Job Discussion Forums

[inwanzhou]

I am thinking about coming to Taiwain to teach. I spent a year in lovely china but the salary isn't as competative as Taiwain hence me thinking about the return abroad. This time around I am thinking of bringing my daughter, she will be 8 by the time I decide to make the move.

My question for people living and working in Taiwain is what kind of internet filters should I expect? My daughter would do online learning with the local board here in Canada. I just don't want internet blocking software to mess with her e-learning.

Also, has anyone brought their children over, in or around that age and what were their experiences like? My daughter is looking forward to the possibilities of it all and I know that culture shock will be the biggest challenge, but after the shock settled for your children was the experience positive or negative?

Thanks in advance!
V

[Xenophobe]

The first time we went over we took our two year old with us and we were there for five years. My wife and I are returning with our eldest son, now nine and a half and our eight month old son. I would have to say that the experience was quite a positive experience for my son. When we returned to Canada we taught in a small school in northern Manitoba, that was next to an Indian reservation. This was not a positive experience for anyone in my family . Drunks passing out in the schoolyard, on your doorstep, kids coming to school with knives, bad attitudes and bruises all over, fist fights on almost a daily basis, rampant child molestation, parents trying to come into the school, so pi$$ed they could hardly walk, to scream at you, the kids or the water fountain are just some of the issues we dealt with on a weekly basis.

We are using correspondence courses for our son from either Manitoba or Alberta. Could you give some info on the e-learning as that would be even better.

[Aristotle]

Please be advised that it is extremely difficult if not impossible for the vast majority of foreign teachers on Taiwan to get a dependent ARC for their family members based on their own ARC. The exceptions being most of the international schools.
The government of Taiwan views this type of thing as immigration by impure races and openly discourages it.
Welcome to Taiwan.
A.

[Xenophobe]

Aristotle,

Based on personal experience I have to say that your statement is completely incorrect bordering on the ludicrous.

[Aristotle]

[TaoyuanSteve]

[Xenophobe]

I'd say that "based on personal experience", as well as knowing several other foreign couples who also brought their children to Taiwan qualifies as sufficient evidence. Do you want notarized testimonials with addresses and phone numbers included ??!!?? Take the tinfoil hat off once in awhile, leave the conspiracy websites alone for a bit and go out and interact with some real people. Sheesh whatta maroon Oh, by the way are there more than one of you or do you always refer to yourself as "we"??

[Aristotle]

http://www.eslcafe.com/jobinfo/asia/sefer.cgi?display:997652922-14267.txt


I can appreciate your skepticism but without details as simple as which city and how recently skepticism is all you will get in return.
Are we to understand from your post that you are a bushi ban teacher and were able to get a dependent ARC for your wife/husband and children. If that is the case please elaborate.
Some people in the government of Taipei are attempting to bring government in that area up to international standards. Allowing foreign workers to bring in family members as dependents would definitely be a step in that direction.
The most recent report I have is from a South African gentleman in Taichung whose family was refused a dependent ARC because he was a teacher and non caucasian. Please feel free to let everyone reading know the details of how you were able to get you wife and children dependent ARC's as a teacher.
The government of Taiwan has, until recently defined foreign teachers as transient workers and refused to allow them to bring in dependents. The odd exception was for people with the proper quanxi.
Where did you apply for your families ARC's?
A.

[TaoyuanSteve]

[Aristotle]

You are not being asked to give your name or personal information. Just help the thousands of people with families who read this understand how and under what conditions they can get their dependents, residency rights.

[markholmes]

I knew a guy who worked at a bushiban who also had a wife and two kids living there, one kid was born in Taiwan the other in South Africa (both parents were South African). Now I don't know about their individual paperwork but the school was strictly legal and they had been living in Taiwan three years. They lived in Taipei. Whatever the arrangements everything was as legal as it can be in Taiwan.

[clark.w.griswald]

As usual Aristotle has managed to confuse himself, and no doubt some others in the process.

Getting a spousal ARC for you spouse and family is not at all difficult and people do it all the time. Your place or type of work is totally irrelevant in this process, so is the color of your skin. Although nationality would play a big part no doubt as our South East asian counterparts are not treated in the same way that we westerners are. That is certainly unfortunate for them but doesn't change the situation that pertains to foreign teachers, and that is the focus of this board.

The only real criteria that one needs to satifsy when acquiring spousal ARC's is money. You would need to be able to prove that only one working parent would earn enough to support the other parent and any accompanying family. This is assuming that the second parent doesn't qualify for work here in Taiwan.

I don't know the exact family income statistics for Taiwanese families but my guess is that they could be in the order of NTD35,000-50,000 per month for the average family in city areas. Considerably less in country areas. Most foreign teachers would pull in NTD50,000-60,000 a month in their first year here. As can be seen this is well above the average for local families who manage to support themselves, so the majority of foreign teachers working in buxibans would meet the requirements for a spousal visa.

I agree with the other voices against Aristotle. Aristotle if you are going to continue to make claims then you are going to need to start supporting them with more evidence. As the voice of dissent, the onus is on you to show that what you claim is true, not on the rest of us to claim that it isn't. I have proved you wrong on a number of occasions in the past, and have no interest in doing so in the future as I know from past experience that what you claim as being fact has no validation.

What was the link for? Is this the source of your claims against the government? The opinion of one teacher who apparently had to do visa runs every six months. The six month visa runs sounds like she had a business visa, the very visa that you recommend everyone get even though it is illegal to teach here on it. She makes no mention that she applied for ARC's for herself or her family, and her apparent visa status suggests that she wouldn't have been entitled to these even if she did apply as she was working illegally. Her six month visa runs were then of her own making, not the governments.

Maybe you would like to elaborate on the South African you mention. What was the reason that the goverment stated in their refusal of his application? Was he working here legally? How much was he earning per month? What was the status of his family? Were there any mitigating factors to the case that possibly surrounded his spouse that made her a flight risk i.e. what is the nationality of the spouse? etc. etc.

What you need to supply is a letter from a government agency rejected applications for spousal ARC's or some form of legislative requirements that show that obtaining a spousal visa involves an undue amount of hoop jumping. Until then I will trust the personal experiences of people on this board that have obtained visas and ARC's for their families, and the personal experiences of people I know here that have done the same.

[Aristotle]

Needless to say that when dealing with the welfare of children it is best not to rely on the racist and corrupt government of the Republic of China or their cronies. Particularly when it is your own children.
The local culture here on Taiwan dictates that children are property and not regarded as people. Foreigners in general are considered subhuman by the locals and the government of Taiwan enshrines such racist thinking into Taiwan's the laws and/or implementation of relevant regulations.
The government of Taiwan regards foreign children as cute pets and little more.
If you have the proper quanxi or money then you may be able to bypass Taiwan government policy regarding spousal dependent for transient foreign teachers. Otherwise do your children a favor and take them to a real country. The current government on Taiwan makes Pauline Hansen look like a bleeding heart liberal.
Good luck,
A.

[markholmes]

[Aristotle]

Evidence that the Government of Taiwan is implementing polices based on racial discrimination pertaining to residency of foreign children.