Category Archives: people

謝謝,不過於事無補

Taiwan_noFamilies(English version published in English in The Taipei Times of October 17, 2016)
(Another, shorter version was published in the United Daily News of November 3, 2016)

最近幾篇新聞報導[1]指出,台灣移民署認為有必要說明,在台外籍專業人士的子女年滿20歲後,如果想延展其居留在台灣的時間,是有辦法辦到的。事實上,雖然確實是有這個辦法沒錯,但是因為有其他必須要符合的法令,根本讓這個辦法一點用處也沒有。這個延展居留的辦法,對於應該要因此獲益的外籍人才,根本沒什麼助益。

我是一個軟體研發工程師,在1998年來台灣工作。因此,我算是台灣政府為了促進台灣經濟及增加競爭力,而積極想吸引來台的外籍人才。我在2006年取得外僑永久居留證。

然而,我的家人並未獲得相同的權益,我的妻子和即使依據國際標準已經算是成年人了的子女(其中兩個在台灣出生),還是只能持續地依賴我過生活。

我的永久居留權伴隨著開放式的工作證,讓我得以從事任何合法工作,而且對於薪資及雇主都沒有任何限制;然而我的家人卻均不被許可工作,連兼職也不行,除非他們個人符合限制相當嚴格的工作證法令。長久下來,問題就會浮現,而許多外籍人才都面臨同樣的問題。

我有兩個孩子已經離開台灣了,即便他們深愛這個國家,並認同這個國家。另外的兩個兒子則是在台灣出生,目前仍然住在這裡,未來他們將會遇到相同而且更悽慘的情況。請你想像一個小孩,一個土生土長的「台灣人」,他在台灣長大,中文流利——甚至比其他任何語言都還要流利——而且對於他父母的母國一點情感基礎都沒有,但台灣政府依舊認為那個地方(他父母的國家)才是他的「母國」。隨著他日漸成長,完全融入他的學校同學和台灣朋友的環境中,但在他滿16歲後,卻不能像他的朋友一樣打工兼差。我們的女兒曾無法參與全國競賽,因為當時參與國家競賽需要持有台灣身份證,而只有台灣人才能持有台灣身份證。就讀職業學校的話還會出現其他問題,因為職業學校所傳授的職業類別,都不是外籍人士能取得工作許可的行業,因此他能就讀的科系可能很少;另外,職業學校學生都會到與學校合作的公司行號兼差實習,這種建教合作的機制是相當普遍的,然而對外籍學生而言,他卻無法跟他的台灣籍同學有相等兼差實習的機會,因為那些實習內容的工作項目,可能並未開放給外國人,因此提供實習機會的企業可能不會選擇一個未來無法取得工作許可的外國學生,予以培養實習的機會。台灣政府對於學費的補助,並不適用在外籍人士的子女上,即便他們的父母跟台灣人繳一樣的稅。這種情形經常導致他們的教育成本比台灣籍學生高了三倍。
起初,外籍專業人士的子女一旦滿20歲就必須離開台灣,即便他們在台灣出生長大,基本上他們除了護照和膚色外,根本就是個徹頭徹尾的台灣人了。經過多方討論後,台灣政府通過一條規定,讓這些人可以延展他們的居留期限至多六年。如果他們符合條件,就可以申請延展他們的依親外籍外僑居留證三年,至多兩次。然而,依親居留證仍然只是依親居留證,並沒有工作的權利,除非他們能夠符合限制嚴格的條件,才能聲請到工作許可;因此接下來六年的時間,他們可能就必須繼續靠父母的收入過活,不可能自己賺錢生活。

一個20歲的人已經是成年人了,甚至是依台灣標準也是如此。而政府所提供的解決方案,居然就是把基於年幼而自然產生的依親關係,轉換成一種虛假不自然且拘泥於法規的「成年人依親關係」,對於一個成熟長大的人來說,一點意義都沒有。

實際上,為了享受這種一點都不大方的恩惠,而向政府提出申請的人數相當稀少,這種情況一點也不令人意外。其中一個申請人就是我們的女兒雷堤娜,她取得了居留延展,不過整天無事做,花父母的錢,或者是違法工作,都不是她的理想人生,因此,她現在搬到另一個國家了,獲得了一份全職工作。我們的長子,早在居留延展規定修訂之前,就搬到德國念大學了,主要的原因就是他覺得在當時這種法律制度下,自己在台灣不可能有任何發展。我們的兒子和女兒都說,他們在國外待得愈久,就愈覺得自己像台灣人。許多其他面臨相同處境的人也有同樣的感覺。

我想提醒各位注意的是,問題並不在移民署或移民警察身上。我們跟地方移民官員的關係相當良好,他們還到處奔走協助我們,讓我們更容易辦理相關手續。我敢說其他外籍專業人士也有類似的經歷。最主要的障礙顯然還是勞動部,他們反對修法給予我的家人開放性的工作許可。

