I have been looking at several different school’s sites and I keep seeing that the procedure for securing a work visa is different. Some make it seem like you can come straight over and start to work right away while others say you need to do a mountain of paper work and even get a health certificate.
Can anyone let me know if there is any truth behind this?
Also, what sort of things would keep you from not finding a job in Taiwan?
I am a Native English speaker with experience working with children and a B.SC. :s
You are not suppose to start work straight away, but I believe most schools like you start before they have started processing your ARC, possibly to find out if they like you.
Depending on your school and how involved in the process they will be, will depend on how much information they will give you and how the will get you do things. You will need a health certificate, the medical is done here in Taiwan. You will need a degree or a diploma and a TESOL certificate. Your school should fill out all the paper work for you. Have a look at the Taiwan government website and they have more details on visa requirments etc.
Bob, the current rules vis the health exam is that it is no longer required by the CLA. The Council of Labor Affairs is now king of the hill. However, although it is not expressly required by the CLA, in the most recent ruling they leave the option of requiring a health exam to the person (buxiban) requesting approval of your application for an ARC.
In other words, it is up to the school you are applying to whether they want to put you through the grind of pooing in a cup and other endless probings and checkings.
If the school you are applying to really wants to hire you, you can bet your next bowl of noodles they will sign off on this requirement.
Best of luck to you and I hope you get the job you want! If you don’t, there is always another one right around the corner.
I certainly don’t want to add to the confusion, but my understanding is that the following condition has also changed.
Previously when things were handled by the MOE this was true and was based upon the fact that your work permit was dated from the time that approval was received. Neither schools nor teachers tended to want to wait until everything was official, and just started work straight away.
Changes since the CLA took over control of issuing work permits to teachers see that the work permit is backdated to the date that the actual application was made/received. This apparently means that you can legally start working as long as your documentation has been provided to the CLA, and assuming that you do in fact get approved for a work permit (which I guess will become a new gray area). Should your school be inspected during the period between making the application till you receive your ARC, the FAP or whoever would make a return visit at a later date to confirm that you are in fact working legally.
All of the above is based upon my personal experience since the CLA took over control of these matters. Other comment may of course help to clarify this.
Hi Brian, what you say is quite true vis the school shunting the teacher into the classroom ASAP. But, in my experience (both personally and as an observor) they–the two with whom I have had experience–were equally anxious to have then new foreign teacher on stage as soon as possible in order to pump up their income.
The laoban are quite able to pass off a few NT under the table in order to get all this done, and in the end, the teacher gets the appropriate ARC.
Surfbunny, your premise is pretty much on spot, but the reality is that they could care less about how good a prospective teacher is. Only if they can get the shit done in time to beat the beaurocratic clock beat in time, save their ass, get a thumbs up on you and try to make some more money.
[quote=“Big Thumb”]the current rules vis the health exam is that it is no longer required by the CLA. The Council of Labor Affairs is now king of the hill. However, although it is not expressly required by the CLA, in the most recent ruling they leave the option of requiring a health exam to the person (buxiban) requesting approval of your application for an ARC.
In other words, it is up to the school you are applying to whether they want to put you through the grind of pooing in a cup and other endless probings and checkings.
[/quote]
I know that since last year or so work permits were supposed to be processed through CLA (applying the different requirements of the various Ministries). Can anyone confirm definitely that the health exam is now not required for MOE work permits? Anyone got direct personal experience or a link to the MOE ruling?
Sorry to be a sceptic but I recall that one of the reasons that ironlady (of blessed memory) decided to leave TW recently was because she was sick of this annual healthcheck requirement. Can we tell her to come back?
There just seems to be a big fuss on about visas and work permits recently. Everybody is talking about new rules in force but no one seems to have been subject to any new rules.
