Job Discussion Forums

[somanyroads]

Hi, my wife and I are planning on going to Taiwan next month in search of teaching jobs. I have a few Questions/Queries that hopefully someone can help with. I'm canadian with a B.A. so I will be able to get an ARC, however my wife is Dutch and from what I understand this means she can't get one. If she gets one via enrolling in chinese classes is she then legally able to teach? Or will she still be teaching illegally?

I've read on another post that even with a 60 day multiple entry visa you still need to do a visa run, so is it necessary to get a 60 day before coming, or is it just as good to get 30 days on landing? Is a 30 day landing visa extendable for my wife if she enrolls in classes?

We are in the Netherlands at moment and had planned on flying one-way(our prefered way of travel), but this looks like a bad idea. We really don't want a return ticket to the Netherlands though as we are probably staying longer than a return ticket is good for and don't want to come back here. Do we just swallow the return portion of a say a 2 week return ticket or will we need to show a return ticket at some other point? Any suggestions?

Finally any advice on decent small/mid size cities for newbies? Heard Tainan was alright.

Thanks for any help. Cheers,

Pete

[markholmes]

Your wife cannot work legally as an English teacher. Yes, the way to go is to sign up as a student and then work illegally.

60 day visas are best. You may have to do a visa run, it depends how fast you find a job and how slow your school is at processing the paperwork. Probably two months is enough.

Get a ticket from the Netherlands to Taipei and then on to Hong Kong, or Seoul or Tokyo. It doesn't have to be back home, just out of the country.

If you have a two month visa, book this extra flight towards the end of your visa period and then perhaps you can use it to do a visa run if necessary (although I don't know how much a return ticket from Taiwan to Hong Kong is, compared with a single ticket form Hong Kong back to Taipei). You may not need or be able to use the extra portion.

[TaoyuanSteve]

Where do you currently call home? Canada or the Netherlands? You should buy a return to one of them. When I came here, I bought an open ended return ticket. I set a provisional date which enabled me to get a 60 day visa. I then cancelled it upon arrival here and used it when I wanted it. Open ended tickets are usually good for a year. By that amount of time you'll either want a vacation or you'll want to leave for good. BTW one way tickets cost at least 2/3 as much as returns. I don't see any value in them. Also, they are more trouble from a visa acquisition and entry point of view.

You really should avoid commiting to living in any particular area before you get here. You're much better off getting here and deciding for yourself. The same goes with employment. Avoid recruiters. Don't take work from overseas.

[Aristotle]

If your wife can get a student ARC then she may be able to teach legally part time.
She may even be elgible for scholarships if she has the right connections (quanxi).
Good luck,
A.