Working Holiday Visa Renewal

Legal Visa & Residency
1

Hello there,
Just wondering if anyone out there is able to help me get more information on how to renew my working holiday visa for Taiwan. I’ve been in the country since December of last year, and it’s coming due soon. I completely forgot about it, and now I have a week or two to do something about it or else I will have to… enter… visa-free. Hm.

In any case, I’d rather renew the visa instead of having to reapply for it. I’m actually in Japan right now, so at least that saves me the trouble of having to fly out of the country. But my plane back doesn’t leave until after the visa expires, so…

(( :ohreally: :ohreally: The part where I inadequately explain why I’ve let things get this far goes here. :ohreally: :ohreally: ))

Thanks in advance for the help! :smiley:

2

Working holiday visas are only issued once. You can’t renew it. Once it expires after a year, it’s gone forever.

3

From memory, when I had my working holiday in 2007, it was for 180 days and had to renewed for another 180 days. I went to the immigration office to ask about it, and they said all I had to do was fly out of the country and re-enter on the same visa to get another 180 days of WH status. Does your WH visa say when it is valid until?

4

Ohhh. Okay I’m probably wrong then. I thought after the first 180 days, it was done for good. Fortunately I’m wrong.

5

Alias1983, in a way you’re right - the visa in the passport itself is not renewed, but by entering the country within the time frame on the visa, you basically set your 180 day clock again. Which means that if you leave the country just before the visa is due to become invalid and enter again, you will get a final 180 days, meaning you can essentially get 1.5yrs.

6

Sorry for taking such a long time to get back to this thread. WaltzingMatilda is right; it’s good for 180 days from the time of entry, so long as I enter the country, or re-enter the country, before the visa expires. The visa is good for one year from the date of issue, so technically, it could carry me for a year and 179 days, if I wanted to take it for everything it’s worth, which I don’t think is necessary.

7

Shit, I didn’t know this, I thought it was 180 days from issue. Dammit, I reentered on visa exempt last time cos 90 days was longer than the remaining 180. This is awesome to know. I’ll reenter on my working holiday visa when I come back from Japan next month! :discodance:

8

Is this information documented anywhere? I can’t find it on the Immigration website, neither can anyone at immigration.

I’ve been to, and called, immigration on separate occasions, and they said this, that if you leave and return the 180 days starts again. Apparently applying for the extension is only for if you haven’t left Taiwan since you arrived (within 180 days).

TECO in Australia are telling me that no, I absolutely must apply for an extension. I’m not sure what to believe and it’s stressing me out because I can’t find it documented. I entered originally on March 1, and most recently on July 5, so 180 days from then is January 1.

I want to believe what I read here and what immigration say, but my next trip out isn’t until mid September, and I’m massively scared of being detained =\

9

Hi all,

just went to the NIA today - my second visit regarding working holiday visa renewal.

I got confirmation that each time you exit and re-enter the country on the working holiday visa, you are renewing it for 180 days. If you look closely when you are re-entering the country, the immigration agent actually writes ‘180’ on the top of your entry card.

Due to this, they actually declined to renew my visa since I’d already effectively done so and planned to go overseas and come back again within the latter part of the visa’s year :slight_smile: As mentioned above - you only really need to renew if you’re coming up on 180 days and have not left the country.

The other thing I learned about renewals (verified by the supervisor of the NIA office in Taipei) is that the English website appears to be wrong (boca.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=131 … e=783&mp=2) “Application for extensions shall be made … 15 days prior to the initial duration of stay expires.” This should actually be “within 15 days” - if you go too early, NIA turns you away :slight_smile: The Chinese site is only a little bit clearer on this.

I’m going to be testing this in mid-September too, but today’s trip gave me the confidence to try :slight_smile:

10

Awesome. I will be trying it on Friday, I’ll report back.

[quote=“fifieldt”]Hi all,

just went to the NIA today - my second visit regarding working holiday visa renewal.

I got confirmation that each time you exit and re-enter the country on the working holiday visa, you are renewing it for 180 days. If you look closely when you are re-entering the country, the immigration agent actually writes ‘180’ on the top of your entry card.

