The Taiwan Megathread 2.0: Vacations, Jobs, EarthquaJEREMYLINJEREMYLINJEREM

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hailthefish: Oct 24, 2010

url posted:

I was thinking of tackling: 台北縣三峽鎮竹崙里紫微南路97號.

Fair warning: It's 'not' easy.

It sure doesn't LOOK easy.

Were you going for something like... 台北縣三峽鎮竹崙里紫微南路97號 ?

hailthefish fucked around with this message at 13:47 on Nov 15, 2013

# ? Nov 15, 2013 13:34

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# ? Jun 1, 2024 00:13

url: Apr 23, 2007; internet gnuru

:/ @ awful.app

http://i.imgur.com/4ivqV9r.jpg

url fucked around with this message at 13:41 on Nov 15, 2013

# ? Nov 15, 2013 13:36

Atlas Hugged: Mar 12, 2007; Put your arms around me,
fiddly digits, itchy britches
I love you all

hailthefish posted:

It sure doesn't LOOK easy.

Were you going for something like... 台北縣三峽鎮竹崙里紫微南路97號 ?

Is there are handy way to convert that kind of gibberish?

# ? Nov 15, 2013 13:53

url: Apr 23, 2007; internet gnuru

The app needs to use the proper codepage (utf-8), most devs won't bother.

# ? Nov 15, 2013 13:56

hitension: Feb 14, 2005; Hey guys, I learned Chinese so that I can write shame in another language

TetsuoTW posted:

Ruifeng.

Huh. I distinctly remember seeing "Ruei [something]" on signs around the area...
That and Siaogang :downs:

I love the haphazard romanization Taiwan's got going on. "Hey Taiwanese buddy, how would you spell your name in Roman letters?" "Tsang.. no... Zang... no... Tsung...Cung?* Argh, can't you read Chinese characters anyway?"

*these were all actual proposals for the character 宗

# ? Nov 15, 2013 15:40

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

hitension posted:

Huh. I distinctly remember seeing "Ruei [something]" on signs around the area...
That and Siaogang I love the haphazard romanization Taiwan's got going on. "Hey Taiwanese buddy, how would you spell your name in Roman letters?" "Tsang.. no... Zang... no... Tsung...Cung?* Argh, can't you read Chinese characters anyway?"

*these were all actual proposals for the character å®—

Oh I have no doubt, I just have no time for that bullshit. It's Hanyu Pinyin or GTFO as far as I'm concerned. The Ministry of Education so decreed in 2009, it's just that the government never has the balls to actually commit, and pussied out by adding a "but you guys at the local level just do whatever" clause, which is just some pandering bullshit. As it stands I all but refuse to do any romanization in anything other than HYPY for clients and tell them that whatever other horseshit they might have in mind can go gently caress itself and why, because otherwise I'd spend more time trying to hunt down and consult whatever retarded hick gargled out their placename or business name of choice than actually translating anything.

(And it was probably Rueifong, because Tongyong "we want to use Hanyu Pinyin but then again those nasty commies invented it so we're making arbitrary changes to it so we can pretend" Pinyin. )

# ? Nov 15, 2013 20:43

hailthefish: Oct 24, 2010

Atlas Hugged posted:

Is there are handy way to convert that kind of gibberish?

MDBG has one, but the results weren't as good as those given by http://www.mandarintools.com/email.html

# ? Nov 15, 2013 21:44

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Sneaky commie bastards

# ? Nov 16, 2013 08:06

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

I will never stop being amazed by the cantaloupe-sized balls on that one guy that drives around Taipei with huge PRC flags flying off his vehicle and blaring the PRC anthem (I think)

# ? Nov 16, 2013 09:32

url: Apr 23, 2007; internet gnuru

TetsuoTW posted:

I will never stop being amazed by the cantaloupe-sized balls on that one guy that drives around Taipei with huge PRC flags flying off his vehicle and blaring the PRC anthem (I think)

I thought there was a team, and they were sponsored.

# ? Nov 16, 2013 09:46

Ailumao: Nov 4, 2004

I know that people in Xiamen send balloons over to Taiwan filled with weird propaganda so that wouldn't surprise me.

