Tag: taiwan gold card

Ramblings

Apartment Hunting in Taipei: Success

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Time was ticking. We realized we had to compromise on some things. First, we increased our budget to find an apartment that was more suitable to our tastes. We started looking for apartments that were ~50 pings after learning that the advertised number of pings is often inflated. We expanded our search to not only Da’an but Songshan and Xinyi districts. Our main goal was to find an apartment with good natural light and within a school’s service district. We didn’t even care whether the apartment was furnished, or near the MRT, or what floor it was on.

Then one day, we saw an apartment in Xinyi district. Xinyi is the financial district of Taipei, with many skyscrapers including Taipei 101, upscale malls and eateries, and newer apartment buildings. This particular apartment is within 4 minutes walking distance to a school that had availability, and the landlord was fine with us using the address for school. The apartment came with only a couple pieces of furniture, but we were willing to overlook it. We immediately reached out to the agent to express our interest.

The interesting thing about Taiwan is that almost everything can be negotiated, including rent. Our agent told us to outline all our demands and he can help us negotiate with the landlord. We asked for a ~12% reduction in rent, including all management and garbage fees. (Most apartments have an monthly management fee on top of your rent. This fee is to pay for things like security and general maintenance of the building.)

Our agent suggested that we ask for furniture as well, but that we’d need to sign a 2-year lease. The commitment-phobe in me was a little hesitant, but I also didn’t want to go through this whole process again in a year. So we agreed and waited for the landlord’s response.

We waited about a day (which felt like an eternity!) but finally, we heard back from the landlord. She agreed to all terms (hurray!!) except we’d have to pay for the garbage fees, which was pretty nominal anyway (about $30/month).

There were a few hiccups before we signed the contract – e.g., making sure we had enough cash for the deposit and first month’s rent; the landlord kept changing the time and place for the contract signing, which made Baba suspicious; realizing at the last minute that one room at no door 😆, so we had to negotiate with the landlord; getting the landlord to purchase the furniture in time for our move-in.

But ultimately, we signed the contract and finally got the keys to our apartment in Taipei! 🎊 This was a HUGE relief because the check-out date for our Airbnb was coming up, and we can now register for the boys’ school. Woo hoo!

As of writing, we’ve been living in this apartment for about 3 weeks. It’s not perfect – our refrigerator is on the balcony and we’re on the second floor so it’s more prone to getting bugs. 😣 But, we are close to the boys’ school, one short block from the Xinyi Sports Center which has a pool!, close to the MRT and buses, and walking distance to markets and convenience stores. I also like that on one side, there is Taipei 101 with all its fancy shopping and restaurants, but on the other side of our apartment, you can find numerous cheap eats, or 小吃.

The apartment hunt in Taiwan was a roller coaster ride and such an interesting learning experience. In the end, I’m incredibly grateful that we found a great place to live in such a short period of time. Everything worked out in our favor (so far). But I’m even more grateful to have a partner in crime, Baba, to go on these crazy adventures with me! 😘

Ramblings

Visa, Visa!

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Since Baba and I are approved for the Taiwan Gold Visa, we were given a resident authorization certificate.

Upon landing in Taiwan, we will need to go to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) with this certificate and get our official Gold Card and ARC, or Alien Resident Certificate.

Naively, we thought it would be an easy process to get C and O their visas now that both of us are approved. We filled out the dependent visa application online and went to the Taiwan consulate to submit it, along with the required documents: authenticated birth certificates, vaccination records and our marriage certificate. We thought we’d get the boys’ resident visas in a couple of weeks and off we go! Right?

Not quite. We got a call from the Taiwan consulate telling us that the boys’ resident visas will last only 3 months. And since we won’t land in Taiwan until August 1st, they will not approve the visas until early to mid May. We will then need to report to the NIA immediately after arriving in Taiwan to get ARCs for the boys, which requires a separate application. This process can take up to 2 weeks. We need their ARCs in order to register for school so this step is crucial.

We’re honestly still confused as to why we need the resident visa from the Taiwan consulate if it only lasts 3 months, and then have to apply separately for the boys’ ARCs in Taiwan. We thought getting approved for a resident visa = getting an ARC. Baba doesn’t think the Taiwan consulate would mislead us into getting a resident visa if we didn’t need one, so we’re just going along in good faith. Maybe there’s a good reason why people hire immigration lawyers for this stuff. 😅

Ramblings

Coming Together

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Within a week of going to the Taiwan consulate, we received our authentication certificates in the mail! They attached an official letter to each of the documents we needed to authenticate, which included the boys’ birth certifications and vaccination records.

Better yet, we also received our marriage certificate authentication from South Africa yesterday – yay! A letter with similar language was attached, but there were additional certificates with stamps and seals in the packet. Looks so official and all.

But the best news of all is….Baba’s visa application got approved!! After 2.5 months of waiting and following up, Baba finally got his very own Taiwan Gold Card Visa. That means he won’t need to go through the health exam (although we probably should still get his lung checked out 😆), and he would be able to work in Taiwan if he wants to.

This morning, Baba went into the SF Taiwan consulate to submit his passport for inspection. Once that’s approved, he will receive his temporary Gold Card and we can apply for the boys’ visas.

Slowly but surely, things are coming together. 🙂

Ramblings

Close, But No Cigar

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Whew, it’s been a minute! I have some good news and bad news. First, the good news: my application is approved! I’m now officially a Taiwan Gold Card Visa holder. Bad news: Baba’s application is still in limbo and there are still so many things to do before we can all officially move to Taiwan.