Due to this, they actually declined to renew my visa since I’d already effectively done so and planned to go overseas and come back again within the latter part of the visa’s year :slight_smile: As mentioned above - you only really need to renew if you’re coming up on 180 days and have not left the country.

The other thing I learned about renewals (verified by the supervisor of the NIA office in Taipei) is that the English website appears to be wrong (boca.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=131 … e=783&mp=2) “Application for extensions shall be made … 15 days prior to the initial duration of stay expires.” This should actually be “within 15 days” - if you go too early, NIA turns you away :slight_smile: The Chinese site is only a little bit clearer on this.

I’m going to be testing this in mid-September too, but today’s trip gave me the confidence to try :slight_smile:[/quote]

11

Had no issues whatsoever, very pleased :smiley:

12

Just confirming: all is well - no issues with re-entering the country.

13

I’m glad to hear that others have been able to leave and re-enter without difficulty, but I’m not sure if all WHV’s are the same. And if they are the same at any given time, maybe there’s been a change in the last few months. Mine (issued in Canada in September) says, “PERMITTED STAY FOR NO MORE THAN 1 YEAR FROM THE DATE OF FIRST ENTRY” (in English only) and has an “enter before” date of 1 month after the date of issue. The visa says 180 days, but the entry stamp only says when I entered.

Questions:

  1. Can anyone who’s extended by re-entering confirm having the same fine print on the visa?
  2. Can anyone who’s stayed longer than 1 year confirm that there were no problems on exit or legal problems in-country from the 13th month to the 18th month?
  3. Did the immigration officer who stamped my passport make a mistake using by using a stamp that doesn’t indicate my duration of stay? (I definitely wrote my visa number on the entry card.)
14

[quote=“yyy”]

  1. Can anyone who’s extended by re-entering confirm having the same fine print on the visa?[/quote]

Mine had the exact same text. No issues.

[quote=“yyy”]
3) Did the immigration officer who stamped my passport make a mistake using by using a stamp that doesn’t indicate my duration of stay? (I definitely wrote my visa number on the entry card.)[/quote]

No. The stamp in the passport does not have the duration of stay - only Admitted and the data and airport code.

15

I went to the NIA in Taipei (Guangzhou St) today hoping to get confirmation about this and ideally even to get it in writing, so I’ll have something to back me up if I have trouble entering at the airport later, and also to show prospective employers who think I’m limited to 180 days.

Unfortunately the guy I asked today had the same interpretation as the one I asked in Ottawa when I received the visa: you can’t enter after the “enter before” date, so you need to apply for an extension in Taiwan when you get close to the 180 day limit. I told him I had read/heard multiple reports to the contrary and kept asking him if he was 100% sure. He briefly checked with his supervisor (standing right behind him) and then told me he was 100% sure and suggested that anyone with the same type of visa who had re-entered after 180 days must have re-entered with a different visa or visa waiver.

I suspect that what’s going on here is the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. And why bother issuing a multiple entry visa that’s intended to last for a year if you can only re-enter within one month of the date of issue? I would love to hear from a different NIA official that the one I spoke with today and his supervisor are mistaken… Should I ask at a different office?

To anyone who re-entered after the first 180 days, did you use Taoyuan or another airport?
To anyone who’s stayed for more than 1 year with a WHV, have you already left?

Just in case there’s any difference between our visas, here’s what mine looks like, plus the entry stamp.

16

I noticed this was the second time you’ve referred to your “enter before” date as being only 1 month after the issue date.

My first suggestion would be to double-check to see if you might have misread the year - for example on my old visa, the “enter before” date was about one year after the issue date.

In my experience with visas in various countries, that “enter before” date is rather important. It’s a kind of expiry date - once it is passed, you can’t use the visa to enter the country. However, you can stay in the country if you’re already there based on the other conditions of the visa.

17

I noticed this was the second time you’ve referred to your “enter before” date as being only 1 month after the issue date.

My first suggestion would be to double-check to see if you might have misread the year - for example on my old visa, the “enter before” date was about one year after the issue date.