# ? Nov 16, 2013 12:07

hitension: Feb 14, 2005; Hey guys, I learned Chinese so that I can write shame in another language

TetsuoTW posted:

Oh I have no doubt, I just have no time for that bullshit. It's Hanyu Pinyin or GTFO as far as I'm concerned. The Ministry of Education so decreed in 2009, it's just that the government never has the balls to actually commit, and pussied out by adding a "but you guys at the local level just do whatever" clause, which is just some pandering bullshit. As it stands I all but refuse to do any romanization in anything other than HYPY for clients and tell them that whatever other horseshit they might have in mind can go gently caress itself and why, because otherwise I'd spend more time trying to hunt down and consult whatever retarded hick gargled out their placename or business name of choice than actually translating anything.

(And it was probably Rueifong, because Tongyong "we want to use Hanyu Pinyin but then again those nasty commies invented it so we're making arbitrary changes to it so we can pretend" Pinyin. )

Man, why the massive hardon for pinyin? The way I see it is that HYPY is only readable to people who actually have studied HYPY anyway. Nobody can read those Zs,Qs, and Xs. I mean "Xie" and "Hsieh" are probably both going to be pronounced equally wrong by an English speaker who doesn't know Chinese...
Just out of curiosity, do you write Gaoxiong and Taizhong and such too?
I do kinda feel that Taiwan should pick one system and stick with it, but I'm not convinced that HYPY is all that. It's also missing certain sounds (think I already complained about this in the Chinese language thread so I'll leave it at that)

Went to 平溪 today to set off a lantern, saw the place name listed as Pingxi, Pingsi, and Pinghsi :allears:

# ? Nov 16, 2013 12:08

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Magna Kaser posted:

I know that people in Xiamen send balloons over to Taiwan filled with weird propaganda so that wouldn't surprise me.

Post this propaganda.

edit: for pinyin discussion, you will pry 'Hong Kong' from my cold, dead hands. I hope I never live to see it called 'Xiang Gang' on an English map.

# ? Nov 16, 2013 13:33

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

hitension posted:

Man, why the massive hardon for pinyin? The way I see it is that HYPY is only readable to people who actually have studied HYPY anyway. Nobody can read those Zs,Qs, and Xs. I mean "Xie" and "Hsieh" are probably both going to be pronounced equally wrong by an English speaker who doesn't know Chinese...

Partly for consistency, partly because the other systems at the moment are basically less good options. WG is literally never used correctly, TYPY is a bullshit compromise for no good reason, and MPS2 is just stupid unless you can already read Zhuyin.

Also HYPY is the standard in Chinese programs around the world, in international academia, and in international organizations. Taiwan's just a loving baby about it.

quote:

Just out of curiosity, do you write Gaoxiong and Taizhong and such too?

In my work? I would if Taiwan would commit to those. As it is, I can't because those aren't the recognized forms, those are major cities, and the majority of my work where that comes up is for government-related agencies meaning I have to conform to their list. Everywhere that isn't Kaohsiung, Taipei, Taichung, Keelung, Chiayi, Lukang, Tamsui, Hsinchu, and a couple of other places I do though. I also constantly have to stop myself from writing Xinbei instead of "New Taipei" as well.

e:

hitension posted:

Went to 平溪 today to set off a lantern, saw the place name listed as Pingxi, Pingsi, and Pinghsi

This is also why. Because unless you already know Taiwan is retarded about romanization, how are you supposed to know those are the same place?

sub supau fucked around with this message at 14:25 on Nov 16, 2013

# ? Nov 16, 2013 14:20

Ailumao: Nov 4, 2004

hitension posted:

Man, why the massive hardon for pinyin? The way I see it is that HYPY is only readable to people who actually have studied HYPY anyway. Nobody can read those Zs,Qs, and Xs. I mean "Xie" and "Hsieh" are probably both going to be pronounced equally wrong by an English speaker who doesn't know Chinese...
Just out of curiosity, do you write Gaoxiong and Taizhong and such too?
I do kinda feel that Taiwan should pick one system and stick with it, but I'm not convinced that HYPY is all that. It's also missing certain sounds (think I already complained about this in the Chinese language thread so I'll leave it at that)

Went to 平溪 today to set off a lantern, saw the place name listed as Pingxi, Pingsi, and Pinghsi

It's almost like Hanyu Pinyin wasn't designed with English learners of Chinese in mind and was designed to be used in a purely Chinese context for pronouncing Chinese....