最簡單的解決方法,就是當一家人中的主要申請人取得永久居留權後,就授予全家人永久居留權。幾乎所有已開發國家都是這麼做,包括我的母國德國也是。這種改變並不會造成很多問題,因為規模相當有限。不管政府最後採取何種吸引外籍人才的措施,對於其想積極參與的國際社會,都不該端出比其他國家更小塊的牛肉。


 

[1]聯合報 2016-10-11 楊家駿闢謠 依雷堤娜條款外籍未成年子女可續留台; 台北時報2016-10-11 “Ministry clarifies rules for children of foreigners”.

Thanks but no thanks

Taiwan_noFamilies   The following article, a letter to the editor of The Taipei Times about the situation of children of foreign professionals in Taiwan (and the uselessness of recent regulation changes),  appeared on October 17, 2016 in the Editorials section of the paper:

According to recent articles in a number of newspapers the Taiwan government found it necessary and useful to state that a way exists for descendants of foreign professionals to extend their stay in Taiwan beyond the age of 20. Indeed, there is such a way, but the conditions that come with it render the regulation largely useless. It does not serve the foreign talent that allegedly should benefit from it.

I came to Taiwan in 1998 as a software developer. Hence I am one of those foreign talents that the government works to attract to benefit the Taiwan economy and add to its competitive edge. In 2006 I received permanent residency rights (APRC).

However, my family has not been granted the same rights. My wife and children, two of them born in Taiwan, continue to depend entirely on me even though they have grown to be adults by international standards.

Over time – and many identical cases exist involving foreign talent – problems arise from the fact that while my APRC comes with a work permit that allows me to do any lawful work with no restrictions on salary or employer, no member of my family is permitted to work, not even part time.

Two of my children have left Taiwan even though they love the country and identify with it. An especially dramatic situation exists with my two sons who are born in Taiwan and still live here. Imagine the situation of a child, a Taiwan native, raised here, speaking fluently Mandarin – better than any other language – and who has no foundation in the home country of his parents, which by the government is still considered his ‘country of origin.’ As he grows up, completely integrated with schoolmates and Taiwan friends he is not allowed to take a part time job like all his friends once he turns sixteen. Our daughter was not allowed to take part in national competitions, because at the time a Taiwan ID was required here which only Taiwan citizens possess. Problems also arise when attending vocational schools. As the professions taught in such schools are not those that foreigners would receive work permits for, he is limited in terms of which programs he may enrol in. Also, opportunities for internships in the field of study in associated companies – a common practice – are not equally available as they are his Taiwanese classmates since participating companies are unlikely to choose foreign students who will not be able to obtain work permits in the future. School tuition fees are subsidised by the government but the children of foreigners, even though their parents pay the same taxes as Taiwanese, are not eligible here. This often results in costs triple of those of Taiwanese students.

Originally, children of foreign professionals had to leave the country once they turn twenty – even when they were born and raised in Taiwan, being Taiwanese by all standards except passport and skin color. After much argument the government has passed a regulation that allows these persons to extend their stay for up to six years. If they meet certain requirements they may apply for a three-year extension of their dependent ARC, possibly twice. However, this would still be a dependent ARC without the right to work. Hence, for six years they will have the opportunity to continue to live off their parents’ income without the possibility to make a living of their own. At age twenty people are considered adults even by Taiwan standards. Hence all the government is offering is to transform a natural dependency based on youth into a contrived, legalistic ‘adult dependency’ that is not interesting for mature individuals.

It is no surprise then, that there have only been few applications to take ‘advantage’ of this less than gracious offer. One of those applicants is our daughter. She received the extension but because hanging around at the expense of her parents or possibly taking up illegal employment was not her idea of an adult life. So she has moved to another country and took a full time job. Our oldest son has moved to Germany for a university study because he saw no perspective for himself here. Both he and our daughter say that the longer they stay abroad the more they feel Taiwanese. This also applies to many others in the same situation.

It should be noted that the problem lies not with the immigration department, which simply enforces immigration law. We have very good relationships with local immigration officers who went to great length to facilitate our efforts to deal with the relevant procedures. I’m sure other foreign professionals have similar experiences. The main obstacle appears to be the Ministry of Labor Affairs which resists changing the law to allow work permits for the members of our families.

A simple solution would be to grant permanent residency to an entire family once the main applicant receives his or her APRC. This is common practice in most, if not all, developed nations including my home country Germany. This would be an unproblematic step in a very contained situation. Whatever path the government ultimately takes to attract foreign talent it shouldn’t offer less to the international community that it wants to be a part of.

Click here to view the article in The Taipei Times.