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Foreigners > Living in Taiwan : Visa Facts

This page will try to answer some of the more commonly asked questions regarding visa requirements for foreigners entering or living in Taiwan. These requirements apply to most foreigners however there are some different stipulations depending on which country you are from. This area of visas tends to change regularly so I also suggest that you check out some of the links I have provided to ensure you get the most up to date information. In order to make your stay more pleasant as well as cost effective this is one area that you positively need to know the particulars about.

TYPES OF VISAS

1. Visa Free Entry

There is no visa required for stays of up to 30 days, as long as your passport is valid for at least six months beyond your expected departure date fromTaiwan and you have a ticket showing departure from Taiwan within 14 days. This type of  visa is automatically given to you at the airport and cannot be extended, however you can get a landing visa at the airport which allows you to stay 30 days, see Landing Visa for details.

2. Landing Visa

A landing visa is valid for one month(30 days) can be issued at Chiang Kai Shek(CKS) International Airport also at Kaohsiung Internationl Airport, as long as your passport is valid for at least six months beyond your expected date of departure and you hold a ticket showing departure from Taiwan within one month.  This type of visa cannot be extended. A NT 1500 fee must be paid for this type of visa at the airport.

3. Visitor Visa

In order to obtain a visitor visa it must  be issued at an overseas Taiwan representative office. This type of visa is valid for stays of up to 60 days. Extension of a visitors visa in Taiwan can be done twice for a maximum stay of 180 days. This type of visa is issued to applicants who wish to stay for less than six months in Taiwan to engage in one of the following activities:
1) transit
2) sightseeing
3) visiting relatives
4) visiting with a letter of invitation
5) study or training
6) busines
, 7) technical assistance
8) medical treatment
9) other legitimate activities.

4. Resident Visa

Resident visas are issued at an overseas Taiwan representative offices to people who wish to stay in Taiwan for an extended period. Resident visas can be issued to applicants whose reason for staying in Taiwan includes one of the following:
1) joining family,
2) study or research,
3) employment,
4) investment,
5) medical treatment,
6) missionary work,
7) other legitimate activities.
Within 15 days of your arrival of Taiwan with a resident visa you must make an application for an A.R.C card.

If you have come to Taiwan with a visitor visa and want to change it to a resident visa, you usually have to leave Taiwan and apply outside of the country.There is word that this law is changing and you should be able to do this within the country in the very near future. One of the nearest location to apply for a resident visa outside Taiwan is the Chung Hwa Travel Service in Hong Kong. Their address is: 4th floor, East Tower, Bond Center, #89 Queens Road,
Central, Hong Kong, Tel: 852-2-525-8315.

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Extensions On Visitor Visas

If you have a visitor visa you are allowed to stay in Taiwan for up to sixty days. You are able to extend this visa twice for another 60 days up to a total of 180 days. In order to extend your visa you must have a good reason as well as the appropriate documentation supporting your reason. The required documentation is determined by the Foreign Affairs Police Service, depending upon your reason for extending your visa. Some of the reasons include
1) transit,
2) sightseeing,
3) visiting relatives,
4) visiting with a letter of invitation,
5) study or training,
6) business,
7) technical assistance,
8) medical treatment,
9) other legitimate activities.
Check out our address of Foreign Affairs Police Stations to see which one is nearest you. It would be best if you submitted your application for extension several days before the actual date of expiry, just in case you are missing some required documentation. Please note that if you enter Taiwan under the Visa Free Entry program or with a landing visa you will not be granted an extension

Study

Although there are many reasons to be able to extend your visitors visa I will touch on the most common reason which is for the purpose of study. If you study Chinese at a government approved school for at least 10 hours a week this gives you a legitimate reason to extend your visa as indicated above. Studying Chinese is a great way to stay in the country legally as well as a good opportunity to get a better insight into the culture. You will need to go to the nearest Foreign Affairs Police Station before your visa expires and bring the following documentation:
  1) Your passport
2) School enrollment certificate
3) Record of attendance
4) Photocopies of the front page and most current Taiwan visa page of your passport. 

The other way to extend your visitors visa is simply to leave the country. With a multiple entry visitors visa you can leave the country for any amount of time and when you return you will get an automatic 60 day visa upon your re-entry to Taiwan. Note that this is only for a visitors visa and does not apply if you only have a landing visa.

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Application for an A.R.C

It is required that if you hold a resident visa, you must apply for an Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) within fifteen days of your arrival to Taiwan at the nearest Foreign Affairs Police station. If you do not do this it could result in a fine or even possibly a delay in your departure from Taiwan. When applying for an ARC you should bring the following documentation:
1) A passport with at least six months validity, preferably longer
2)A valid work permit (if the resident visa is work-based).
3) Two photographs.

If you are staying in Taiwan with an Alien Resident Certificate you must go to the nearest Foreign Affairs Police station to apply for an Exit Permit and Re-Entry Permit before your departure from Taiwan. If you have been in Taiwan for over 90 days, you must provide an income tax certificate. You can get these certificates from the National Tax Administration/Foreign Affairs Division at Chung Hwa Road, Section 1, #2, Taipei, Tel: 2311-3711.

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Visa Information Links

Although we have tried our best to provide you with all the information you need about visas the link below can provide you with more accurate and up to date information on visas.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Information for Foreigners

If you are a foreigner living in Taiwan and married to a Taiwan citizen this web site is very informative.
National Network of Foreign Spouses

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Fines for Overstaying etc.

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Labor Law Regulations Revisions

On May 2nd, 2006 the CLA amended the rules for foreign teachers working in bushibans regarding maximum hours of work per week & maximum
number of simultaneous employers a teacher can have. 

The maximum number of hours a teacher can work every week is now 32.  Heretofore there was no stated limit. 

The regulations re-iterate that teachers must work at least 14 hours per week for one employer in order to receive an ARC.  They introduce a new
stipulation: positions taken with other employers cannot be for less than 6 hours per week.

Since your primary employer must provide you with 14 hours in order to apply for an ARC, and since the minimum number of hours per week for
every other employer is 6, this 32 hour / week rule has the net effect of meaning you can work for a maximum of 4 employers (14 + 6 + 6 +6).

The new rules state that if you have a single 14 hour employer & 3 other 6 hour employers, leaving the 14 hour job would mean leaving the three 6
hour jobs as well.  If, however, you are working for any two employers for 14 hours, either of these jobs can be used to maintain your ARC.  Should
you leave either position, the other one can still sustain your ARC.  Your ARC is not dependent on who gave you the 14 hours first. 

(1)    勞委會合法第二家以上的工作許可，是以每週14小時以上「第一家雇主」為申請主體，所以任何一個「第一家雇主」解聘關係失效時，另一個「第一家雇主」的聘
僱關係仍然有效。

(2)     外籍人士G君與A2校的聘僱關係，不因A1校的聘僱關係結束而失效，外籍人士G君仍可以工作之型態繼續居留於台灣。 

Finally, of note is a contemporary mention of the ?4 day rule?  Teachers who leave their ARC job have 14 days to secure another employer who can give
them an ARC.

The promulgation & a translation of the new regulations follows below. 

外籍人士於短期補習班工作之聘僱法規「最新」修訂與說明

Latest Revised Regulations and Explanations for Foreigners Working in the Cram/Short-Term Schools 

一、重要聘僱法規修訂事項：聘僱外籍人士之新增每週教學工作時數6小時，但總工作時數不得超過每週32小時

目前最新聘僱外籍人士從事教學工作之條件規定：

根據2006年5月2日勞委會最新修訂勞職規字第0950501673號令，修正發布之「外國人從事就業服務法第四十六條第一項
第一款至第六款工作資格及審查標準」第四十二條規定，外國人受聘僱從事就業服務法第四十六條第一項第四款規定之外籍語
文教師之工作，應具備下列資格： 

1.年滿20歲。

2.大專以上學校畢業

3.教授的語文課程，必須為護照國籍的官方語言，有些國家則具有一個以上的官方語言，如歐洲國家。

以上資格，未取得學士學位外籍人士，必須具有語文師資訓練合格證書。

I. Important revised rule of the employment service act:  For foreign workers, the added teaching hours are 6 hours per week, but the total hours cannot
exceed 32 per week.

Current employment qualifications for foreign teachers:

According to the regulation No.0950501673 revised by the CLA on 5/2/2006, Article 42 of “The Reviewing Standards and
Employment Qualifications for Foreigners Engaging in the Jobs Specified in Items 1 to 6, Paragraph 1 to Article 46 of the
Employment Service Act? foreign workers who hired as foreign language teachers based on the “Item 4, Paragraph 1 to
Article 46 Employment Service Act?should have the qualifications bellow: 

1.      20 year old and above.

2.      Graduated from college or above.

3.      The language of the course you teach should be the same as the official language on you passport. Some countries
have one and above official languages like Europe.

Those without a bachelor degree should have certified language teacher training certificates.