For nose: http://www.chinasmack.com/2010/stories/loyalty-to-the-party-balloon-lands-in-taiwan.html

Yeah it's Chinasmack but it was the first thing I that came up on Google. I'd heard about this from my very first Chinese professor (Taiwanese). She said they come over pretty commonly where she lived over there. Also Taiwan sends poo poo back. Seems to have been going on since the split.

VVVVVVVVVVVVV Had anyone stuck with gwoyeu romatzyh the TONES WOULD BE IN THE WORDS~~

Ailumao fucked around with this message at 15:13 on Nov 16, 2013

# ? Nov 16, 2013 14:59

url: Apr 23, 2007; internet gnuru

whatever happens, this:

fei1 zhu3 liu2

is as ugly as all gently caress and needs to stop.

# ? Nov 16, 2013 15:08

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Magna Kaser posted:

For nose: http://www.chinasmack.com/2010/stories/loyalty-to-the-party-balloon-lands-in-taiwan.html

Interesting that it just says "loyalty to the Party, loyalty to the people."

I could pick that up and go "yep that Chinese Nationalist Party sure is a great party," then get back to my capitalism.

# ? Nov 16, 2013 18:05

Moon Slayer: Jun 19, 2007

So my life has kind of turned into a disaster!

I accidentally overstayed my visa...AGAIN, because I'm an idiot. I've got everything I need for a new one (unless they deny me because I overstayed again). BUT, my passport expires in 4 months and the website says it has to be valid for 6. My flight leaves tomorrow, plus AIT only does the normal, 3-week-wait passport replacement. SO THAT SUCKS.

Here's what I'm planning: I'll go to the TECO on Monday morning and try to get a visa. If that fails I'll have to stay until Tuesday, when I've got an appointment already booked at the consulate to get an emergency, 3 month passport. That'll probably push me to being stuck in HK until Wednesday. Hopefully I can extend my hotel stay or find a new, cheaper one and rearrange my return flight (booked for Monday, which probably isn't happening). God only knows if I'll still have a job when I get back. Work has been pretty forgiving but that'll only stretch so far.

Either way because I misread a date I'm in a world of poo poo! Sorry for the rant.

Also, caberham, I was going to PM you to let you know I was swinging back through but I guess your inbox is full?

# ? Nov 16, 2013 18:48

duckfarts: Jul 2, 2010; ~ shameful ~; Soiled Meat

url posted:

whatever happens, this:

fei1 zhu3 liu2

is as ugly as all gently caress and needs to stop.

Well, printed stuff should use the tone marks, obviously. Also, the other pinyin systems are pretty awful and hanyu is the easiest to deal with, at least for Mandarin Chinese.

# ? Nov 17, 2013 06:09

Atlas Hugged: Mar 12, 2007; Put your arms around me,
fiddly digits, itchy britches
I love you all

When I'm making flashcards in Anki, I use numerals to designate tone because gently caress if I'm going to figure out how to input accents on my phone. You get used to reading it like that after awhile.

# ? Nov 17, 2013 06:20

Ailumao: Nov 4, 2004

Atlas Hugged posted:

When I'm making flashcards in Anki, I use numerals to designate tone because gently caress if I'm going to figure out how to input accents on my phone. You get used to reading it like that after awhile.

In Anki I actually got used to that wacky color coding. For an environment like Anki it works pretty well, though obviously typing/reading actual things with every character a different color is pretty ridiculous.

If you use a Mac though, getting the accented letters isn't hard. Just option+whatever gets you the things.

Is it even possible to type the zhuyin zimu tone markers? I actually liked those less than the Pinyin ones because they invariably come at the end of a word which made me "notice" it less. Pinyin was alright because in any book they'll be in the middle, but those color-coded words/characters really helped my pronunciation because I started to associate a tone with a character instead of with a phoneticized form of the character.

