if there were any face to face interviews or anything like that.
[quote=“danjordan”]Canadian passport, but I don’t think that matters unfortunately.[/quote]Are you a native speaker of English? Were you born in Canada or are you naturalized? Why do you have a degree from Mexico if you’re Canadian?
If you were born in Canada and you’re a native speaker of English and the only issue is that your degree is from Mexico, that would be B.S.!
Yes I thought that you only had to have a passport from an english speaking country. But there was no restriction on where you got your 4 year degree? So the degree has to be from a college located in an english speaking country as well?
Got a GF? Ready to marry her? Nows a really good time . Although I am not sure even being married to a local if you could teach english without the current restrictions?
You might have your boss submit a work permit for you saying that you will do cirriculum development but actually teach English. Do that until you get your APRC. Afterward you should be set.
I am Canadian, born and raised. I have a degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico because it is a good University (2nd largest student body in the world), because it is cheaper than Canadian Universities, etc. If I need to have a passport and degree from a spanish speaking country then I have no leg to stand on. UNAM has a branch in Canada, do you think I could use this as an argument. The problem is I don’t know who to argue with. Should I personally go into the CLA and talk to this lady who is causing the trouble? Should I wait to get a notice saying my ARC has been cancelled? But then I would have a break in ARC. Can I go to the Immigration Agency, tell them I heard my ARC was being cancelled and ask for an extension based on rumor?
Should I just hope the lady experiences temporary amnesia over the weekend and forgets to hit the cancel button?
I feel like I am in limbo, not knowing if the lady really did cancel it or just says she is going to but never will.
Do any main land universities have branches in Taiwan? Maybe you could use that to explain. You’re Canadian, studied in Canada, Studied in English, just at a branch of a Mexican school. Seems simple and clear, but you’re in the twilight zone. You may want to call the school in Canada and ask them for a letter explaining who, what, and where they are.
I’d like to review the Chinese text of the law. To my memory, there is nothing about where you had to go to school – only that it can’t be by distance education. The requirement as I remember it is to have a passport from an “English-speaking country”.
[quote=“danjordan”]I am Canadian, born and raised. I have a degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico because it is a good University (2nd largest student body in the world), because it is cheaper than Canadian Universities, etc. If I need to have a passport and degree from a Spanish speaking country then I have no leg to stand on. UNAM has a branch in Canada, do you think I could use this as an argument. The problem is I don’t know who to argue with. Should I personally go into the CLA and talk to this lady who is causing the trouble? Should I wait to get a notice saying my ARC has been cancelled? But then I would have a break in ARC. Can I go to the Immigration Agency, tell them I heard my ARC was being cancelled and ask for an extension based on rumor?
Should I just hope the lady experiences temporary amnesia over the weekend and forgets to hit the cancel button?
I feel like I am in limbo, not knowing if the lady really did cancel it or just says she is going to but never will.[/quote]
My understanding is that Taiwanese authorities have lists of universities that they recognize for the purpose of work permits. Is your uni accredited in Canada? You say it has a “branch.” Does it have a campus and did you attend classes there? Or is it a correspondence school? If it is the latter, it is unlikely the local authorities will accept credentials issued by it. I suspect what happened is that your degree is not recognized by the MOE and that you were issued a work permit in error. I suspect now that your degree has been rejected, there isn’t much chance of the decision being overturned.
If I were in your shoes, I would gather up as much information about you university as possible-- including as much proof as can be found to support the validity of your credential-- and try to get the credential accepted.
I suspect you may be SOL, however. If staying in Taiwan is important to you, I’d look into full-time Chinese lessons and/or local degree programs.
[quote=“danjordan”]I just got a phone call from the head of my school. I have been working at one branch of their school for 4 years straight until last month when the branch closed down. At that point, we applied for a work permit for another branch in Taipei county and got it with no troubles, in fact i just got my adjusted ARC card back two days ago from the gov. My new branch doesn’t quite have enough hours so the school decides to apply for a secondary work permit for a branch in Taipei so I can take some hours there as well. He gets a call today saying that my degree (from Mexico city, UNAM) is not valid. That is fine but the woman says that my other work permit should not have gone through and that she is going to have that cancelled as well and fine the school 30000nt if I show up at the school again.
Can she cancel my work permit after they were the ones who let it through, twice? Do I have to be notified beforehand? .[/quote]
IF the university is not recognized then yes they can cancel it if they decide it was issued in error in the first place. Seems they have now discovered that. Your issue is that your qualifications are not recognized here so it would not matter what job you applied for. Those suggesting you apply as a Spanish teacher do not seem to understand this. If your work permit is cancelled do not show up at the school as you would then be deported for working illegally.
I would see if the Canadian office might not be able to offer some assistance getting your qualifications accepted. NOw if your work permit is canncelled you will have a very short time to leave Taiwan then get a visitor viso to come back. DO not let yourself become an accidental overstayer if your work permit and ARC are cancelled.
:ohreally: