logo logo
logo

FAQ

HomeFAQ
FAQ - Dependents and Education

  • Q1: How shall a newborn foreigner in the R.O.C. apply for an ARC?

    1. With regard to a foreigner born in the R.O.C. whose father or mother has an ARC or an APRC on the date of birth, either parent shall apply for an ARC for the newborn within 30 days from date of birth. The required documents are certificate of birth and 1 2"x2" photo, an ARC (APRC) of father or mother and and fee of an ARC. Please submit the application to the local NIA Service Center. Upon reception of a new passport, the nationality and passport validity will be noted thereon.

     

    2. With the Nationality Act amended and enforced on February 9, 2000, any infant born in the R.O.C. (Taiwan) with either parent as a national of the R.O.C (Taiwan) on or after February 9, 2000, is eligible for a national of the R.O.C. (Taiwan) and thus the birth shall be registered at the household registration office and an ARC is not needed.

  • Q2: Can dependents of foreign white-collar workers come and live with them in Taiwan ? Are dependents allowed to work?

    1. Dependents of foreign white-collar workers may obtain residency permits to live with them. However, dependent children must be under the age of 20. Dependents and children over 20 years old who wish to work in Taiwan shall follow the rules regarding foreign professionals in the Employment Services Act and Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals to obtain work permits before they may start working.
    2. According to Article 51 of the "Employment Service Law", the foreigner  who have acquired an APRC can apply directly to the Ministry of Labor. After obtaining the work permit ,the foreigner may be employed by the employer. 
    3. According Paragraph 2 of Article 7 of the “Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals,” a foreign professional, foreign special professional, or foreign senior professional, their spouse, child under the age of majority, and child over the age of majority who is unable to live independently due to physical or mental disability, having obtained permanent residency, need not apply for a permit to work in Taiwan. 

  • Q3: Can a foreigner who is an R.O.C(Taiwan) national without registered household in the Taiwan area - apply for a work permit on the purpose of dependent relative?

    If the foreigner is approved to live with an immediate family member who has household registration in Taiwan, he/she may apply for a work permit in accordance with Article 51 of the Employment Services Act.

  • Q4: I have attained the age of 20; can I reside in Taiwan as a dependent of my relatives?

    No. Applicants who have attained the age of 20 are not allowed to reside in R.O.C. with a dependent status. If applicants want to extend their residence in Taiwan, they need to change their purposes of residence before the age of 20, and within the validity period of the alien’s residence permit for "dependent” status(If the applicants want to change to foreign student visa, the applicants should register in the University's full-time PhD, master's or bachelor's program which are designated by the Ministry of Education.) at the Bureau of Consular Affairs or the Central, Southern, Eastern and Southwestern Taiwan Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Then applicants shall apply for a new ARC at the local service center of the National Immigration Agency. Applicants who want to change the purpose of residence to employment can apply the alternation to the purpose of residence at the Service Centers of the National Immigration Agency.

  • Q5: Where can foreigners study Chinese in Taiwan?

    There are 65 Chinese Language Centers located at colleges and universities throughout Taiwan, and four 5 short-term tutorial centers which have approval to recruit students from overseas to come to Taiwan to study Chinese, all offering a variety of Chinese language courses year-round. The Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language (TOCFL), a standardized language proficiency test, was developed by the Steering Committee for the Test Of Proficiency-Huayu (SC-TOP), established by the Ministry of Education, and it provides test services for learners of Chinese.

    Please visit the website of the Office of Taiwan Mandarin Educational Resources Center(https://ogme.edu.tw/ ) or the Study in Taiwan website (http://www.studyintaiwan.org/) for more details about Chinese language education. 

  • Q6: What are the criteria for being determined an overseas Chinese student?

    1. In accordance with the "Regulations Regarding Study and Counseling Assistance for Overseas Chinese Students in Taiwan", the term "overseas Chinese student" refers to a student of Chinese descent who has come to Taiwan to study who was born and lived overseas until the present time, or who has been living overseas for six or more consecutive years in the immediate past and obtained permanent or long-term residency status overseas. Please note that a minimum of eight consecutive years of overseas residency is required if the person is applying to study in a university department of medicine, dentistry, or Chinese medicine in Taiwan.