And I wasn't being sarcastic, for all it's flaws (incredibly complicated, high learning curve, etc..) gwoyeu romatzyh was really cool in that all the tones were included in different spellings. Yale does something similar, but is foreigner-made and has lots of weirdery for that.

I could :words:

all day about different Chinese phoneticization schemes or 简化 because of all those silly papers and research I did in grad school but I'll stop junkin' up the Taiwan thread with my mainland prescriptivist ideas.

Ailumao fucked around with this message at 07:53 on Nov 17, 2013

# ? Nov 17, 2013 07:45

Annie Chickenstalker: Oct 12, 2005; Of course you dont know, YOU dont know because only I know; Grimey Drawer

At this point Hanyu Pinyin is the best choice if only because that's what the billion people on the mainland use. Is Zhuyin really that useful? Pinyin treats Roman characters phonetically, so the two systems seem basically equally valid. Pinyin definitely has broader international appeal, though. Regardless, they really ought to make something standardized and get rid of bullshit like "Kaohsiung".

I'm moving to New Taipei next week. Does anyone know anything about finding good apartments near Xindian/新店? Also, I have a paperless scooter down in Tainan. Can I have it shipped north without the title?

# ? Nov 17, 2013 13:31

hitension: Feb 14, 2005; Hey guys, I learned Chinese so that I can write shame in another language

Times when knowing Zhuyin is useful:
-Typing on a computer besides your own
-Typing on a cell phone
-It's also marginally faster since characters are 2-3 taps long vs. 2-5 for pinyins
-Letting Taiwanese people type on your cell phone/computer/write the pronunciation for a character
-Sometimes it appears in signs and texts and TV subtitles (stuff like ㄍ一ㄥ can even appear in magazines, there's an anti-sexual harassment poster on the MRT that uses the "ei~" one, etc)
-Being able to smugly shut down condescending Taiwanese people who are all like "Oh, I'm sure you couldn't possibly know Zhuyin!" :colbert:

Personally it also helps me to distance the Chinese sounds from the English ones in my mind. Maybe I'm just dumb or I didn't have as awesome teachers as you guys, but the fact that the "u" in "xu" and "chu" are different vowels was lost to me up until the point I learned Zhuyin after studying Chinese for about 3 years already. :saddowns:

hitension fucked around with this message at 16:01 on Nov 17, 2013

# ? Nov 17, 2013 15:59

caberham: Mar 18, 2009; by Smythe; Grimey Drawer

Fun times moon slayer glad you could meet us hongers. Good luck with your job. Visit us on a longer proper vacation!

# ? Nov 18, 2013 11:07

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

hitension posted:

-It's also marginally faster since characters are 2-3 taps long vs. 2-5 for pinyins

I don't think anyone actually types out an entire character in pinyin when typing though.

Like at most I'll type two symbols, maybe three for a five symbol character. But I mean for a common phrase like 不知道, 'bzd' is all you need. Only a really obscure, single-character word would need the whole thing spelled out.

On another note. Taipei, you'd best get ready because I'm gonna be in you starting Friday night. I've got a seven day business trip from the 22nd to the 29th. I'm not sure what my schedule will be like yet, but I should have some time for some goon fun. Are you guys still doing a weekly poker night or something like that?

# ? Nov 18, 2013 12:18

Atlas Hugged: Mar 12, 2007; Put your arms around me,
fiddly digits, itchy britches
I love you all

What's the policy right now on staying after an ARC expires. Is there a 30 day window before you have to get your rear end out of the country?

# ? Nov 18, 2013 13:54

Ravendas: Sep 29, 2001

Atlas Hugged posted:

What's the policy right now on staying after an ARC expires. Is there a 30 day window before you have to get your rear end out of the country?

0 days, but you can apply for a 3 month extension if you're American. Costs 1000nt. I'm currently at the end of that extension. You can't extend an extension though, as I just tried.

# ? Nov 18, 2013 14:01

POCKET CHOMP: Jul 20, 2003; me irl.

Can't you just pay a fine and you may risk the ability to come back? I remember some other goon(s?) doing that and having to even write an apology letter, but he/she/they got it all sorted out.