Our visa application process hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park. A couple of weeks after I submitted my employment certificate, I received a response that my application does not belong under the Field of Economy but rather the Field of Finance because my former employer is in the insurance brokerage industry. The problem was, I wouldn’t exactly qualify under the Field of Finance. In addition to needing to have earned NT$160,000 a month, I would need some kind of financial expertise which I don’t have.

We decided to write a letter of appeal. I argued that while the my company could be classified under the financial industry, my job responsibilities and degrees are purely in business.

Meanwhile, Baba also received a similar response. His application under the Field of Economy was denied but they offered to do a special review with the National Development Agency. We learned that this process could take 1-2 months. We were already approaching March and plan to leave on June 3rd so we didn’t have the luxury of waiting.

We felt stuck. Doubt started to seep in and I was stressed. We started googling visa requirements for Spain. Although we could qualify for their Non-Lucrative Retirement Visa, timing would be extremely tight. And do we apply for Spain while waiting to hear back from Taiwan? How much time should we give Taiwan to get back to us? Is there anything we can do now for Spain’s application that is easy and low-cost in case our Taiwan visa gets approved? Why didn’t we apply for our visa earlier?! We had many questions but no answers.

But then, on the evening of March 6, I received the fantastic news: my application got approved! The next step was to submit my passport for inspection, and go through a final review by the National Immigration Agency. On March 15, I received my temporary Taiwan Gold Card. (I will need to pick up the official Gold Card when we’re in Taiwan.)

Baba’s application is still under review. At this point, he had written a letter to the visa office with more information about his work experience and education. He requested that his application be approved under the Field of Finance since his former employer is in the finance industry and he had worked closely with finance managers.

Initially, the visa office denied Baba’s request to move his application to the Field of Finance. They told him they need to do a further review of his “unique expertise.” But just this morning, Baba received an update that he could apply under the Field of Finance. Wish they could’ve made this decision when we made the initial request – that could’ve saved us 2 weeks!!

At this point, Baba could technically apply as my spouse but he won’t be able to work in Taiwan and there is more administrative work. For one thing, he would need to get a health examination that includes a chest x-ray, syphilis test, skin exam, among other things. He would then need to get a health certificate from his doctor and get the certificate “authenticated” by the Taiwan consulate. For now, our plan is to do two things at once: Baba re-applies under the Field of Finance and goes through the health exam in case the former option doesn’t work out.

But wait, there’s more! We have kids! Before we can apply for visas for C and O, Baba and I have to prove that we’re married. (Apparently, Taiwan doesn’t recognize children born out of wedlock 😆.) But the joke is on us, because our marriage certificate is from South Africa which complicates things a bit. All documents issued outside of Taiwan must be authenticated by the Taiwan consulate from where the document originated. Well, we obviously don’t live in South Africa so we had to hire an agent to help us with the authentication process of our marriage certificate. The Taiwan consulate in SA sent us a list of agents, so I contacted one, wired him money and prayed that this isn’t some elaborate scam. Our agent told us the process can take 4-5 weeks so we continue to wait.

In addition to the marriage certificate, we have to provide and authenticate C and O’s birth certificates and vaccination records. We also had to get a health exam and certificate for C, which of course needs to be authenticated too. (Children under 6 years do not have to get a health exam so O is spared.) Thankfully, since these documents were all issued in the SF Bay Area, we can bring them to the Taiwan consulate in San Francisco ourselves. And this all needs to be done before we fill out the actual visa application for the boys!

At the very least, my application is approved so there’s a high chance the rest of the family can get their visas too. But there’s still so much do to before we get there. I’ll post another update as things move along!

Ramblings

Our Next Adventure Awaits In…

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TAIPEI, TAIWAN!

I have no doubt Madrid would be an amazing experience but ultimately, we thought we’d feel most “at home” in Taipei. We understand Asian culture, have some exposure to the language and are happy to binge on dumplings, hot pot and noodles all day!

Many people have asked if we chose Taiwan because we have family there. We don’t! We have zero ties to Taiwan. We are Chinese, but our parents were born in China and Vietnam. We chose Taiwan because it fit most of our criteria.

We just submitted our application for the Taiwan Gold Card Visa. This work/resident visa allows the entire family to stay in Taiwan for up to 3 years, and access to Taiwan’s National Health Insurance system, which is supposed to be top notch. To qualify for the visa, you must have worked in the following fields:

Each field has its own requirements. We are applying under the Field of Economy aka business. Within this field, you must have either worked in specific roles or made a monthly salary of NT$160,000 (or $5,400 USD) in the past 3 years. Because of a huge influx of visa applications during the pandemic, Taiwan now requests a curriculum vitae to verify that applicants are working or have worked in relevant fields/industries. But comparatively speaking, the requirements are pretty straightforward.

The application itself was easy too. Aside from having to update our resumes, the application had only 5 sections and took about 30 minutes to complete. There are also step-by-step instructions, and live support via email and chat.

The visa application review process takes about 2 months so now….we just wait. The immigration agency might come back and request additional documents or worse, reject our application. (In which case, Spain here we come?!) Some people asked why we didn’t apply sooner. The 3-year time limit for the visa starts the day your application is approved and not from the day you arrive in Taiwan. If we were to stay the full 3 years, we’d want the boys to finish the school year, which would be around the time our visa application gets approved (assuming all things go as planned). Fingers crossed this all goes smoothly!