Conscription Regarding Overseas Chinese

[chanephraim]

any update regarding this thread? its been 4 years already?

[Satellite TV]

any update regarding this thread? its been 4 years already?

MAt you have asked same questiuon in multiple threads. You are not an overseas chinese ok. You are a Singaropean who wants to become an ROC National

You will be drafted even if you cannot speak Chinese. The only way you cannot be drafted is to complete your military service in Singapore, which is what you are proabbly trying to avoid in the first place. All males under 36 have to do the draft unless they are <personal insult deleted>.

[Realgroovychick]

Seriously though - what are the actual chances that an overseas Chinese will get conscripted for breaking the four month rule? Does anyone know someone it has actually happened to? I know in theory it is possible - but really?

I think the previous question around how you can actually be conscripted without a Hou Kou is an interesting one. Is it actually possible? It seems that without a Hou Kou you are not actually Taiwanese. It's not the passport that makes you Taiwanese, it's the identity card - and you can't have one of those without a Hou Kou. So how can you be conscripted into the army?

And can we have an update about the army moving to a voluntary one in 2013 - is that still happening?

[Chitown262]

Ok Put it this way it's simple.

Conscription is pretty much automated and automatic if you're a Taiwanese Citizen. If you got no green card the only way you escape Military Conscription is via going to University or studying for a masters degree.


For those that have overseas Chinese status and permanent residence abroad with a Green card. You have to leave once every four months.

United States or any other foreign passports if you were born before 1984 it's 1.) Lived here for a whole one year. 2.) You cannot stay over 4 months three times(So you can use the ARC excuse twice but on your third shot you gotta do the 4 month rule. When this happens I advise you to just go home and reapply for your TW passport if you want to work in Taiwan. Since you no longer can stay in the country for nearly a year at time and plus ARCs you need to subject yourself to higher taxes and paying to renew it.)

If you were born on 1985 you cannot have a total of 183 days of residence in Taiwan within the past two years. This is what I can gather fromt he conscription laws. If you want go call TECO. But they might even give you bullshit anwsers. Even though leaving every 4 months is a pain in the ass. You can look on the bright side and see it as a chance to travel.

Question: When I dated a Taiwanese girl a few years ago, she explained to me that I can obtain the overseas Chinese status so I can visit Taiwan with my US passport without worrying about conscription. The Taiwanese gf wasn't very good with English, and I wasn't very good with Mandarin, and I can't read/write. And the form was all in Chinese! Anyway, I went to the TECO in Chicago after my gf at the time helped me fill out, and I was told that I couldn't apply.

Here are the facts:
1. I left Taiwan when I was 6, and went to Indonesia.
2. I always entered Indonesia with KIMS (limited stay visa http://www.embassyofindonesia.org/consu ... edvisa.htm) through my father's work visa.
3. At 18, I went to the US for college (I think I had to get some kind of a waiver, or delay of conscription).
4. Before graduating college, I got my green card at 20. (Interview in US Embassy in Taiwan, and never went back to Taiwan since then.)
5. I got my US citizenship 5 years after my green card. (Never left the US during this period, since my Taiwanese passport had expired when I was 22. That passport's validity had previously been extended a couple times.)

The lady at TECO tried to explain to me that my overseas Chinese status application is denied, and I can't understand why (she couldn't speak English very well, and I couldn't speak Chinese). Can you help me understand why I may have been denied? Or is TECO full of crap? I really want to visit Taiwan, but I don't want to wait till I'm 36!

[frank1980]

A male national of Taiwan should immigrate to another country before the age of 15 in order to be eligible for Overseas Chinese passport status visa. If they meet the qualifications for the status visa, male nationals who immigrated to other countries from Taiwan, should apply with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs or ROC consular offices abroad to revoke the seal of non-rendering of military service. Overseas Chinese Passport Status Visa are given to: （1）those who went out of the country before turning 15 on December 31 of that year;（2）possess a valid ROC passport;（3）obtained valid permanent residency in the foreign country;（4）has lived in the foreign country for four years cumulatively;（5）has lived in the foreign country for six consecutive months or eight months and above annually in a span of two years; and （6）who returned to the country close to the conscription age from January 1 of the year they turned sixteen to December 31 of the year they turned 18 and lived for not more than 183 days annually. Furthermore, after reaching the conscription age of 19 on January 1st of that year, individuals who do not possess the qualifications mentioned in items 3, 4, and 5 should never have gone out of the country before. In terms of issues pertaining to overseas Chinese passport status visa, one can go directly to the Overseas Compatriot affairs Commission, the Bureau of Consular Affairs, MOFA, or any of our embassies and consular offices abroad.

doesn't sound like you officially immigrated anywhere until 20. hence why you are not eligible.

[Chitown262]

A male national of Taiwan should immigrate to another country before the age of 15 in order to be eligible for Overseas Chinese passport status visa. If they meet the qualifications for the status visa, male nationals who immigrated to other countries from Taiwan, should apply with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs or ROC consular offices abroad to revoke the seal of non-rendering of military service. Overseas Chinese Passport Status Visa are given to: （1）those who went out of the country before turning 15 on December 31 of that year;（2）possess a valid ROC passport;（3）obtained valid permanent residency in the foreign country;（4）has lived in the foreign country for four years cumulatively;（5）has lived in the foreign country for six consecutive months or eight months and above annually in a span of two years; and （6）who returned to the country close to the conscription age from January 1 of the year they turned sixteen to December 31 of the year they turned 18 and lived for not more than 183 days annually. Furthermore, after reaching the conscription age of 19 on January 1st of that year, individuals who do not possess the qualifications mentioned in items 3, 4, and 5 should never have gone out of the country before. In terms of issues pertaining to overseas Chinese passport status visa, one can go directly to the Overseas Compatriot affairs Commission, the Bureau of Consular Affairs, MOFA, or any of our embassies and consular offices abroad.

doesn't sound like you officially immigrated anywhere until 20. hence why you are not eligible.

Thank you! The Indonesian KIMS visa I had didn't meet the minimum criteria of "permanent residency." Thanks for the explanation!

I guess I have to wait till 36 before I visit Taiwan. Uhm, that is assuming my information is correct. Am I okay to visit Taiwan when I turn 36?

[hansioux]

I thought only a overseas Taiwanese can get conscripted by the Taiwanese government. :P

[funkyrawbanger]

Alright I got a question I hope someone could give me some insight on.

Heres my situation:
I was born in Taiwan then moved to California when I was 3. I stayed in California till I graduated college and moved to Korea to teach English in 2010 and I'm currently teaching English in Korea. I was born on Sep 6,1985, so I'm eligible for the draft. I want to go back to Taiwan as soon as possible but I do not want to waste a year of my life in the army.

I have a dual citizenship with an overseas chinese stamp in my R.O.C. passport.

This is what I read recently: Males born after 1994 will only have to serve 4 months in basic training and are exempt from a full year and 2 months of service.

http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_ ... &Type=aIPL

I also read that by the start of 2014 they will turn the draft into an all voluntary service.

http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_con ... id=1786382

So, I just want to be sure that when I return to Taiwan after 2014 when the draft laws change into an all voluntary service with only 4 months of basic training that I wont have to serve a full year because I wasn't born after 1994. In other words, when I go back in 2014 when the laws change, will I have to serve a full 1 year or just 4 months and be done with that hot mess?

I would call the conscription office, which I did, but failed to coherently understand wtf they were trying to tell me.

when those laws change, I have 2 options: go back and serve 4 months or go back and serve a full year.
If its the latter and I have to serve a full year even with the change in laws, Then I might as well go back now and get it over with.