Here's Taiwan's "black list" of countries. The "unofficial" recommendation to Taiwanese citizens on which "foreigners not to marry." A discriminative practice that has affected tens of thousands of marriages.
Sources :
Taiwan’s Southbound policy has been a great step by the current administration. It’s bringing families together. My wife’s family was able to come and visit us. We also met another parent of a migrant worker on the same fight.
1/2
Thanks to Commonwealth Magazine
@CWM_en
for publishing a summary version of my article detailing my experience of becoming a Taiwanese citizen as a Taiwan Gold Card holder. Please share it forward to those who may benefit from it. Thank you
Thank you,
@taiwanplusnews
, for featuring us in this piece. I truly believe that Taiwan is on the path to embracing dual citizenship one day. It’s just a matter of time.
After 4 years of frustrations, in a last-ditch effort, I wrote a letter to President
@iingwen
for a compassionate waiver of the renunciation requirement for my daughter, who is unable to renounce her Filipino citizenship. (1/3)
A resident migrant worker got infected in Taiwan. She’s been locked (“quarantined”) in a room inside her company dorm, without pay, refused medicine and (sometimes) even food. Taiwan doesn’t need a new variant. An infected foreigner is enough to scare the bejesus out of locals.
WTF
#Taiwan
, Are you hell-bent on bothering certain foreigners? My parents and my brother are at the airport, and they aren’t letting them in because my brother input some incorrect information on an arrival card 8 years ago in 2015 with he visited for a month. (1/3)
Thank you all for paying attention to the case I shared. You don’t realize how much your attention helped.
1) She got medicines
2) A member of the executive yuan HR board said they’ll investigate this broker
3) A news company already reached out to her and interviewed her
👏👍
I was in the ER tending to my wife when I saw a foreigner brought in an ambulance. He was unconscious and in critical condition.
I spoke to his two attendants. They told me they were all seamen and only docked here for 3 days.
1/3
Many have criticized Taiwan's policy of requiring renunciation from foreigners while allowing Taiwanese to hold dual citizenship.
Now, a foreigner (
@matteoserone
) has filed a formal human rights complaint against Taiwan's MOI.
This is their answer :
This is a first for me in Taiwan. I applied online and, in 2 weeks, received an HSBC debit card and a credit card (with a 360K limit) in the mail. I activated both online and was able to use them immediately. All this without a phone call or stepping into a bank.
Comparing Taiwan's annual work hours with Korea :
1. Korea has reduced 105 work hours since 2016. Taiwan has only reduced 35. (+8 in 2022).
2. Meanwhile, annual income in Korea is 65% higher than Taiwan
3. Average hourly income in Korea is 22$ versus Taiwan's 11$
From 2020 till now, it’s been a constant battle to get my parents the extendable 6-month visas they qualify for. This time was no different. After a year of stay, I was forced to do a visa run with my elderly parents, only for them to be given visas with “NO EXTENSION” again.
For the first time in decades, there's a real chance that thousands of long-term foreign residents in Taiwan can become citizens without having to give up their original citizenship.
THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Please support this petition.
Every vote counts!
Many Taiwanese-Filipino same-sex couples are struggling to get married and start a life due to the tiring requirements from HRO and TECO. Often times it's financially unfeasible for them. My wife & I are in touch with 10 such couples. We want to help them.
& Even if he survived, he would never wake up again.
I learned that he has two little kids back home. I don’t know if they will get any justice.
This is the tragedy of Taiwanese traffic.
Everyone, please stay vigilant when you are on the roads.
3/3
Thanks for all the comments. It seems these are more common than I thought and used for security purposes. I stand corrected.
I wrongly assumed this was related to the curfews, i.e to prevent workers from going over the walls, which I know they do in some dorms.
Total Blue-collar workers in Taiwan = 734,434
Increasingly by 5% per year (on avg)
At the current rate, there'll be over 1 million migrant workers by 2030.