I got my renewal "postcard" thing that the NIA sends every year when you're 30-days out, and it says right on there:

"If you have overstayed your ARC for less than 30 days, and the ground of your original residency applications remains unchanged, you may reapply blah blah after being penalized."

"If you have overstayed your ARC, you shall be subject to a fine between NT$2,000 and NT$10,000."

I mean, I'm not sure what you're planning Haraksha/Atlas Hugged, but from what I've heard it's not like they show up knocking at your door the day after your ARC expires. It depends on if you're planning to continue living here or not, I suppose.

The card makes multiple references to "Subparagraph 4 of Article 85 of the Immigration Act" so if you google that poo poo it may become clearer. Possibly.

# ? Nov 18, 2013 14:31

Atlas Hugged: Mar 12, 2007; Put your arms around me,
fiddly digits, itchy britches
I love you all

Well, my ARC doesn't even expire for like a loving year so I'm not planning anything right now. I basically have the choice of either sticking around for another year and getting the APRC or saying gently caress it and moving on with my life to something different. I was mostly just thinking about the logistics of finishing my work week and getting on a plane the same day.

# ? Nov 18, 2013 14:46

Ravendas: Sep 29, 2001

POCKET CHOMP posted:

Can't you just pay a fine and you may risk the ability to come back? I remember some other goon(s?) doing that and having to even write an apology letter, but he/she/they got it all sorted out.

I got my renewal "postcard" thing that the NIA sends every year when you're 30-days out, and it says right on there:

"If you have overstayed your ARC for less than 30 days, and the ground of your original residency applications remains unchanged, you may reapply blah blah after being penalized."

"If you have overstayed your ARC, you shall be subject to a fine between NT$2,000 and NT$10,000."

I mean, I'm not sure what you're planning Haraksha/Atlas Hugged, but from what I've heard it's not like they show up knocking at your door the day after your ARC expires. It depends on if you're planning to continue living here or not, I suppose.

The card makes multiple references to "Subparagraph 4 of Article 85 of the Immigration Act" so if you google that poo poo it may become clearer. Possibly.

It's something like 1-10 days overstay is 2,000nt, 11-30 is 4k, under 3 months is something or another and 6 months is 10k nt. I have a paper I picked up from the visa agency here with more details, but I can't be bothered to find it at the moment.

The lady at the counter told me pretty much "If you're just going to be here a month past your ARC expiration, it's cheaper just to overstay than to do a visa run to Hong Kong." So, my officially suggested course of action was to overstay my visa.

American green card stuff blows.

# ? Nov 18, 2013 14:53

duckfarts: Jul 2, 2010; ~ shameful ~; Soiled Meat

To my knowledge, the main issues with overstaying are fines, the possibility it may hurt your chances of coming back in(so far, doesn't really seem like an issue), and mainly it resets your timer for being eligible for an APRC(must be 5 years of valid ARC holding, unbroken).

# ? Nov 18, 2013 15:01

POCKET CHOMP: Jul 20, 2003; me irl.

Not to completely change the topic, but it's been on my mind. I'm almost eligible for an APRC, but how exactly do you "prove" that you've been here for 5 years? Obviously the government should know, but I'm assuming I would need to submit some kind of document that proved it or something. They take away your old ARC when you get a new one, so it's not like you can show them those. The only other thing I can think of would be the work permits, which would be not-awesome because my second school never gave me copies of them (and at the time, I never thought to ask for them). I now live far away and I don't even know if those schools exist anymore, so I'm not entirely sure if I'll be able to track them down.

Am I hosed? :ohdear:

# ? Nov 18, 2013 15:08

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

Yeah I straight-up overstayed by like six weeks at one stage, and all it took was a NT$10k fine on the way out for my visa run to Macau. No black mark, no talking to, not even a letter of apology, just rolling up to the TECO there and saying "hey here's my poo poo" and explaining what happened.

POCKET CHOMP posted:

Not to completely change the topic, but it's been on my mind. I'm almost eligible for an APRC, but how exactly do you "prove" that you've been here for 5 years?

