i’m from germany and recently got my working holiday visa for taiwan, i’ll be moving there in april. i know the wh for german citizens comes with a lot of complications, but i really needed a way to go to taiwan and stay there for an extended time pretty quickly as i’ve been in a long distance relationship for four years and finally want to move in with my boyfriend after finishing my bachelors.
my first question would be if i need an outbound flight to be able to enter taiwan, since the visa is classified as ‘visitor’ on my passport? i didn’t need one to apply, but i’m worried i might be denied boarding. should i have one back to germany within 6 months lined up or could it be an outbound flight to any country?
my second question is what work i could realistically do there. i technically have enough money saved up to not work for a year but it’d be nice to earn some pocket money. i’m fluent in english but obviously not a native so i’m not sure if teaching jobs are an option. ideally i’d like to do one or two internships in my actual field of work/study. has anyone been able to get an internship with a wh visa? i’m planning to do a three month language course once i arrive so i’ll hopefully have at least some basic mandarin skills
thirdly, how could i stay for longer than a year after my wh visa expires? let’s say i get a job offer, would i need to go back to germany and then receive my work visa there, or do i just need to leave the country and then return from anywhere? from what i’ve read it’s only possible to change your visa type within the country if you’re a british citizen how about EU ones? is it difficult? how about if i wanted to change to a different visa type while my wh one was still active? what about if i were to get married?
thank you so much for answering!! if there’s any other advice you can think of please let me know!!
They are an option but it might not be super easy to find this kind of job. I know non-native speakers who were on the working holiday scheme and taught English in cram schools.
You can change from a visitor visa to a resident visa in Taiwan without leaving, I’ve done it myself (I am British but that shouldn’t make a difference). Also, you should get an ARC once you enter Taiwan (if they still issue them for working holiday people), and that is in itself a resident certificate, which can be changed to other resident certificates, e.g. work no problem.
You mentioned you are coming to Taiwan to see your boyfriend of 4 years, if you ever get married you could switch to a spouse ARC, which comes with open work rights.
BTW a friend just told me that he was unable to convert his working holiday visa to a spouse ARC without leaving Taiwan. May want to check with the appropriate authorities.
OP is German. After marrying she has to go to Germany to register the marriage there before she can get an ARC based on marriage.
Doing that from overseas would take years (I’m not kidding), unless she did not cancel residency when leaving Germany. Then her local marriage office might do it quickly.
You made me do a password reset just to log in and correct this. Nobody said I’m your friend and you cant prove it
To the OP:
I changed from a working holiday ARC to a marriage ARC. I organized with the Taiwan office in the UK and sent them all the required information by post, then travelled there to give them my passport, then returned to Taiwan. At the time of COVID they weren’t issuing resident visas, as such I was given a visitor visa, then converted it to a marriage ARC once inside the country. I would imagine you would get a resident visa in this case.
Be sure to make arrangements in plenty of time before your WH ARC expires.
Oh I was probably just wrong. I didn’t know there was a specific rule for changing working holiday visas. Other visas it shouldn’t matter what country you are from and should be able to change without leaving.
British WHV in Taiwan are different to the rest of the world. And I first came to Taiwan on a WHV and am not British.
Any my honest advice is there is ANY other visa option you can use, don’t use the WHV program in Taiwan it is a lot of hassle.
You do not, I didn’t and I flew via China.
Depends on what you classify as realistic. Legally, pretty much anything.
In reality though finding someone to hire you will be extremely difficult because you will not have an ARC or a work permit card.
While this is a great idea and one of the reasons countries have WHV, I wouldn’t personally consider it realistic. You would be better trying to find an employer sponsor your ARC.
Visitor visas can be changed in Taiwan. You would just apply for an ARC directly at NIA.
Now the exception to all of this is British citizens working holiday visas as they get an ARC which overcomes most of the troubles.
Now for people like you and me who aren’t British.
This does not exist for non-British citizens so you will find life very troublesome. While you could legally do anything, be prepared for many arguments and stupid employers and pretty much no one in Taiwan knows Taiwan’s own law.
Opening a bank account will be very very difficult, getting a car or scooter license will be very very difficult.
Getting someone to hire you legally and on the books, this was impossible for me and I gave up trying. No one would hire me legally even though I had the right to work so I just worked under the table.
You may extend your stay by another six months, once only.
Working Holiday visas are not convertible to other kinds of visas.
Here are the points that were discussed here for Germans like OP. Thanks @fifieldt
Every country have their own terms negotiated with Taiwan for the WHV program. Some assumptions derived from other WHV programs in this thread are wrong.
this is the only think that really confuses me. does it mean you have to wait for your visa to expire to get a different one no matter what, or just that you can’t change it inside the country, and you’d have to leave, apply for a different one, then reenter? i feel like everywhere i look there’s a different answer lol
how about EU ones? is it difficult? how about if i wanted to change to a different visa type while my wh one was still active? what about if i were to get married?