Three year ARC extension for children of ARC holders

family, immigration, law, nation, Taiwan, work

Earlier this year of 2014 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs introduced two modifications to immigration regulations which have been hailed as steps in the right direction. A closer look reveals that both are standard steps in the dance around square one – pretending action while carefully avoiding relevant change.

The first change concerns children of foreign parents where one of the parents has acquired permanent residency rights.

First some background:

If you come to Taiwan as a foreign professional you can after 5 years apply for a permanent residency certificate (APRC). Some conditions apply: you need to earn a certain minimum salary (~50,000 NTD = twice the current official minimum wage), be continuously employed without a single day of interruption, pay your taxes etc. Here a link to the official list of requirements for APRC.

Over the years the procedure has been streamlined and if all goes well you receive your APRC within about a week after filing the paperwork.

However, this applies to you alone.

If you brought your family with you – these things happen – the status of your spouse and children, even those born in Taiwan, remains unchanged. They are still temporary residents and their ARC (note the missing P) depends on yours entirely.

We already had the discussion whether this is right and wrong, good or bad, fair or unfair. Suffice it to say that a lot of developed countries (USA, Western Europe) by now extend equal treatment to the families of those they court to come work in the country. Once the head of the family receives permanent residency rights so does the family. This assures that children who grow up in the country have the same opportunities as all the other members of society.

Obviously, Taiwan hasn’t made it that far yet.

So far for the background.

The hailed improvement now is this:

Children of APRC holders, who normally have to leave the country once they turn 20, are now allowed to apply for a three year extension, maybe twice.

Conditions apply: The applicant must have been in Taiwan for more than 270 days per year for at least 10 years. Okay, one might expect that from children. For more details click here.

The application must be filed within 30 days before the ARC expires. Once their ARC expires they are essentially foreigners with the same status as people who never set foot on Taiwan soil. That applies also to those born in Taiwan.

The extension – just as all the ARCs for family members – does not come with a work permit. They can’t even take a part time job. Not legally. They can, if eligible, take up a university study and will then receive a student work permit but only after completing the first year of study. Other than that they have to live off their parents money.

The regulation change is is not retroactive. Those whose ARC ran out before the regulation was enacted (even a single day) are out of luck – and should better have left the country already being welcome to return as tourists.

Fortunately, the regulation still applies when there was a break in the type of the visa. If a person who grew up in Taiwan as a dependent of an APRC holder started a university study and applied for a student visa he can still apply for the extension. However, rumour has it, that lower ranking immigration officials, the people you normally talk to when you go to the office, don’t necessarily know about the regulation change and how it applies in detail. So you might have to gently insist that they read up on it and maybe get a ranking official involved.

So far so good. One can only hope that over time more sensible regulations will allow the families of foreign professionals to lead a normal life in Taiwan. For example, having to tell a 16-year-old that he can’t get a part time job like all his Taiwanese friends is not a lot of fun.

The second strike of genius is a point system supposed to facilitate obtaining work permits – especially for students without prior work experience. But that’s a different article – coming soon.

Some answers from the NIA (National Immigration Agency)

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Okay… we (my wife and I) finally made it to the local immigration (NIA) office and asked a few questions that had been lingering:

 Taiwan_noFamilies1. Does the new regulation, which allows children of APRC holders to apply for a three year extension of their ARC after they turn 20 years old come with a work permit? What is the application process?

2. Foreign university students who graduate can apply for a six month extension of their student ARC in order to look for a job. As students they had a work permit. Can they continue to take part-time jobs until they find a regular employment?

3. How does one obtain a work permit for the employment category F (entertainment worker, performer)?

4. The government uses a list of universities to make decisions about work permits: http://www.fsedu.moe.gov.tw/index.php. Can all graduates from these universities apply for a work permit for teaching English in language schools?

5. If a person receives permanent residency rights (APRC) based on marriage what happens in case of divorce?

Only questions 1, 2 and 3 relate directly to our family’s situation so please excuse a possible lack of detail or accuracy concerning the other two.

We had more questions about issues including volunteer work, foreign children adopted by a Taiwan parent, people who don’t need a work permit etc. but there wasn’t enough time and we will follow that up by email.

 About the questions above:

 1. A new regulation allows children who grew up in Taiwan (as dependents of APRC holders) to apply for a three year extension of their ARC after they turn 20. Does this extension come with a work permit?

No – and this actually renders the entire change largely useless – but but first the relevant details:

Usually children are no longer considered dependents of their parents once they turn 20. That’s understandable. According to the old regulation at that age, on their 20th birthday, they used to lose their ARC and faced two options: leave the country for good or  start an activity commonly called ‘visa run’ – leave for a day, apply for a tourist visa in Hongkong, Macau etc. – anywhere outside Taiwan. They are granted a tourist visa for three months or so and can return. Then do it again for another three months or so. And so on and so on.