All the more reason to give them better rights and a reasonable path to permanent settlement.
She is quarantined in this cold and empty room. Everything you see in this picture is all she could carry with her. The bed they provided her is without a mattress, blanket, or pillows. It's been 3 days. She still hasn't been given any medicine.
This is so infuriating!
A kindergarten has been drugging kids as little as 3 years old. & Initially, the authorities only gave them a 60K NTD (2000 USD) fine.
“who, what, when, where, how”
“28 photos (include wedding)”
These are just two of the silly requirements TECO has asked of a Filipino couple, who’s been married for 10 years, & living in Taiwan for 5+ years. The even have a child who was born here.
What triggered this? (1/3)
How often do you see walls with glass shards on top, in Taiwan?
Here's a photo of a female dorm for migrant workers in Kaohsiung that's covered on all sides.
For context, most dorms in Taiwan impose curfews, so it's not uncommon for workers to climb over at night just to go out.
If and when this law passes, it would require foreigners to have an APRC + 10 years just to be eligible.
It’s time-based and not need-based.
Basically, don’t get disabled during your first 13 to 15 years in Taiwan.
Also, don’t bring parents. (1/2)
Dissapointed. Dual-national ≠ Dual-citizen. Not in this context. The latter requires renunciation.
Regardless, I appreicate the fact that Taiwan is a country where reaching out to the President can get you a response within days. TBH, that's pretty remarkable.
❤️🇹🇼
And the primary reason why marriage naturalizations have fallen off a cliff since 2010, going from 10,000+ avg/year to now under 4000. These are countries for which an "overseas" marriage interview/visit is needed, even if the couple is already a resident of Taiwan.
Just looked into Taiwan’s TAC requirements. It really is a crime to be a blue-collar worker here. Unsurprised by the explicit exclusion.
But I wonder, what if an ex-blue-collar worker had a valid Japanese, US, or Schengen visa? Still no? Not trustworthy enough?
I've already commented on my own experiences with this stupid racism. But remember the CNN traffic hell report? I know many int'l journalists follow me. If one of you were to report on this, it might help drive meaningful change. Happy to provide quotes.
This is an interview my family and I gave some time ago, mainly to create awareness of the renunciation law in Taiwan.
I talk a lot. But, Teddy did a great job condensing everything in to just 10 minutes.
#crossroads_TW
Helping a 66-year-old Taiwanese (half Filipino) get her grandkids a 30-day visa. This grandmother has been a citizen by descent for decades, yet TECO wanted to see her marriage certificate. Her husband died 12 years ago. Seems TECOs obsession with marriage certificates continues.
Are you allergic to parents of brown people? Absolutely shameful!
#TaiwanGoldCard
You have no right to bring people from South Asia in to this madness! Fix your red tape crap, that only affects certain nationalities a lot more than others! (3/3) 😤
Even if both spouses are foreigners, an "overseas" marriage interview/visit is needed. FYI, did you know Ukraine hasn't been exempted till now? Yes, they still need to do an interview + apply for a spouse visa from overseas.
Here's my household register. It lists me, my wife, and my parents (who don't even have ARCs). Yet, there's no mention of my daughter, who was born here, lives here, and is a Taiwanese national. The root cause of this issue is the renunciation law, which also applies to minors.
If you are from Southeast Asia and see job posts like these, please think twice before applying.
Such companies are often involved in migrant worker debt exploitation, something you may not want to be a part of.
A pregnant Filipino migrant worker was recently subjected to undue stress for nearly two months, purposely by the Taiwanese Embassy in the Philippines, to deter her and others like her from trying to marry in Taiwan.
#MOFA_Taiwan
please do something!
2/2 Direct and cheap flights to Taiwan (<4000NTD return) + visa-on arrival has made Taiwan accessible to many Filipino visitors. I hope the next administration keeps improving this policy e.g. also allowing ex-migrant workers access to visa-on-arrival.
