Hey, so I have a scholarship that says I can’t work while I have it, I believe, and either way I am on a student visa. But 10,000 a month stipend is really not ideal to live off of, so I’m just wondering what my options are here. How do other people live with these scholarships?
Student loan? Can foreigners get student loans here? If so, how?
Work study? My friend says NCTU pays a horrible 100nt per hour for work study, anyone that can confirm this?
Agent? If I can get a work authorization or something and work legally after all, anyone know how to be a recruitment agent part-time? I can’t find information and I really don’t dig the English teaching gig.
Tutoring? Is tutoring fellow students for money illegal on a student visa?
Independent contractor? Can I do freelance work online/in my home country and/or are there writing gigs I can get in Taiwan? Would this be legal?
About 7500 of that is apartment and bills. I live in Jubei. Still not impossible, but I would like to have money for a flight ticket in case of wedding/funeral or scooter repair money or new place deposit or…
well of course if you spend 7,5k on rent? I work and my gf works and we spend 10k on an apartment in neihu. Just live in a dorm then… sorry but I don’t really get it. You come here to study but didn’t bring any money and than you spend more than half of your free money on rent?
I’d go with tutoring, which is a grey area. Anything else is too formal, and as you said, with a scholarship you are simply not allowed to work. They wil cut you off as soon as anyone finds out -there is always a fellow student/neighbor/landlord who can rat you out.
No loans, work study might also be problematic, same as agent acquired jobs -even more so.
I think you can work independently as long as you receive the money overseas and get around the hoops to bring it back here -and I wouldn’t knwo what to do about taxes then. But it is also an option.
There is always modeling and extra/background work. I can set you up on an interview that could result in the occasional legal gig if you are interested. Of course, living in ZhuBei is somewhat problematic in that most gigs cast from Taipei. But we are increasing the possibility of getting photocast (no auditions) dramatically in the next few weeks, making out of towners more likely to pick up the odd job. PM me if interested.
To all others, if you desire this kind of work, please be very careful about which agency you choose to go with. 90 percent of agents that rep foreign models/talent are going to send you to sets without the requisite work permit, not give you your full share of the pay or protect your image from being splashed all over China in every ad they can copy/paste you into. As well, The NIA and CLA are actively nailing people for illegal work in this industry. DO NOT risk your residency for the sake of a one time gig, no matter how lucrative said gig may appear to be.
Again, PM for for the lowdown on which agencies to avoid.
I didn’t come here to study. I’ve been here, just thought I’d go to school. I have money saved up to cover rent actually, I am just worried about an unexpected disaster or something. And you’re a copy editor, right? How did you get into that/do they give you a work permit and stuff?
@Toe Save:
Uh… how do I know you aren’t one of the scammers? Also, would that violate my not working thing, if it isn’t regular employment?
I didn’t come here to study. I’ve been here, just thought I’d go to school. I have money saved up to cover rent actually, I am just worried about an unexpected disaster or something. And you’re a copy editor, right? How did you get into that/do they give you a work permit and stuff?
@Toe Save:
Uh… how do I know you aren’t one of the scammers?[/quote]
LOL…good question.
The agency has an almost 20 year record of excellence in placing westerners in commercials, etc…You need only meet with them and you’d know.
And my 12 year history on this website should indicate some level of trustworthiness. Maturity, not so much, but if I was a scammer, I would have been turfed from this site long ago. Flobsters don’t let scam artists continue to post unchallenged and a quick search through my history should indicate that I am the site’s go to guy on these matters.
Seriously though, I am a working actor in Taipei and have complete faith in my agency’s ability to help folks such as yourself discover new avenues of legal part time employment. I am simply sharing a possible answer to your original post. Do with it what you will.
The agency would get ad hoc work permits for every gig you get cast in. So, no, it does not violate your stident visa. Most of the models working today are students.
Hey, update for future people that might have the same question. I asked the school about it and for this scholarship I am not allowed to have a work visa, but I AM allowed to have a work permit. That frees me up to do all kinds of odd jobs. I’ll take any and all suggestions on that front too, I am interested to know what kind of jobs people have been doing in Taiwan that are NOT English teaching.
