APRC Application Procedures (Official Checklist)

[Northcoast Surfer]

I asked my APRC Agent Vivian Tseng if the minimum wage is going to increase again. She said it will for next year. She said starting in January of 2013 your consolidated gross income for the year will have to be at least $450,480nt. This is a pretty big jump compared to what it used to be. So don't screw yourself if you plan to get apply for you APRC next year. Don't rely on the website for updates either. Call your APRC officer personally to get the correct information.

Thanks for sharing this absolutely vital information!

Summary. Anyone who intends to submit an application for the APRC after January 1, 2013, must earn, declare and pay taxes on a gross income of at least $450,480 for the 2012 tax year. That's this year kiddies and three months have already expired. Make sure you declare above this amount to ensure that your 2013 APRC application will pass.

[LeiQQ]

I have been living in Taiwan for 7 years. The first 2 1/2 years I worked as a lecturer for a public university and then I left Taiwan only to come back a couple months later as a PhD student. Here is the question. I will graduate in 2013 when I hope to start work as an assistant professor in a new university. During my time as a student, I have had a work permit (it's applied by my university) and have paid tax on the little bit of money I have received. I am wondering then do I still need to work for five more years after I get my new job or could I apply after working one year and meeting the minimum income requirements? Or does that time as a student just not count?

[Steve4nLanguage]

I asked my APRC Agent Vivian Tseng if the minimum wage is going to increase again. She said it will for next year. She said starting in January of 2013 your consolidated gross income for the year will have to be at least $450,480nt. This is a pretty big jump compared to what it used to be. So don't screw yourself if you plan to get apply for you APRC next year. Don't rely on the website for updates either. Call your APRC officer personally to get the correct information.

Thanks for sharing this absolutely vital information!

Summary. Anyone who intends to submit an application for the APRC after January 1, 2013, must earn, declare and pay taxes on a gross income of at least $450,480 for the 2012 tax year. That's this year kiddies and three months have already expired. Make sure you declare above this amount to ensure that your 2013 APRC application will pass.

Thanks for the info. I will be applying in 2013, so in January I started having my employer declare and collect taxes on $38,000/month ($456,000/year), well over the limit at the time. Now I'm glad I went with that figure.

[Icon]

I have been living in Taiwan for 7 years. The first 2 1/2 years I worked as a lecturer for a public university and then I left Taiwan only to come back a couple months later as a PhD student. Here is the question. I will graduate in 2013 when I hope to start work as an assistant professor in a new university. During my time as a student, I have had a work permit (it's applied by my university) and have paid tax on the little bit of money I have received. I am wondering then do I still need to work for five more years after I get my new job or could I apply after working one year and meeting the minimum income requirements? Or does that time as a student just not count?

Question is: is your ARC as a student or as a teacher? If your ARC says you are a student, I am sorry, but time as a student does not count. If your ARC said that you were a worker, and then study is on teh side, it would have been another story. Even though you have worked part time and earned some salary -which I think that as a part-time lecturer won't be enough to qualify as per the rules of double the minumum income in a year- that doe snot mean you are a "worker" and hence making your time "working" as lecturer count.

Hope that is clear, if not feel free to ask.

[LeiQQ]

I have been living in Taiwan for 7 years. The first 2 1/2 years I worked as a lecturer for a public university and then I left Taiwan only to come back a couple months later as a PhD student. Here is the question. I will graduate in 2013 when I hope to start work as an assistant professor in a new university. During my time as a student, I have had a work permit (it's applied by my university) and have paid tax on the little bit of money I have received. I am wondering then do I still need to work for five more years after I get my new job or could I apply after working one year and meeting the minimum income requirements? Or does that time as a student just not count?

Question is: is your ARC as a student or as a teacher? If your ARC says you are a student, I am sorry, but time as a student does not count. If your ARC said that you were a worker, and then study is on teh side, it would have been another story. Even though you have worked part time and earned some salary -which I think that as a part-time lecturer won't be enough to qualify as per the rules of double the minumum income in a year- that doe snot mean you are a "worker" and hence making your time "working" as lecturer count.

Hope that is clear, if not feel free to ask.

Thanks for the reply. :-)

For the last 5 years my ARC has been a student ARC but the 2 1/2 years before that it was a work ARC. So the 2 1/2 years from before is lost, right? Do I need to start over once I graduate for an additional 5 years of work with a work ARC before I can apply? It is 5 years, right? Only the last year of work needs to have double the minimum income, right?