Transnational same-sex marriage was allowed recently. Do you know what that means? Now it's Taiwan's LGBT community that will suffer if they fall in love with anyone from these countries.
Since then has lived in Taiwan for 5 years on a student ARC, and he has been on on a Gold card ARC since a year. WTF didn’t you find this “error” in the last 8 years? Why now at his 20th time entering Taiwan? Why now when he has our father in a wheelchair? (2/3)
(1/8) There's obviously an easy solution to this. If and when someone goes through the trouble of acquiring Taiwanese citizenship, and they already have minor children (or a newborn, as was my case), then it makes sense to give citizenship to the minor children as well.
Lastly, if you ever want to know what happens when a transnational couple, both of whose countries are on this list, tries to marry in Taiwan, just read my story.
The victim was on foot when he hit from behind by a speeding motorbike. This happened within his few hours on Taiwanese soil, less than 3km from their ship.
I stayed a while to help them communicate.
The doctors said that he had a <2% chance of survival.
2/3
Took me some time, but I finally got 6-month visas for my parents this week. 🥳
For me, this has been the biggest benefit of a
@taiwangoldcard
. I hope, in the future, parents of APRC holders and naturalized citizens can get longer visas or at least more than 1 extension.
Safe in Kaohsiung but feeling really sad watching news of all the devastation the earthquake caused - all the people that got hurt and those who lost their lives. Times like these reinforce my faith in Taiwan as we get to witness Taiwanese bravery, resilience, & compassion. 🇹🇼 ❤️
Please tell me I am right!
I am not 100% sure, but a new proposal to the Nationality Law was recently submitted, which should give citizenship rights to minor children (of naturalized parents) who cannot renounce their citizenship before 18
(1/2)
My wife and I drove down to Tainan to deliver her some food and medicine. Interestingly she can’t leave without a negative test but they won’t get her a test kit either.
This Filipino woman didn’t marrying a Taiwanese.
She married a Filipino man over a decade ago, who just became a Taiwanese now.
Now she has to tell TECO the story of how they met over 14 years ago.
This is so stupid. 😐 (3/3)
My brother had miswritten his birthdate on an arrival card in 2015 (he probably didn’t even know what an arrival card was back then). That’s what this is all about. They think it’s something nefarious. They are holding the whole family over this.
Finally seeing more drivers stop for pedestrians. I have seen a noticeable difference in the last week during my daily commute.
Could it be that the laws are really working? If so, I hope it's not temporary.
Thanks to
@CWM_en
for posting this.
In this article, I discuss 7 indicators of talent retention in Taiwan. Although I focus on migration from the global south, the issues I highlight apply to all foreign immigrants, regardless of their origin.
I don't know if attending a daughter's graduation ceremony qualifies for humanitarian grounds, but it should qualify for compassionate consideration at least. Regardless of who made the error, Taiwan should let them in, as they are already here.
@taiwanplusnews
, Can you help?
I'm fuming with anger and frustration as I typed this. We were just in the airport to pick my parents up who were coming to Taiwan for my PhD graduation next Jun 10. Happiness quickly turned into sadness bcause my father was denied for entering Tw.
A short but excellent documentary about migrant caregivers in Taiwan and the kind of struggles they face. Every resident of Taiwan should see this!
Thank you,
@TaiwanNewsEN
. We need more of these.
@foreignersinTW
@formosaphile
@CWM_en
CW hasn’t for now but I found this. Someone painstakingly translated the whole article to Chinese. I can’t find his Twitter otherwise I would tag him here.
@TaiwanSpecial
@my1lastgoodmann
I'll give you that. :) This list is indeed quite diverse, but given that >90% of all foreigners in Taiwan are from Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, it is somewhat targeted.
Husband was on APRC, while the wife was on a spouse ARC.
After the husband naturalized, HRO refused to add his wife to Household registration, while immigration refused to renew her ARC. Both offices want them to “re-verify” their marriage from TECO.