    2. The term "overseas” refers to countries or regions other than, the Mainland Area, Macao, and Hong Kong.

    3. The reference to “consecutive years” regarding residency overseas means calendar years in each of which an overseas Chinese student has not spent more than 120 days in Taiwan. When calculating the number of consecutive years spent overseas, if the initial or final year of the period is not a complete calendar year, any time spent in Taiwan in the initial or final year must not exceed 120 days. However, time that a person has spent in Taiwan is not subject to this restriction and is not counted when calculating how long they were in Taiwan in a particular year if in that period of time the overseas Chinese student has:

    (1) attended an overseas youth technical training course conducted by the OCAC or a technical professional training program accredited by the central competent education administration authority;

    (2) attended an activity held by the OCAC or an activity recognized by the OCAC that was held by a government agency, or taken a Chinese language course provided by a Chinese language education institution which has been approved by the competent authority to recruit students overseas, and the person has spent a total period of less than two years undertaking such activities or courses;

    (3) spent a total period of less than two years in Taiwan as an exchange student;

    (4) spent a total period of less than two years undertaking an internship that they came to Taiwan to undertake with the approval of the designated central competent authority;

    (5) returned to Taiwan to do military service and has been enlisted and served;

    (6) stayed in Taiwan because they were unable to return to their country of residence because of war, some natural disaster, or a major outbreak of some infectious disease; or

    (7) stayed in Taiwan because they were unable to return to their country of residence because of some other matter that the student was not responsible for and they have documentary evidence of this.

    4. Having the right to live overseas as a citizen or permanent resident, or having “overseas Chinese” status indicated on an R.O.C. passport may be used for documentary proof of having “obtained permanent or long-term residency status overseas”. 

  • Q7: What is the University Entrance Committee for Overseas Chinese Students?

    The University Entrance Committee for Overseas Chinese Students (hereunder referred to as “UECOCS”) is formed in accordance with the University Act is constituted by representatives of all the universities and tertiary colleges in Taiwan to be in charge of recruitment of overseas Chinese students to study in Taiwan. Since its formation in the 1995 academic year, UECOCS has been responsible for joint recruitment, testing, and placement of overseas Chinese students, including those from Hong Kong and Macao. For the 2023 academic year, the members of UECOCS comprise representatives of 132 public and private universities and tertiary colleges. Yuhlong Su, the professor of National Chi Nan University, is the chair of the committee.

    UECOCS has set up eight divisions to facilitate its overseas Chinese student recruitment work: the Test Preparation, Test Marking, Test Results Review, Test, Educational Institution Placements, Secretarial, Publicity, and Information Service divisions. National Taiwan University, National Taiwan Normal University, Feng Chia University and National Chi Nan University separately take responsibility for these.

  • Q8: What are the prerequisites for an overseas Chinese student to enroll in a national elementary school, junior high school, senior secondary school, or junior college in Taiwan?

    1. In accordance with Article 9 of the “Regulations Regarding Study and Counseling Assistance for Overseas Chinese Students in Taiwan”, a student in any of the categories listed immediately below, and who returned to Taiwan independently and plans to enroll in an elementary school, junior high school, senior secondary school, or junior college may apply to the OCAC within 90 days from the day after they arrive in Taiwan and submit all the documents specified in the subparagraphs of Paragraph 1 of Article 6. The OCAC will examine the documents then forward their application to the appropriate competent education administrative authority which will check and ratify the documents and assign the student a place in an educational institution in light of their actual circumstances and assign them to an educational institution to be admitted to. The proof of their highest level of education at any overseas educational institution shall be authenticated by an overseas office. However, students applying to undertake a general course at a public senior secondary school are restricted to attending the National Overseas Chinese Senior High School (NOCSH):

    (1) A student who has legal residence status in Taiwan.

    (2) A student who has permitted to enter the country with a visa for a limited period and has stayed for 60 days or more, and their visa does not bear a visa issuing agency remark indicating that the visa cannot be extended or is subject to some other restriction.

