Job Discussion Forums

solidfunk2 · Joined: 28 Sep 2005 Posts: 2

Here's the situation: I have just received a contract offer from a school in Taiwan, seems decent, but my girlfriend is from Argentina and I will not go without her. The Taiwanese consulate here in Vancouver told her she can't even apply for a tourist visa through them, she would have to do it in Buenos Aires. She doesn't have to be there - she can mail her passport etc, but then only gets a 30 day visa anyway. I will be there (in taiwan) for a year, so it seems ridiculous if she has to do this every month, impractical. (she also has to show a bank statement with 5000 $US.). We're willing to do the tourist visa thing the one time, but not every month for a year.

Is it possible to get extensions on a tourist visa within the country??

What about a student visa? Looking for any option here...

creztor · Joined: 30 Dec 2009 Posts: 476

Her only real option is to study Chinese here. Cost will be about 150NT an hour and usually 2 hours a day. Expect to pay about $50 USD per week for these classes. I believe that will give her a visa that needs to be renewed every 60 or 90 days, can't remember exactly how long as it has been a while since I was studying here. To me this is the best thing to do if you want her to come here. I doubt she could find any kind of work here to get a working visa etc.

creztor · Joined: 30 Dec 2009 Posts: 476

IGNORE

Dr_Zoidberg · Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 4:15 am Post subject:

Unless there is some special rule exclusively for Argentines, the idea she has to send everything back to her home country to apply for a visa is bogus. If that were the case, the TECO office in Hong Kong would have closed down a long time ago.

Unfortunately, once the person in the TECO office tells you something, there is no going back. Lies become truth. If you're coming here to teach for a year, you had better get used to it.

Since you have already exhausted any possibility of her getting a visa from TECO on her own, you may want to consider this service. Yes, there is a service charge, but she might find it more convenient than sending everything back home.

It's not possible to get a tourist visa extension. In fact it says non-extendable right on them.

There's more information here, but remember: In Taiwan the law is whatever the bureaucrat you're dealing with says it is.

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

She can study Chinese at Taiwan Normal University The cost is 22,800NT for three months. Here is the website:

http://web.mtc.ntnu.edu.tw/mtcweb/index.php?option=com_guoyu&task=show_information&id=29&menuid=105&lang=en

She would need to spend around 90,000 for a year of Mandarin classes. She would really need to show up for the classes. They will not renew your student visa if you miss too many classes.

solidfunk2 · Joined: 28 Sep 2005 Posts: 2

Dr Zoidberg,

So the Teco office you are talking about is for once she is already in taiwan and needs to renew her visa, right?

And JZer, about the Uni there, is there a way to sign up for classes and get a student visa before she goes?

Thanks a lot guys.

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

I have never had a student visa so I am not sure how it will work. She will need to apply to a university and get an invitation letter. Then she can apply for a student visa. She will have to show around $3000 in the bank for a student visa.

Dr_Zoidberg · Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 11:28 pm Post subject:

soldifunk, one cannot extend a tourist visa. Your girlfriend would have to fly out of the country - probably to Hong Kong - in order to get a new visa.

I was referring to the Vancouver TECO, but what I said applies to all Taiwanese government offices. Once the bureaucrat has stated something is so, it is so - even if it is not. And there's nothing you can do about it.

robertokun · Joined: 27 May 2008 Posts: 199

Man, if I had a girlfriend from Argentina, I think going to Taiwan would be the last thing on my mind . . .