SOP > Common Sense. (2/3)
Worth reading
“The fear and concern that comes with the legal pressure to give up citizenship, which can be a large part of someone’s identity and livelihood, is not justifiable,” Kondo said to The Japan Times.
Lack of opportunities and low wages is huge problem for Taiwan.
These kids deserve a big hug for being so positive despite all their struggles.
We really need to do better. These kids are the future of Taiwan.
Taiwan’s COVID restrictions are gradually being lifted. But
@bingwangtw
finds from a migrant worker from the Philippines that not everyone is getting the benefits.
@Valio_ch
@chasewnelson
It's alphabetically ordered. The same rules should apply to everyone on the list. However, in reality, spouses from countries where Taiwan sources all its migrant workers (i.e., Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam) get the worse treatment of all.
These charts show why Taiwan plans to offer 5,000 NTD to every tourist. They foresee 6 million visitors in 2023.
What else should Taiwan do to attract more visitors?
Source:
This is an excellent ebook from the Bureau of Labor Insurance detailing all the different insurance programs they offer and how they work. And it's all in English.
I applied for new IKEA membership since the old one couldn't be converted. I tried to add my daughter to get a free birthday meal, but her ARC # wasn't accepted.
This is nothing big, just a kid meal coupon, but it shows that the new ID format didn't fix anything.
I requested that she be allowed to become a dual citizen and only asked to renounce "after" she turns 18. They do this in Singapore and Japan e.g..
The response came from MOI (sadly). In short:
a) No exception for renunciation
b) She is (kinda) already a dual-national
(2/3)
@ryan_jelinek
Yes, precisely. It seems like a random list until you realize it affects >90% of all foreigners in Taiwan, and they are all from only 4 Southeast Asian countries.
Not perfect, but it's a good starting point.
I got an apartment for <6M last year, but you get what you pay for. Even as a homeowner, I want the prices to drop so one day I can afford a bigger/ more livable place without having to move out to a village.
@dearclarissa
Most of the discrimination is in the laws and policies that affect foreigners, especially Southeast Asian migrants. That said, the entire migrant worker enterprise is corrupt, and many things they do (including their abuses) are because they value money above everything else.
All due respect to the Crossroads team, who are fighting so hard for foreigners.
It’s just disappointing to see the stubbornness that they have to deal with, on something that should be a basic human right.
My father is disabled too but he’ll never qualify. (2/2)
Students need a job + a work ARC to be able to become permanent residents. A quick survey will show that it’s not easy.
10,000 students will yield little to no citizens because of the renunciation law. Just look at the # of conversions from Gold Card ARCs.
President Tsai said yesterday that the current plan to bring 10,000 foreign students to Taiwan is not even close to enough in terms of numbers. She wants Taiwan to train high level professionals who will become permanent residents and citizens.
I am off to a bad start. It's been more than a week but no response from TECO PH on "requirements" for single-certificate authentication for transnational same-sex couples. Can't believe I have to reach out to BOCA this early in the process, but I've contacted them already. 🤞
If this is what I think it is, then Taiwan, I am so proud of you!👏
Special thx to the Legislative Yuan member 蘇巧慧 for proposing this. I hope it gets passed. It will help me and many parents like me.
To my fellow Taiwanese brothers and sisters, please support this. 🙏 (2/2)
@tcntad
How could they be using this to get away from their countries when most of them are already residents of Taiwan? They are being asked to leave Taiwan and reenter only after being scrutinized by a TECO when this could easily have been arranged here in Taiwan.
Want to try some Filipino desserts like cassava cake, biko, kutsinta, maja blanca, yema, and pastillas?