In my experience with visas in various countries, that “enter before” date is rather important. It’s a kind of expiry date - once it is passed, you can’t use the visa to enter the country. However, you can stay in the country if you’re already there based on the other conditions of the visa.[/quote]

Sorry I don’t know how to upload the images directly to the forum. I put them on a temporary cloud site thinking the forum would keep copies of them… Oh well.

Here’s the relevant text on the visa:

[quote=“TECO”]簽證類別/Visa Type
VISITOR

簽證日期/Issue Date
[…]

入境限期/Enter Before
[one month after the issue date]

停留期限/Duration of Stay
180 DAYS

入境次數/Entries
MULTIPLE

註記/Remarks
WH - PERMITTED STAY FOR NO MORE THAN 1 YEAR FROM THE DATE OF FIRST ENTRY，依據雇主雇用外國人許可及管理辦法第四條規定，本簽證視同工作許可。
DURATION OF STAY STARTS FROM THE NEXT DAY OF ARRIVAL
[/quote]

I won’t ask why they have some text only in English and some only in Chinese. Maybe they have trouble making it all fit neatly? :ponder: Anyway a rough translation of the Chinese would be “According to the provisions of Article 4 of the Law of Employing Foreigners, this visa is equivalent to a work permit.”

And for what it’s worth, there’s also a lovely bird in the background with the text “Taiwan Endemic Species” and “Formosan Magpie 台灣藍鵲”.

I think it’s clear enough from the description of how it’s supposed to work that it’s intended to be a 1 year multiple entry visa, i.e. enter before the “enter before” date and stay for one year from the day you first enter, with multiple re-entries permitted during that one year period. (That’s exactly how the Australian WHV works – the “enter before” date is the deadline to activate the visa, and you get one year from the day you activate it.)

[quote=“外交部領事事務局全球資訊網”]Notes for Working Holiday Visa Holders

Validity of Visa

The visa is valid for a period of 12 months. Visa holders may enter Taiwan from the date of issue until the date of expiry of the visa.

Duration of Stay

The initial duration of stay shall be 180 days, which may be extended while the visa is still valid. Application for extensions shall be made to the National Immigration Agency service center in the city or county where the working holiday maker stays 15 days prior to the initial duration of stay expires. The total duration of stay will be no more than one year from the date of entry into Taiwan.

Entries

Working holiday makers shall be issued multiple entry visas, which allow for multiple entries to and exit from the Republic of China during the validity of the visa.[/quote]

(The date at the bottom of that page is 2014/10/29.)

I can’t blame the guy I spoke with at the NIA for being confused, especially if he’s forced to read things like this:

[quote=“外交部領事事務局全球資訊網”]Enforcement Rules for the Issuance of ROC Visas to Foreign-Passport Holders

Promulgated under MOFA’s Administrative Order (89) C2 NO. 8968130051 on May 31, 2000.
Revised under MOFA’s Administrative Order C2 No. 09369019120 on June 2, 2004

Article 8

The “validity” of a visa as stated in Section 2, Article 7 of the Statute refers to the time within which “duration of stay” as stated in Section 2, Article 7 of the Statute refers to the time within which the visa-holder is permitted to enter the ROC. [sic]  The period of duration shall be calculated from the day the visa is issued.

The “duration of stay” as stated in Section2, Article 7 of the Statute refers to the period within which the visa holder may be permitted to stay in the ROC.

The period of “stay” shall be calculated from the day following the applicant’s admission into the ROC.

The “number of entries” as stated in Section 2, Article 7 of the Statute refers to the number of times the visa holder is permitted to enter the ROC during the validity of the visa. [/quote]

Both that page and the page showing the Visa Statute (boca.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=593 … e=858&mp=2) show 2014/10/2 as the date, but the latest amendment/revision is 2003 for the statute itself and 2004 for the enforcement rules. Even if there haven’t been any amendments in the past ten years, it’s probably clearer in the Chinese version, which I’m still looking for.

