Illegal teaching in High Schools and ARC problems

[cyberguppy]

I need a little help on this issue and any help would be appreciated.

My buxiban contracted me out to a number of high schools in Taipei to teach.
It now turns out that somehow the details of the contract work were mismanaged and some of those schools registered me for tax and the government knows.
Government says the work was illegal.

Since I was planning a nice long 3 month vacation on a bicycle from China to Thailand, I applied 2 months early for my work permit to renew my ARC.
The work permit was refused, my buxiban was asked to pay a $30 000 fine. My buxiban doesn't want to pay the fine so they are contesting the issue with government.

6 weeks have passed and no permit has been granted yet. No responses from government either.
My buxiban asked me to sign a paper stating I was contracted out and did not work under my own capacity.
I can't get a China visa without a valid ARC so I applied for an ARC extension. They only gave me one month. I will pick it up tomorrow.
My trip abroad will be 3 months in which my ARC will expire (31 July + 1 month extension to 31 of August) if this mess is not sorted out beforehand.
My trip is from July 9th to October 9th.

I don't want to come back on a tourist visa because my ability to apply for an APRC is lost and I have a house full of stuff here.

My questions are as follows.

1. What are the chances my school is going to win this case with the government?
2. If they lose, what can happen to me? I've heard teaching at High Schools is illegal even though my school reassured me it's not.
3. Can I get my buxiban to apply for 1 month ARC extensions every month until they sort this mess out while I'm away?
4. Should I cancel my dream trip to wait for this to clear up?
5. Are there any other solutions?

[cfimages]

I can't get a China visa without a valid ARC

Why not?

[bababa]

My buxiban asked me to sign a paper stating I was contracted out and did not work under my own capacity.

This letter is in Chinese, I assume. Get a Taiwanese person to explain to you exactly what it says - don't rely on someone from the school.

2. If they lose, what can happen to me? I've heard teaching at High Schools is illegal even though my school reassured me it's not.

The buxibans say teaching kindy is OK too. I think working somewhere other than what is on your ARC is not legal, even if it is your buxiban that sent you there.

[cyberguppy]

I can't get a China visa without a valid ARC

Why not?

It's a business visa

[cfimages]

I can't get a China visa without a valid ARC

Why not?

It's a business visa

Ok.

[cfimages]

2. If they lose, what can happen to me? I've heard teaching at High Schools is illegal even though my school reassured me it's not.

You can only teach at the school that you have an ARC for. If the high school is listed on your ARC, then you can teach there. If it's not, you can't. It doesn't sound like you have an ARC for the schools, in which case I'd guess it'd be very unlikely you could hope to win. About the only way would be if your ARC holding school takes all the blame, tells the govt that is was completely their fault and that they purposely lied to you, and they happily and promptly pay the fine. And even then there are no guarantees.

[zyzzx]

I can't get a China visa without a valid ARC

Why not?

It's a business visa

You can get one without an ARC if you go to Hong Kong or send your passport to your home country. It looks like you will most likely need to do this anyway. I have been told several times by Taiwanese travel agents that they can't send to HK for the visa unless your ARC will continue to be valid through the length of the visa (ie. for another 3 or 6 months), so the one month extension won't help (I don't know if that's actually the rule in Hong Kong, but the travel agents here seemed to think so).

[tsukinodeynatsu]

If you're after your APRC it might be best if you go and talk to immigration, asks what would happen because you really, really didn't know, and ask what would happen if the school admits that you really didn't know and thought that you were working legally.

If they say you can get away OK if the school admits that you didn't know, it might be better for you to pay all or part of the fine for your school in return for your school covering your ass. Even though it's their fault :S

[bigduke6]

The OP mentioned a business visa. How are you organising that? I used to go to China on Business.Up until 2008 I used to get a 1 year multiple entry visa. They then changed the rules stating you need an official document from one of the Chinese companies you are viviting.

Has this changed again?

[CraigTPE]

It now turns out that somehow the details of the contract work were mismanaged and some of those schools registered me for tax and the government knows.
Government says the work was illegal.

I'm not sure I understand what "registered me for tax" means. Doesn't just boil down to who pays you and withholds the tax? If you were employed by a cram school and sent out to work at the high school, didn't the high school pay the cram school, who then took their lion's share and paid you your wages? Then, unless you were photographed teaching a class, for all intents and purposes, you were working at the cram school.

I worked for 3 years for a language school that sent teachers out to a variety of private primary and secondary schools, and that was how it worked. If the high school paid you directly, and reported the pay and withheld the tax, you're probably screwed.