Work visa: can an MSc civil engineer (or high school teacher) become self-employed?

Legal Visa & Residency
1

Good morning everyone and thanks for reading the post.

First of all I’m going to introduce myself:
My name is Salva Adam, I’m Spanish and I have a master’s degree in civil engineering and another in education for undergraduate physics and mathematics.

For a year and a half I have been thinking about moving to Taiwan since my girlfriend is Taiwanese and I haven’t seen her for almost a year because of the covid.

Being a Spanish citizen we do not have the right to apply for the working holiday visa, so we only have the visa application for the purpose of job search, student visa and working visa.

The visa for the job search has been denied because I do not meet the requirements. It is illogical to ask that you have been working for 6 months prior to the visa application if you want to look for a job.

The fact is that of those 6 months they were asking for, I could only justify 4, so I am not eligible for that type of visa.

I also see the visa for medical treatment as being somewhat complex since I do not suffer from any disease, and a routine cosmetic operation or revision does not apply to this type of visa.

For the student visa I have seen that there was a visa modality for Chinese language students, but due to the pandemic it was not available until further notice.

Well, I find the last alternative: the working visa.

I understand that for this type of visa the company must sponsor you to obtain a work permit and, already with the permit, apply for the working visa.

I understand that this modality will be complicated since the companies will prefer to hire locals rather than spend a pasture in foreigners, so the only thing I can think of is to register as a self-employed person.

Can a MSc civil engineer (or high school teacher) become self-employed in Taiwan? Could someone give me some indication? I think it’s the easiest solution to enter Taiwan.

I have worked in the renewable wind energy sector for a while, and there are quite a few offshore projects in Taiwan? However, this is what I told you about hiring local people vs. foreigners

The other alternative that I am considering is to become self-employed in Spain for a few months, so that I can work for 6 months and then opt (again) for tourist seeking employment.

By default this post can be closed and idk why that happens.
If someone can tell me how to write post and keep them opened it would be nice.

Any pm sent will we replied :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

2

yes, if you resister your own business entity.

https://ezworktaiwan.wda.gov.tw/en/Content_List.aspx?n=0BFE0AB5EDF22EA7

3

If you post in “jobs” they are automatically closed. I guess it’s to prevent snarky comments. Post in “work in Taiwan” or other non Forumosafied forums.

To answer your question though, if you want to go the self employed route you’ll need a minimum amount of capital and all that… not sure if that’s something you can meet. Not sure what it is but it’s more than a shoestring and a prayer that’s for sure.

1 Like
4

FYI

Entrepreneur visa

5

Thanks, but as a freelancer could it be?
I think the options to set up an own business in another country is something out of my scope right now. I don’t fill any pre-requirements of that form.

Any other alternatives?

I appreciate your answer tando :slight_smile:

6

if you marry to your gf, the issue will be solved.

1 Like
7

Yes, I posted in jobs and was automatically closed.

Right now to set up my own business is a bit risky because I don’t know how is the market there and with the virus the situation will be really worse.

I am interested in some alternatives which make easier to find a working visa:

-Get hired by some company: it’s remote because they would prefer to hire locals
-Get hired by some company thanks to some agency: I am thinking in this option
-Become an enterpreneur and set up the own business: I think is a risky option if I don’t know how the market works.

In Spain, if you want to become a freelancer, you don’t need to set up your own business, you just have to pay an amount of money for taxes and you can find your opportunities without any kind of contract. Then every company pays you for the services you provided and you pay the taxes for every work you do.
But is not necessary to have your own business company registered.

This is what I am refering to…

8

haha yeah, but we are not at this point right now yet :sweat_smile

9

That’s normally how it is in most countries. I mean when you are a citizen of that country you just file your taxes, no need to have a registered business but there are advantages to doing it.

The problem is I am pretty sure I can’t go to Spain and be a freelancer and have a capital of around 500 euros.

1 Like
10

The problem with my profession is that it is not so easy to set up your own business. In the case of an architect, you can set up an architectural studio and start making projects. In the case of civil engineering, the requirements for setting up a business increase notably

11

So what does a civil engineering firm need? Do you have actual experience working in civil engineering (apart from college)?

I studied Geology and there are some overlap except geologists aren’t usually trying to build something on top of a formation… that’s what civil engineers do.

More than setting up a shop, you really need contacts in the industry who will get you work. Doing this in a new country introduces a lot of difficulties in that area.

12

It is possible to set up an office for writing projects. What happens and the main difference with architectural projects is the size of them.
A single architect can carry out the design of a single-family home or the urban design of a block. However, if an engineer designs an entire building, he will need the help of other professionals because of the volume or size of the same project.

That’s how I see it. An engineering firm requires more staff than an architectural firm.

As for my professional experience, I have been in certain positions, some of them on site and others not so much.

I have been a European fund manager for the local administration for about 7 months, then I have worked as an international junior trade advisor in Finland for another 6 months importing and exporting citrus fruits.
Then I spent a year and a half as a production and quality engineer on the Haramain High Speed railway project in Saudi Arabia, the high speed train project between Medina and Mecca.

Then in Spain as contract manager for the same Saudi project and finally the last 4 months as erection manager in a wind turbine company in Spain as well.

I do not have much work experience either, about 3 years in total, but all the contracts I have had have been for construction and service and it is a pain.

13

I don’t know about this. Just last week I attended a virtual job fair where a bunch of Taiwanese companies did presentations and several job openings were presented as well. This is their website.

https://www.contacttaiwan.tw/main/index.aspx

14

Oh great!! I will take a look there
Thank you :slight_smile:

15

Oh, I see that they even e-mailed a .pdf file with available jobs. If you want, PM (or write it here) your e-mail address to me and I can send that as well.

Screenshot_20201126-192328_Gmail
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1 Like
16

Sure my mail is salva_boro_@hotmail.com

My linkedIN profile is this (in case someone wanna contact me):
https://www.linkedin.com/in/salva-adam-llopis-16461276/

Thank you so much Ninashka

17

I’ve sent it now, I hope it will be of use. :slightly_smiling_face:

18

You could set up a consultant business or something in Spain, and could get a contract with a Taiwanese company. That would give you a visa.

19

Currently Spanish companies setting shop in Taiwan are related to transportation, building train carriages, have a look.

Green energy is mostly done by Dutch enterprises. Now, getting hired by them to work here would give you a nice plush package.

2 Likes
20

I have experience in green energy, and I expected to be hired by one of those companies but a message in LinkedIn made me to change my mind

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