Letter: No open arms for foreigners

Like the foreign male married to a Taiwanese national you mentioned in "MOFA accused of dragging its feet in Pakistani spouse's naturalization" (Dec. 12, page 1) I have also experienced difficulties with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. My wife is Taiwanese and I am Canadian, and I had problems when applying for a spousal ARC.

First, a MOFA bureaucrat phoned my wife to tell her that my application had been turned down.

He claimed the criminal background check I had submitted -- and for which I had waited five months to receive from the Canadian government -- was not actually a criminal background check but rather "a reference letter from the police."

But the Taiwan Department of Forensics had originally prepared the documents. Furthermore, the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office -- ie consulate -- in Vancouver had authenticated them. Luckily, I had an expired copy of this so-called "reference letter from the police" on hand from the days of my Permanent ARC application which was botched because I failed to meet one condition (this condition was explained on the Chinese application form only) that I could quickly refer to. It stated clearly that it was a criminal background check.

When I called MOFA, they said they would need a few more days to process the application.

At the Taipei police station where the ARC is issued, another bureaucrat attempted to block my application. On looking at the household registry, the official's face lit up.

"Do you live at this address?" she asked, meaning the home of my mother-in-law.

"Yes, I do," I answered. "Can you believe it -- we still live with our in-laws?"

I could read her disappointment when she replied: "Fine. but if you don't live at the address stated on the household registry, we cannot accept your application."

Our struggles point to a bigger issue. The government of Taiwan whines about reciprocity. There are 326,000 Taiwanese who have immigrated to foreign countries. Every year, the US alone naturalizes close to 10,000 Taiwanese. How many naturalized people, especially from the West where many of these Taiwanese have moved, are there living in Taiwan?

Until four years ago, a Taiwanese woman married to a foreigner would not have been able to confer citizenship on her child.

Even now, a child born in Taiwan to two foreign parents is also a foreigner.

Think of all the pregnant Taiwanese women flying to the US or Canada to have babies in countries that consider citizenship a birth right. Think of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) son and daughter-in-law.

Patrick Cowsill
Taipei