This activity is very popular among long-time tourists which somehow manage to make ends meet by breathing the air of Taiwan or have some cash on hand or money coming from abroad or… well, let’s keep the details hypothetical. People apparently have growned used to it and accepted the tri-monthly shopping trip to Hongkong as part of their way of life. Okay.

The situation is less acceptable for people who grew up here. Two of our own children, just one example of many others, came to Taiwan when they were 6 and 3 years old, respectively. (They are now 23 and 20.) Two more children – now 13 and 15 – were born in Taiwan. They went to local schools, speak the language perfectly – they think and feel Taiwanese more than anything else. They lack a few privileges that the Taiwanese have – the right to work, eligibility for certain government subsidies etc. – but that didn’t matter much to them while they were kids.

However, this changed as they grew up. Their classmates took part time jobs but if they did the same they’d break the law. They are not allowed to participate in national and international competitions. They are not eligible for government subsidies.

Once they grow up the denial of the right to work makes their stay essentially impossible. Even if I could bankroll their living expenses –  a carefree life off the parents’ money  is not a real option for a variety of reasons.

That’s why we suggested that once the head of the family obtains permanent residency rights (APRC) the same rights are granted to the rest of the family. That wouldn’t strain the national resource because the number of eligible individuals is not that large and not everybody who would be qualified would actually stay in the end. However, such change does not appear to be in the works. Yes, rumor has it that even parts of the government are dissatisfied with the current situation but there is no way of telling if anything is going to change in the foreseeable future. For now, the respective politicians have congratulated each other for the successful change of detail and are content with the continuing glacial speed of the government’s mills.

Our oldest son (20 in June) has decided to move to Germany – due in part to the lack of ways to support himself independent of his parents’ money bag. It’s certainly not the end of the world but if Taiwan would truly be interested in recruiting foreign talent – as it says it is – it would make more effort to accommodate the families involved.

And aside from the personal anecdotes: The application for the three year extension has to occur while the ARC is still valid. Once the ARC expires the opportunity ceases to exist. So, if someone has been on visa run (see above) because his 20th birthday fell into a time before the regulation change then he/she will not be eligible to apply even though he might be qualified in all other regards. Too bad.

This actually betrays a rather heavy-handed, reluctant approach to the entire issue of making life easier for people who are actually eligible if considering the ‘spirit of the law.’ We asked whether it is possible for a person who grew up here and fulfills all the other requirements to apply for an ARC even while on visa run but that doesn’t appear to be a clear-cut issue. We’ll follow that up in email but until further notice consider this a ‘No.’

2. Foreign university students who graduate can apply for a six month extension of their student ARC in order to look for a job. As students they had a work permit – can they continue to take part time jobs during the extension period until they find a regular employment?

No. The extension of the ARC does not go together with a work permit. You better save up enough money during your study – or have your parents wire some – to survive the job search.

Our daughter has been studying since she was 18. She has had her own student ARC since she turned 20. Plus a work permit since her second year of study. The work permit will expire when she graduates in June unless… well…  She could also apply for the above three year extension but it’s really the work permit that would add sense for an adult person to stay here.

And again:  the application for the extension has to occur while the ARC is still valid.

3. How does one obtain a work permit for the employment category F (entertainment worker, performer)?

This has to be done by the company that pays for the performance. The work permit is valid only for the individual occasion which may only last for a day or less.

4. The government uses a list of universities to make decisions about work permits. Can all graduates from these universities apply for a work permit for teaching English in language schools?

No. Teachers in ordinary language schools, including cram schools, must be native English speakers and prove that with a passport from an English speaking country. Universities, however, can make their own decision as to whether a person is qualified to teach a certain subject. So, at the university, an English instructor can be a native of any nation. It is in these cases that the government uses the above list in order to decide whether an applicant will receive a work permit or not.

5. If a person receives permanent residency rights (APRC) based on marriage what happens in case of divorce?

If you are married to a Taiwan citizen and have an ARC and a JFRV (Join Family Resident Visa) based on that – these become invalid in case of divorce. However, once you have an APRC you can stay and work permanently. So, the obvious step for everybody is to apply for permanent residency (APRC) as soon as possible – just in case things should not work out as planned (perish the thought.)

An APRC applicant based on employment has to prove that he receives at least twice the current official minimum pay in Taiwan. The minimum pay (base pay) currently lies just below 20,000 NTD. If applying for APRC based on marriage, however, the applicant only has to explain how he provides for the financial needs of the family – no minimum applies.

In any case, questions involving work permits are best addressed to the Workforce Development Agency in Taipei (02-2380 1729). Our contact at the NIA was so friendly to call on our behalf but had to face the comment that that was not really his business. (See, it’s additional work to answer questions to people who are not supposed to ask them.) He then called a friend in the ministry to get the answers. Thanks.