[Icon]

I have been living in Taiwan for 7 years. The first 2 1/2 years I worked as a lecturer for a public university and then I left Taiwan only to come back a couple months later as a PhD student. Here is the question. I will graduate in 2013 when I hope to start work as an assistant professor in a new university. During my time as a student, I have had a work permit (it's applied by my university) and have paid tax on the little bit of money I have received. I am wondering then do I still need to work for five more years after I get my new job or could I apply after working one year and meeting the minimum income requirements? Or does that time as a student just not count?

Question is: is your ARC as a student or as a teacher? If your ARC says you are a student, I am sorry, but time as a student does not count. If your ARC said that you were a worker, and then study is on teh side, it would have been another story. Even though you have worked part time and earned some salary -which I think that as a part-time lecturer won't be enough to qualify as per the rules of double the minumum income in a year- that doe snot mean you are a "worker" and hence making your time "working" as lecturer count.

Hope that is clear, if not feel free to ask.

Thanks for the reply. :-)

For the last 5 years my ARC has been a student ARC but the 2 1/2 years before that it was a work ARC. So the 2 1/2 years from before is lost, right? Do I need to start over once I graduate for an additional 5 years of work with a work ARC before I can apply? It is 5 years, right? Only the last year of work needs to have double the minimum income, right?

Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Not sure, it's total assets or salary. Disclaimer: this is AFAIK, check with NIA for details, as long as you have work authorization. We do not want to open a can of worms, do we?

[Utumno]

Hello everybody,

I've been living in Taiwan for almost 8 years now and just last week I picked up my APRC. I am also married to a local girl for almost 4 years now. This whole 8 years I've been working for one local company and I had little need for any APRCs. But last year someone said it might be a good idea to get it so I did This is going to sound silly, but once I have it, I actually do not know what to do with it and what is it good for Honestly. When I google around I find a lot of info how to get it, but nothing on WHY to get it.

So: I suspect that now I can quit my job any time I like and stay in Taiwan as long as I like, even though I am unemployed? Actually I've been toying with this idea - a month-long vacation after being a corporate slave for so long
I also understand that since I am married to a local girl, I have a 'permanent work permit' by default and I don't need any 'open work permits' ?

[Northcoast Surfer]

I also understand that since I am married to a local girl, I have a 'permanent work permit' by default and I don't need any 'open work permits' ?

Well now. There are many different thoughts and opinions on this topic. Here's mine.

Firstly, being married to a Taiwanese and on a JFRV ARC doesn't give you a "permanent work-permit". It only gives you unrestricted work rights as long as you stay married to a Taiwanese and as long as your JFRV ARC is valid. There's no actual permit involved and it's hardly considered permanent.

Some people say that because you are married to a Taiwanese, that you don't need to apply for the OWP and that you have open work rights by default. Previously, you had a JFRV based ARC and on the back it clearly showed your spouse's name as your sponsor. No question whatsoever that as a foreigner married to a Taiwanese that you have unrestricted work rights. However, now that you have an APRC, you are only beholden to yourself. You are no longer sponsored by your Taiwanese spouse, although you are still married. In fact, nowhere on your APRC does it show an employer or a Taiwanwese spouse as your sponsor. Basically, you have no proof on your APRC that you are married to a Taiwanese and therefore by extension have unrestricted work rights. Further, you could go to the HHRO with your wife right now and be divorced within 5 minutes and nothing regarding your APRC will have changed between the time you were married with an APRC and divorced with an APRC.

Also, official government policy regarding legal employment in conjuction with an APRC is that the holder must also have an Open-Work Permit. They conveniently make no mention of whether or not the OWP is still required if the APRC holder is also married to a Taiwanese.

If a government official felt like giving you a hassle for not having an Open-Work Permit in conjuction with your APRC, they could. After all, without carrying your wife in your back pocket, a copy of your marriage license, a recent printout of your household registration, how are you going to prove that you are married with only your APRC in your hand?

I choose not to be hassled. I have an APRC and the required OWP although I've been married to a Taiwanese for nearly 20 years.

Open-Work Permit Application Procedures

[Utumno]

Thanks! I think I'll apply for OWP, what the heck.

And what about the first question? I.e can I quit and legally stay in Taiwan being unemployed however long I want? I don't plan to collect any benefits, I just need a rest

[Northcoast Surfer]

Thanks! I think I'll apply for OWP, what the heck.

Yeah.....it's really no hassle at all. Say hey to Mr. Liu for me if you see him. He's the bomb!

And what about the first question? I.e can I quit and legally stay in Taiwan being unemployed however long I want? I don't plan to collect any benefits, I just need a rest

Yep. You're cool. Put your wife to work. Make her be the bread winner for the family. Be a househusband. Cook, clean, watch TV, relax, surf, live off your savings, win the lottery, open up your own business, etc.

Benefits? You might have an APRC, but you ain't going to get shit as a lousy foreigner who voluntarily quits his job to gold brick around!