Presumably the government can check that you've filed five years' consecutive taxes.

# ? Nov 18, 2013 15:11

duckfarts: Jul 2, 2010; ~ shameful ~; Soiled Meat

POCKET CHOMP posted:

Not to completely change the topic, but it's been on my mind. I'm almost eligible for an APRC, but how exactly do you "prove" that you've been here for 5 years? Obviously the government should know, but I'm assuming I would need to submit some kind of document that proved it or something. They take away your old ARC when you get a new one, so it's not like you can show them those. The only other thing I can think of would be the work permits, which would be not-awesome because my second school never gave me copies of them (and at the time, I never thought to ask for them). I now live far away and I don't even know if those schools exist anymore, so I'm not entirely sure if I'll be able to track them down.

Am I hosed?

Your ARC number probably hasn't changed. I just applied for an APRC myself, so I'm planning on doing a writeup later.

# ? Nov 18, 2013 15:16

POCKET CHOMP: Jul 20, 2003; me irl.

Cool, yeah I figured the government must have some way to do it, and even if I needed copies of the work permits, I hoped I could apply for copies of it from the labor place that issues them. They probably keep records better than some random small buxiban, anyhow.

My ARC definitely has kept the same number since the very beginning, so I guess that's a good sign. I'm not going to apply for it right away anyhow, since I've just extended my ARC by two more years, so I figure I've got time. I look forward to the writeup, duckfarts.

# ? Nov 18, 2013 15:19

Ravendas: Sep 29, 2001

Pretty sure to get the APRC you need papers from all places you worked at for the past 5 years saying that you worked there from 'date' to 'date'. Hess was pretty good at giving those out when requested.

# ? Nov 18, 2013 16:00

Spanish Matlock: Sep 6, 2004; If you want to play the I-didn't-know-this-was-a-hippo-bar game with me, that's fine.

POCKET CHOMP posted:

Cool, yeah I figured the government must have some way to do it, and even if I needed copies of the work permits, I hoped I could apply for copies of it from the labor place that issues them. They probably keep records better than some random small buxiban, anyhow.

My ARC definitely has kept the same number since the very beginning, so I guess that's a good sign. I'm not going to apply for it right away anyhow, since I've just extended my ARC by two more years, so I figure I've got time. I look forward to the writeup, duckfarts.

Yeah you need 5 years of work permits, tax forms from the last year showing you made enough money, a police background check, and... that's it. If you haven't left the country for an extended period of time during your stay anyway.

# ? Nov 18, 2013 16:48

duckfarts: Jul 2, 2010; ~ shameful ~; Soiled Meat

Okay, so APRC stuff: the related website is here

You need to have resided in Taiwan on ARC for 5 years unbroken, never being out for more than half a year each year

or

You need to have resided in Taiwan for more than half a year for any 10 years within a period of 20 years (according to a sheet they gave me, ymmv)

or

You need to be married to someone who has been here for 10 years, and has been here more than half a year each year for the last 5 years(as much as I can interpret from their website, ymmv)
Also, your parents can't be Taiwanese nationals and you have to be over 20, though I don't think any of you have to worry about this
You will need to make an appointment at least one day in advance(and provided they have time) before you go to the immigration office (required for one of the pieces of paperwork)
You need to apply within 2 years of meeting eligibility requirements (I don't know how strict this is, but what it says)
You no longer need a health check or criminal report from your home country (in most cases, more later)

If you overstayed your ARC, that's a break and you need to "start" the 5 years all over again and it's highly doubtful you can "hey c'mon buddy" your way past that.