二、修訂之聘僱法規教學工作時數詳細說明

  外籍人士於聘僱許可有效期間內：

1.      除於原雇主單位（稱「第一家雇主」）從事教學相關工作，必須達到每週14小時以上。

2.      受聘僱於二以上之雇主時，必須先有「第一家雇主」之聘僱為前提，接著，其餘每一新雇主（依申請時間順序，稱
「第二家雇主」、「第三家雇主」、「第四家雇主」），其每一新雇主之每週從事教學相關工作，時數不得少於6小時。

3.      不論受聘僱於多少家雇主，每位外籍人士每週從事教學相關工作總時數，不得超過32小時。

II. Details of the teaching hours on the revised employment rules

  During the valid employment period:

1.      Working/teaching in the original employer (the first employer), the hours should be 14 hours and up.

2. When hired by two employers, you need to have one employer first, after that, you cannot work less than 6 hours in
each new employer such as second, third, and fourth.

  3. Regardless of the amounts of employers, each foreigner cannot work over 32 hours (the total hours) every week.

1.      有「第一家雇主」申請每週14小時後，則後續申請「第二家雇主」、「第三家雇主」以上之雇主者，以每週6小時計算，
最多還可以申請三家新雇主：

1. After the first employer applies 14 hours, the second, third and above employers can apply 6 hours a week individually.
So, there will be 3 new employers at most:

實例： 外籍人士 G 君申請聘僱許可時：

Example:  Mr. G applies work permission

● 重要提醒：

(1)        勞委會合法第二家以上的工作許可，是以每週14小時以上「第一家雇主」為申請主體，因此，當「第一家雇主」之聘僱關係提前結束時，勞委會將同時解聘所有不足14小時的雇主聘僱許可。就上述實例而言，外籍人士G君之A校（第一家雇主）聘僱失效時，其他聘僱外籍人士G君之B校
（第二家雇主）、C校（第三家雇主）、D校（第四家雇主）的許可，會同時全部失效。

(2)        上述情形發生時，外籍人士G君必須要有新的聘僱關係，重新開啟另外「第一家雇主」，才可以繼續以教學工作之型
態居留於台灣。

(3)        勞委會一旦解聘外籍人士「第一家雇主」之工作許可時，會接著發函至內政部警政署，並發函至外籍教師，外籍教師
收到通知函起14天內，必須離境。若外籍人士仍欲以工作型態居留，則必須於14天完成聘僱送件申請。

● Important Notice:

   1. The work permission in the second employer, it’s based on working 14 hours a week in the first employer. Therefore,
if the relationship with the first employer ends, the CLA will cancel the permissions of other employers which don’t have 14
hours. Take the example above, if Mr. G’s relationship with School A ends, the permissions of School B, C & D will all be
invalid at the same time.

   2. When the above situation happens, Mr. G should have a new employer which can give 14 hours a week, then Mr. G
will be able to stay with a teaching job in Taiwan.

   3. Once the CLA cancels the permission of the first employer, it’ll notify National Police Agency, Ministry of the Interior
and the foreign teacher. The teacher should leave the country of receiving the notice. If the teacher still wants to stay with
a working visa, he/she will need to complete the application within 14 days.

2.      每週14小時之兩個「第一家雇主」可共同並立，兩家雇主視為獨立的原雇聘關係，均可視為「第一家雇主」：

2. It’s allowed to have two “first employers?which can offer 14 hours per week. The relationship of these two employers is
regarded as individual.

同時有兩個每週超過14小時的工作，可視為兩個獨立的原雇聘關係，均可視為「第一家雇主」，也就是說，即便其中一家解聘
，另一個「第一家」存在。

Two jobs with 14 hours/week for each at the same time can be seen as two individual relationships, they are both
employers? That is to say, even one of them cancels, another one still exists.

 實例： 外籍人士 G 君申請聘僱許可時：

Example: Mr. G applies work permission:

 ● 重要提醒：

(3)    勞委會合法第二家以上的工作許可，是以每週14小時以上「第一家雇主」為申請主體，所以任何一個「第一家雇主」解聘關係失效時，另一個「第一家雇主」的聘僱
關係仍然有效。

(4)     外籍人士G君與A2校的聘僱關係，不因A1校的聘僱關係結束而失效，外籍人士G君仍可以工作之型態繼續居留於台灣。 

● Important Notice:

  1. Two jobs with 14 hours/week for each at the same time can be seen as two individual relationships, they are both
employers? That is to say, even one of them cancels, another one still exists.

  2. In the example, if Mr. G’s relationship with School A1 ends, the relationship with School A2 still exists. So Mr. G can
stay with the reason of working in Taiwan.

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