Job Discussion Forums

[eddy100]

hello experienced passport and visa people..

I'm kind of a novice at this "travel and stay in international
countries" business....and....I am currently here in Taiwan
...I arrived for a teaching contract a couple of weeks ago...

..though inexperienced, one tip I did pick up on by way of
the United States State Department website and other
helpful internet sources, was that there is no shame in
being a little uncomfortable whenever you are not
physically in possesion of your passport......couple that
with some offhand remarks by some fellow foreign teachers
that some resident visa applicants are denied a resident
visa for unknown or innocous reasons..........and suddenly,
my question is born.....

a week ago I went to the "visa office" with my documents,
my work permit, my official school contract, proper fees,
passport, yada, yada, yada,......everything proper....
I slipped everything under the little glass window and
waited.......
I was surprised when the lady returned, to be given a
little pink slip of paper, instead of my passport,
and told to return in a couple of weeks...
My question(s) is (are)
1. is that the routine?
2. is my passport safe?
3. when I return on the date which
they told me, is my passport handed
to me or does it go lay in some government
vault until I go home?
4. if for some reason the resident visa is denied,
is my passport handed back to me with
a "denied" stamp on it or do I have to jump
through hoops to find it?
5. if the passport is returned in a resident-visa-
denied status, are the remaining 6 weeks on my
non-extendable visitors visa still valid??
You see, you are dealing with a real novice here guys....I tried
to make my questions as focused and direct as possible.
Any help would sincerely be appreciated.
My internet research pre-arrival more or less trained me
to "guard your passport vigorously as if it were your child".
thanks
eddy

[clark.w.griswald]

It is true that you should be wary of anyone other than yourself holding your passport, but you obviously need to hand your passport over the relevant authorities if you want to get a visa.

What you report is perfectly normal procedure. The fact that they have accepted the application is generally an indication that it will be approved with no further problems. If it is denied there will be nothing stamped in your passport to indicate that but there may be a record kept on their computer.

You can only have one valid visa at one time so any previous visa to Taiwan will be cancelled before the resident visa is issued.

[BJ]

You may give a full photocopy of you passport, initialed on every page, and they mean every page, even if blank front and back.
Schools often want the passport because they do not know the rule. The authorities were handed the passport by you which is fair as you didnt provider a photocopy.

I wouldnt worry govt agencies are not likely to steal it:) ionce you get your ARC, carry that and not your passport is fine.

If in the meantime you are stopped by the police and asked for your passport, show them the recipt and explain. If they do not understand ask for the foreign affairs police.

This may have changed this year as the agency dealing with ARC sems to have changed departments, to a new one.

Regarding stamps, the only time you will get a stamp about denied, is when you overstay your 60 or 30 day limits. careful it is not 2 months BUT 60 days.

More often than not no stamp is placed int he passport. Visa denied is stamped on the application paper not your passport. The remainimng time will be valid, unless you are being deported for one reason or another:)

SO dont worry, as clark says if they have looked and taken it, it 99 percent means they will stamp it. The only times I have heard them not doing so is when outdated paper work has been submitted.

[clark.w.griswald]