    2. A person who has a visa for a limited period stay and has been in Taiwan less than 60 days, or who has a visa which bears a visa issuing agency remark indicating that the visa cannot be extended or is subject to some other restriction, and was permitted to enter the country may apply to the Bureau of Consular Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or one of its subsidiary offices in Taiwan before their current visa expires to have it changed into a visa for a stay of 60 days or more that does not bear a remark indicating that the visa cannot be extended or is subject to some other restriction, on the basis of documentary evidence of their overseas Chinese student status issued by the OCAC and on study being their reason for wanting to stay in Taiwan, after which they may apply to be assigned and admitted to an educational institution in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

  • Q9: What schools are there in Taiwan for the children of international residents and what schools have bilingual divisions offering bilingual programs?

    There are 22 private schools for international residents comprising 16 schools for American residents; one school for European residents offering separate British, German and French divisions; four schools for Japanese residents; and two schools for Korean residents. These are located across Taiwan, mainly in Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, and Kaohsiung. These private schools offer elementary, and junior andsenior secondary education and have affiliated preschools. There are also four  senior secondary schools with divisions offering bilingual programs.

    For the latest contact information about these schools please visit the Education Institutions for International Residents website. You can also phone the MOE : 886-2-7736-6666 for related information.

  • Q10: Do overseas Chinese students enjoy any preferential admission to study programs?

    1. Overseas Chinese students who were assigned to a junior high school by the central competent education administrative authority may apply during their junior high school graduation year for a place in a senior secondary school, or a five-year program at a junior college. However, students applying to undertake a public senior secondary school general course are restricted to attending the NOCSH.

    The preferential treatment when taking an examination to advance to the next level of education referred below does not apply to the applications referred to in the previous paragraph.

     

    2. In the year that they graduate, overseas Chinese students studying in Taiwan at an educational institution at junior high school level or higher will be given preferential treatment when they are entering the next level of their education that year, in accordance with the provisions below.

    (1) For senior secondary school, or a five-year programs at a junior college:

    a. Students applying for non-exam-based admission will have 25 % added to their total score to be used for over-quota comparison and ranking procedures.

    b. Students applying for admission through a selection procedure shall have 25% added to their score.

    (2) For 4-year or two-year programs at an institute of technology or a two-year program at junior colleges:

    a. Students applying for admission by registering to be assigned a place shall have 25 % added to their score. Applicants whose scores are below the minimum required to enroll in a four-year program in any department of an institute of technology may attend the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) Division of Preparatory Programs for Overseas Chinese Students, which prescribes its admission standards.
    b. Each educational institution shall exercise its own discretion regarding preferential treatment for overseas Chinese students applying for admission through avenues other than registration and being assigned there.
    (3) For Universities:
    a. Students applying for admission by examination shall have their examination results increased by 25 %. Those with scores below the minimum required for admission to a particular department may enroll in the NTNU Division of Preparatory Programs for Overseas Chinese Students. The admission standards shall be stipulated by the NTNU Division of Preparatory Programs for Overseas Chinese Students.
    b. Each university shall exercise its own discretion regarding preferential treatment for overseas Chinese students who apply for admission through avenues other than taking an examination and then being assigned there.
     

    ​3. Overseas Chinese students may only receive the preferential treatment in their graduation year and when they are entering the next level of their education, one time. They will not be given preferential treatment for examinations into any subsequent study program.

  • Q11: How do overseas compatriot students request transcripts of their studies in Taiwan?

    1. Application procedures: applications may be submitted at Counter 5 of the Department of Student Affairs of the OCAC either in person or by an entrusted agent with relevant supporting documents or apply on OCAC’s website. Address of the OCAC: 3rd Floor, No. 5, Xuzhou Rd., Taipei City, Tel: 02-2327-2640. After application, it takes 3-5 business days for OCAC to issue the transcript which can be picked up in person or be mailed to the person concerned.

    2. Required documents:

    (1) Application form for transcripts for overseas compatriot students.

    (2) A photocopy of academic qualifications. The original will be checked over-the-counter.

    (3) A photocopy of identity. The original will be checked over-the-counter.

    (4) For those who have discontinued their study (e.g., by suspension or deferral), a supporting document issued by the school should be attached.