18

I found the Chinese version of the Enforcement Rules: law.moj.gov.tw/LawClass/LawAll.a … e=E0030003

The bad English translation is also there: law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/LawClass/LawA … e=E0030003

It’s the version amended in 2004 just like on the other site, and this the government’s online law database, so presumably it’s still supposed to be valid. Here’s my own translation of article 8:

本條例第七條第二項所稱簽證之效期，指自簽證核發之當日起算，持證人可有效持憑來我國之期限。
The “validity of visa” (簽證之效期) in article 7, section 2 of the statute refers to the deadline (期限), counting from the visa’s date of issue, for the visa holder to enter (來) the country.

本條例第七條第二項所稱簽證之停留期限，指自入境之翌日起算，得在我國境內停留之期限。
The “visa’s duration of stay” (簽證之停留期限) in article 7, section 2 of the statute refers to the deadline (期限), counting from the day after entry (入境), until which [the visa holder] can remain in the country.

本條例第七條第二項所稱簽證之入境次數，指於簽證效期內，持證人可持憑來我國之次數。
The “number of entries” (入境次數) in article 7, section 2 of the statute refers to the number of times, within the “visa validity” (簽證效期), that the visa holder can enter the country.

I don’t know if there’s any intended distinction between 簽證之效期 and 簽證效期 or between 來 and 入境, though the latter would make sense (來 once to activate the visa and 入境 multiple times after that).

If these terms were all consistently used, it would appear to mean that the visa is only “valid” for one month, and it would appear to be consistent with what the NIA told me.

BOCA’s explanation in English says that the visa is “valid” for 12 months. It also says that you can “enter” from the date of issue until the date of “expiry” (which doesn’t appear on the visa sticker), that you can only extend your stay while the visa is still “valid”, and that multiple entries are permitted during the “validity” of the visa. This would appear to be consistent with what people are reporting in this thread.

Unfortunately I can’t find BOCA’s explanation on the Chinese version of their website – instead of information about the Taiwanese WHV for foreigners it has information about foreign WHV’s for Taiwanese.

The MOU’s about working holiday / youth mobility visas are all worded slightly differently, but they all basically say the same thing: 12 months and multiple entries.

law.moj.gov.tw/ENG/LawClass/LawA … e=Y0070532 (Korea)
law.moj.gov.tw/ENG/LawClass/LawA … e=Y0070385 (Australia)
law.moj.gov.tw/ENG/LawClass/LawA … e=Y0070376 (NZ)
law.moj.gov.tw/ENG/LawClass/LawA … e=Y0060238 (Canada)

So, the balance of evidence supports the less strict, more sensible interpretation. I’m still worried though, because if the NIA adopts the stricter interpretation and orders all immigration officers to abide by it (especially if they notice the 1.5 year loophole, which is obviously unintentional from a legislative point of view (though I could imagine someone in the government deciding it was a good idea anyway)) then the more sensible interpretation might come to an end, and then if I leave and re-enter I could suddenly find myself on a visa exemption and unable to work. If I could get it in writing, from the NIA or at least from BOCA (in Chinese), that the sensible interpretation is correct then I would be so happy! :discodance:

19

Update:

I decided to stay in Taiwan for the whole year, but something came up that was going to require going abroad for a few days, so I went back to the NIA to ask again and was told by a different guy at the information desk that although the NIA couldn’t do anything about my visa, I could ask the Bureau of Consular Affairs to fix it because it looked like the TECO in Ottawa had made a mistake with the “enter before” date.

The first person I spoke with at the BOCA told me because TECO’s etc. are “autonomous” the Bureau has to “respect” their right to make decisions about visas (and also because I’m a foreigner, the Bureau “can’t” help me), so the only thing I could do was go back to Canada and ask the TECO to please please give me a new visa, or I could just quit my job and come back as a tourist. :eh:

When I spoke with someone else at the BOCA, I was asked to write a letter explaining the problem (including the urgency). One business day later, I got a phone call asking me to come back to the BOCA first thing in the morning with an application form and two photos ready… and in less than an hour after that, I had my new visa with an “enter before” date of exactly one year after the date of issue (of the original visa). :slight_smile: