Being a student and remote work

[80sStar]

Good luck if you get picked up by someone with a bone to pick against you, and you've been seen volunteering/working remotely/whatever. Until it happens to you, and the police show up at your door, you have no idea.

They can have a bone to pick all they want. If OP is performing tasks on his computer for a foreign company, which is located in a foreign country and is being paid in a foreign country, local authorities would have trouble proving that he was even doing work of any sort, much less work in Taiwan.

Volunteering, accepting local employment, freelancing for local companies, and other related matters are covered under local work permit regulations. Do any of those and you possibly would be vulnerable to someone "with a bone to pick with you."

It's so cute when folks believe actual proof is needed to get you deported. What's next, articles about the contributions of foreign residents in the Apple Daily?

So, if OP is subject to random arrest and deportation, why are we even having this discussion? Surely the legality, or illegality, of what OP is proposes is moot. According to you, he'd better watch his back in this wild-eastern outpost! The bad ol' FAP cum NIA are out to get us whities. There's a new sheriff in town, y'all. Nonsense.

I've managed to live 10+ years without a single issue with regards to my residence. I understand that things used to be different. ARCs were rare, spouses of ROC nationals had no work rights, APRC didn't exist and basically all foreigners were illegal. Those days are long gone. ARC is readily available for legal foreign employees with proper qualifications. Permanent residence and open work rights are available after 5 years. Open work rights are granted from day one to spouses of ROC nationals now. I do not now, nor have I ever lived in fear of random arrest or deportation. Never even been asked for my ID outside of traffic matters. It's as I wrote in the FAP thread: Those of us who live within the law have nothing to fear from it.

[ironlady]

So, if OP is subject to random arrest and deportation, why are we even having this discussion? Surely the legality, or illegality, of what OP is proposes is moot. According to you, he'd better watch his back in this wild-eastern outpost! The bad ol' FAP cum NIA are out to get us whities. There's a new sheriff in town, y'all. Nonsense.

I've managed to live 10+ years without a single issue with regards to my residence. I understand that things used to be different. ARCs were rare, spouses of ROC nationals had no work rights, APRC didn't exist and basically all foreigners were illegal. Those days are long gone. ARC is readily available for legal foreign employees with proper qualifications. Permanent residence and open work rights are available after 5 years. Open work rights are granted from day one to spouses of ROC nationals now. I do not now, nor have I ever lived in fear of random arrest or deportation. Never even been asked for my ID outside of traffic matters. It's as I wrote in the FAP thread: Those of us who live within the law have nothing to fear from it.

Yes, well, I lived within the law for 10 years in Taiwan as well, and my experience was completely different from yours. (And it wasn't that long ago -- people had ARCs and Article 51 work permits and so on already. And BTW, open work rights are not available after 5 years -- the right to apply for a work permit at any place that will hire you is available, not open work rights.)

I didn't live in fear of random deportation, but one morning there was a knock at the door of my apartment, and the game was on. The complaint had absolutely nothing to do with anything I was doing in Taiwan, and yet it was a case of "you prove this isn't so" rather than "someone has accused you of this, we need to investigate". It did not matter that I held a proper ARC. You can get all those documents, but the issue is that if someone wants to invalidate them, in effect, by getting you deported, it is eminently possible.

The FAP is not out to get us. The FAP simply doesn't give a crap -- which is the problem. If you have a single Taiwanese national bring in a complaint -- which can be done without you ever knowing who actually did it because the authorities will not reveal the identity of the person bringing the complaint -- you can be inches from deportation, because the FAP and other authorities will pile on without really thinking about the motivation for the original report. Then your only choices are to leave or to spend a lot of money trying to mount a defense. You can prevail with a good defense -- but you are out thousands of NT to do it, not to mention lost work time and general psychic wear and tear. They are not out to get us -- they simply don't bother to do a balanced job of investigation, because the ROC ID card, Chinese ethnicity and Taiwanese connections far outweigh a foreigner.

If a Taiwanese national really wants you off the island, and knows how to go about it (and it's not terribly difficult) you will be voted off, law or no law. This doesn't happen every day by any means, but saying it doesn't and can't happen is blind naiveté.

[Mucha Man]

Super80, I was kicked out in 2001 for 14 months despite being married and having secured a JFRV. My problem: no one had bothered to tell me that I still needed an ARC despite both me and my wife asking at the immigration office if I needed anything after securing that nice visa in my passport. Nope, I was told, that's all you need. You can even work anywhere you like now, I was told, though that was not true at the time.

So I lived in Taiwan for 1.5 years without an ARC because of bureaucratic incompetence. When it was discovered there was no hearing, no appeal. I was out. Originally I should have been allowed back in a month later but the law was changed and it was a minimum 12 months for visa violations. Again, no appeal.

At the end of 12 months I reapplied for a visa to return to Taiwan. I was rejected. It was only through the help of a business friend of my sister's (a Japanese fellow with extensive ties in the gov) that I was able to get a visa on the second application.

[Satellite TV]

Because you need a work permit for anything that is not specifically allowed under the purpose of your visa for being in Taiwan. Same thing goes for volunteering. Volunteering is not itself against the law, but volunteering on a visitor or student or work visa is.

So you mean evertime you come to work in Taiwan you do so illegally? After all you don't not reside in Taiwan or have an ARC here.

I've only been here 23 plus years and I have never had a work permit either. Never got deported yet.

[Charlie Phillips]

If someone comes to Taiwan on a tourist visa and God Forbid!!! emails their office, writes a report, or otherwise engages in 'work related' stuff in Starbucks, they can be deported???

Don't worry OP. Don't listen to the fear mongers.

[Satellite TV]

If a Taiwanese national really wants you off the island, and knows how to go about it (and it's not terribly difficult) you will be voted off, law or no law. This doesn't happen every day by any means, but saying it doesn't and can't happen is blind naiveté.

Complete bullshit and you as a moderator should know better then to be in effect trolling. I personally had several ROC nationals try to remove my sorry arse from Taiwan when I held and ARC. Never happened. But if you insist we can validate your theory just let me know the next time you are in Taiwan working as a translator or holding educational conferences and I will as a duly concerned ROC Citizen make a complaint about illegal workers in Taiwan. They might even pay me a reward for doing so.

[80sStar]

If a Taiwanese national really wants you off the island, and knows how to go about it (and it's not terribly difficult) you will be voted off, law or no law. This doesn't happen every day by any means, but saying it doesn't and can't happen is blind naiveté.

This is utter nonsense and fear mongering. You make these blanket, conspiracy theory statements in a thread started by a guy who just wanted to know if doing some remote work for his Canadian employer would be ok whilst here studying Chinese. You make Taiwan seem like an unfriendly, hostile place with undercover immigration police waiting in sting operations to catch any unsuspecting foreigner who isn't liked by some random Taiwanese. Imagine how this reads to prospective visitors, to say nothing about how you've threadjacked this discussion with your off-topic misinformation. The sad thing is you have carte blanche to continue doing so as you have moderator priviledges.

And, BTW, I'm not naive. I'm a long-term and CURRENT resident of this island. When I write about Taiwan, it isn't from distant memory.

[80sStar]

[
Yes, well, I lived within the law for 10 years in Taiwan as well, and my experience was completely different from yours. (And it wasn't that long ago -- people had ARCs and Article 51 work permits and so on already. And BTW, open work rights are not available after 5 years -- the right to apply for a work permit at any place that will hire you is available, not open work rights.)

APRC may be applied for after 5 years of continuous employment-based ARC residence. Once you have that, an open work permit, which allows you to do anything, can be obtained.

[Tigerman]

The entire issue hangs on two questions: 1. Will anyone figure out that you're doing it, and 2. will anyone care?

That's just complete nonsense.

The OP is asking about working in Taiwan for a foreign company situated outside of Taiwan's jurisdiction. The OP is asking whether he will violate his student/short-term visa by being paid in a foreign currency into a foreign account for work performed for a foreign company outside of Taiwan. There is no law against this.

I've already asked you to cite the relevant Taiwan law to support your contention. I'm still waiting for your reply and cite.

Good luck if you get picked up by someone with a bone to pick against you, and you've been seen volunteering/working remotely/whatever. Until it happens to you, and the police show up at your door, you have no idea.

The OP is not asking about volunteer work in Taiwan. That is just something you seem to want to discuss.

[Tigerman]

Good luck if you get picked up by someone with a bone to pick against you, and you've been ...working remotely... Until it happens to you, and the police show up at your door, you have no idea.

You have no idea what you are talking about.

Please cite the relevant Taiwan law that applies to the situation the OP is asking about.