Paperwork you'll need:

That multi-purpose application form for ARC stuff
(the one you've all probably seen before)
2 inch color photo
White background, etc etc etc full details of the required photo are on their website or you can just go to pretty much any photo booth in an RT Mart or Carrefour or something
Entry and exit records
which is what you need to make that appointment for, they'll pull your records from their system
Original and photocopies of your current and old passport(if your passport changed)
You need to include the main page as well as all visas and entry and exit stamps, so basically you'll need copies of everything in your passport(s)
Original and photocopies of your current ARC
A police record for Taiwan issued within 3 months
The immigration office should be able to tell you the closest station for it, there's one really close to Fuzhong MRT station on blue line in Taipei. It'll take about 2 days to get and costs 100NT. You can apply for it online too, apparently(I applied for mine in person).
Proof of financial assets that show your average income for each month is at least twice the basic wage (>37,560NT/month, holy christ the basic wage must be......wow).
The flat-out easiest way to do this is to go to your tax office and get the "blue form" that shows you paid taxes last year, they print it out for free even. Otherwise you'll need to get paystubs and your bank book and bleeeaauuughhhh
Copies of your latest 3 year work permit
Though I think you need copies of all your work permits in general. As coincidence would have it, I had a 3 year permit, but they still wanted a copy of the one before that. These are the forms that have the blue and green squares and stuff on the bottom right. You should have originals of these, as presumably that's how you applied for your ARC in the first place.
Employment certificate with the company's and chief's personal seals issued within 1 month.
Basically, a printed form of "yeah, he works here" with the stamps of the company and the boss. I don't know if the boss's stamp is really necessary, but that's what it says on the sheet they gave me.
If you have been out of the country for less than 3 months at a time, you do not need a health check or a criminal report from your home country.
No more FBI check/notarization/translation/notarization/approval shenanigans!
10,000 NT
If you get rejected, it'll be refunded.

Make your appointment, go and give them your paperwork and such, give them the fee, and then it will take about a month(maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe less they're telling me, but I should budget it on taking a month and perhaps a bit more). If your ARC is going to expire before you receive the APRC, you'll need to go extend your ARC. After that, to keep the APRC, you need to be in the country for more than half a year(the 184 days thing) or else you lose it. If you need to be out longer than that, you can file an application, then you can stay out of country no more than 2 years. You also apply for the open work permit after getting your APRC.

# ? Nov 18, 2013 16:57

Moon Slayer: Jun 19, 2007

Some incredibly sexy-but-not-too-good-at-planning goon wrote up a guide on what to do if you overstay your ARC.

Also I'm not trapped in Hong Kong yaaaaaay.

Bloodnose and caberham remain awesome people.

# ? Nov 18, 2013 17:09

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# ? Jun 1, 2024 00:13

POCKET CHOMP: Jul 20, 2003; me irl.

duckfarts posted:

awesome post

Thanks for this. I guess if you need to apply within 2 years of eligibility, I shouldn't put it off forever. I have a few more questions about the process, not necessarily directed at you specifically but anyone who might be knowledgable.

I poked around that website (which apparently I already had in my bookmarks?) and it seems like it still says that you need to get the police check from your home country translated and notarized and stuff. Of course, I don't doubt you since you just went through the process, I'm just wondering if I'm missing the "You don't need it if you haven't ever left the country for more than 3 months" exemption thing, or if their website really is that out of date. I'm assuming the latter, which is just sad, but it does say it was updated this year so maybe I just don't see it!

So basically it seems like I just need to get copies of my work permits from my second school. I guess they never gave it to me because they handled the ARC application process for me. Hope they still have documents from 2009-2011, but I'm not too hopeful.

I'll send them a nice registered letter and hope for a response.

Now, this may seem beyond stupid, but is there a good resource online (preferably from a Taiwanese government site, not just some random forumosa page or whatever) with a layout of how the APRC exactly works and what its benefits are? Like, I get that it's "permanent", but I assume you'd need to get it renewed every once in a while or something? I always understood that it meant that you could stay in Taiwan even if you weren't constantly employed, something which I think would be great if I wanted to really search for a good long-term job. But I don't know, like do you still need to get work permits when you hold an APRC or could you (in theory) walk into any Taiwanese company and be like "hire me"? It seems weird that on that page you linked there isn't a good summary of just what an APRC is and what it entails, but maybe I'm missing it, again because the layout and design of the site seems to be from a bygone era of the internet.

Sorry for all the dumb questions, but I guess I've got it on my mind these days.

# ? Nov 19, 2013 02:08

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tourism & Travel > The Taiwan Megathread 2.0: Vacations, Jobs, EarthquaJEREMYLINJEREMYLINJEREM

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