Job Discussion Forums

[mayjay]

This may be the dumbest question ever but I rather cover my butt then end up geting screwed - when a school is helping you apply for an ARC should you at any time hand over your passport to them? I've heard from various people that you should never ever give anyone your passport but a school I'm considering teaching at says that I need to hand over my passport with my visa processing fee and I'll get it back when my visa comes in. Makes sense but it it right?

[Taylor]

Dear MayJay,

This is certainly not a dumb question. In my opinion, the teacher is fully responsible for ensuring that his/her work visa is processed properly and timely. Now, obviously most teachers who are newbies in Taiwan do not speak Chinese. Moreover, they are not familiar with the process at all. So, it seems only natural that 'someone else' is going to take care of everything for you.

In years past, some employee of a language school would take all of the documents (and photocopies) down to the Ministry of Education for approval. I have heard this changed, but if anyone has commented on the new process I must have missed it. Are we all now considered foreign laborers??????

The only government agency that would keep your passport was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (a.k.a. Foreign Affairs Police). In Kaohsiung, it seems they would keep your passport for about a week or so. It was always less than 2 weeks, as I recall. This step occurred only after the Ministry of Education had mailed a very important document to your school which basically OK'd everything. It was always smooth sailing after receiving that little envelope!

Bottom line: There is no reason for you boss to keep the passport just because he/she is the boss. You can ask to go along with the language center employee responsible for submitting your documentation. In fact, I would recommend this.

Hope several others will comment on this important process.

Taylor
Kaohsiung
1995 to 2003

[Aristotle]

I have never seen a law or regulation that says you have to surrender your passport to your employer.
If you should for any reason give your passport to your employer make him sign a receipt for it stating his name as well as the date time and location.
Often times a simple copy of your passport will suffice.
http://www.evta.gov.tw/foreign/eanswers-1.htm
Here is a link to information put out by the ROC in English.
Please note that this information is put out by the central government and that each city and county interprets it in their own way. The mandatory time limits for processing applications are a joke and citing this document to government officials outside of Taipei who are not following regulations is pointless.

Good luck,
A.

[wood]

Your school will need a copy of your passport--all its pages. However, there's no reason that you should have to hand over your passport to anyone. Are there really schools that demand that you hand over your passport?

[logician]

[Aristotle]

[wood]