Visit :
中山大學菩提樹廣場
NSYSU The Bodhi Tree Square
No. 70, Lienhai Road, Gushan District, Kaohsiung City
高雄市鼓山區蓮海路70號
If you know someone in this situation, have them contact me. I am posting all this here because we expect to encounter many issues since these Filipinos are mostly migrant workers. I hope I can count on your help and advice. Stay tuned for progress/updates in the future. Thanks
Good News! Really looking forward to the details of this plan. I hope all spouses of foreign professionals (with or without Goldcard) can get automatic work rights. Most of them are willing to work. Let them be productive members of society and add to the Taiwanese GDP.
The NDC has reportedly issued a new 'Talent Recruitment Plan. Notably, it says there are plans to amend the law to 'liberalize' work rights for foreign spouses of foreign professionals.
@shu_wang_gong
DPP could take a look at this. It's not a student visa, but something even simpler - a visit visa. It explicitly excludes anyone who has "EVER" worked as a blue-collar worker in Taiwan. & This has been in place since 2017.
Very short-sighted and unfair, IMO.
@Nihaositgoing
The only reason I highlight this stuff is because I think Taiwan should treat families of naturalized citizens and permanent residents as nicely as they treat tourists. That’s all!
@PrivateBrewing
@matteoserone
I agree. But it’s ok for foreigners to talk about it, and ask for it. Meanwhile, Taiwan has every right to keep saying no. It’s their decision in the end.
(7/8) It's baffling that Taiwan can't trust the loyalty of a child like that, who legitimately can't renounce until 2038. Here, I thought Taiwan wanted more kids. If that's true, then why do they keep rejecting mine?
@TaiwanSpecial
LOL! But the good news is that attitudes are slowly changing. There's a massive group of Filipino English teachers in Taiwan now.
In fact, I sense that this is accelerating. I hope Filipino English teachers don't get hit with quotas & restrictions.
This is great news! I hope this will apply to migrant workers too. It should end for them just like the rest of Taiwan.
During all of COVID, they have always gotten a different treatment than rest of the residents in Taiwan.
@NewBambooCity
Yes, many Taiwanese suffer because of this. It's as if the government punishes them for choosing a partner from these countries. It's not impossible to overcome these additional hurdles, but it is always costly and stressful.
Q: “Why did you fall in love with him?”
A: “He had pretty eyes and it was foretold that in the 10th year of our marriage, he would get Taiwanese citizenship”
Under the new "migrant worker retention plan," Taiwan targets to retain 80,000 senior migrant workers by 2030, which is a good start, but the 11 years wait time is a bit long.
Source :
@Pupok__
None of these countries send foreign spouses married within their borders back to their countries just to attend an interview so they can change their resident status to that of a spouse? Scrutiny to enter a country is acceptable. Not this.
@ryan_jelinek
Feel free to share it. The only problem is that the workers will usually back down out of fear of reprisal. I tried this in 2021 also when the entire dorm, hundreds, were locked in for several weeks illegally. They were so scared they wouldn't let me share photos with the media.
She came to us desperate, not having seen her grandkids in over 3 years due to COVID and visa restrictions. If the flights were cheaper, I'd recommend they use the 14-day visa-on-arrival, back-to-back. It's less stressful.
@rnieh4
You have no clue what you are talking about, and I have no interest in explaining it to you. Not after you labeled women from these countries as “prostitutes”.
Taiwan's NHI is great & here's another reason why.
You can use this link to find the price of any medicine in Taiwan.
Very useful if your parents are coming over for an extended stay and you want to calculate how much medicine they should bring in.
@trickytaipei
Morning markets in Taiwan are great. I used to do this in Tainan quite every week. Fresh fruits, vegetables & meat and all cheaper than your corner PXmart.
I really need to find the one in Kaohsiung.
@pybaubry
Thank you. I am proud to call myself a Taiwanese. Hope more foreigner professionals can join me on the other side. I know many long term foreigners here want to contribute and work towards the success of Taiwan.
(8/8) Oh, Taiwan, I love you, but some of your laws just don't make sense to me!
P.S. No offense intended to my Japanese and Nicaraguan friends. I was only using them as an example.