Several Questions Regarding Military Conscription

[kclo89]

Hi, I've been looking all over the internet for answers to my questions and have been coming up with different answers, so I decided to ask here. I'd appreciate any help you guys can give me.

I am a dual citizen (US & Taiwan) currently living/working in the US, but very much want to visit my family in Taiwan recently. Currently my situation is:

I attended high school in Taiwan.
Post-high school, I left Taiwan on Dec 31 in the year I turned 18.
From 19 to 22, whenever I returned, I would use my Taiwanese passport which I had to get stamped each time since I was of conscription age but had proof of attending a university overseas.
Since graduation, I've never returned to Taiwan and have stayed in the US.

While I was in Taiwan, I had a Taiwanese ID card & Household Registration. I have a Taiwanese passport, and no formal "Overseas Chinese" status. I understand that I need to fulfill my military duty, but I was hoping to postpone that until after I finish graduate school in maybe 4 or 5 years.

So my questions are:
Is there anything I can do to avoid being drafted and be able to return to the US successfully if I were to take a 10-14 day visit to Taiwan.
Would being classified as an Overseas Chinese help my situation, and if so, is it possible for me to apply for that classification now?


Thank you very much for any help you can give me.

[twjl]

Some people might tell you to just use your US passport to visit Taiwan but there seems to be quite a few people on this forum who say that the information is all linked so it's not a safe bet---especially since you don't have the "Overseas Chinese" status.

So in your case, I would highly recommend contacting BOTH TECO in the US and OCAC in Taiwan and tell them your situation since it's a little tricky.

Make sure you contact both of them because sometimes they'll give conflicting answers.