In a bid to offer better service, the household registration office in Taipei City’s Xinyi District (信義) recently designed English-language birth certificate forms, thereby eliminating translation fees for applicants.
A birth certificate is necessary for people who apply for overseas study, work or emigration, and applicants are required to apply for Chinese-language birth certificates and spend about NT$500 to NT$750 to have them translated into English.
The office became the first household registration office in Taipei to offer English-version birth certificate forms free of charge thanks to office section chief Tsai Mei-huei (蔡美慧), who spent about a week designing the form after frequent requests by residents to help with the English translation.
Tsai said she had handled English household registration forms at the office and found that many residents complained about the difficulties of filling out English forms or applying for English documents.
“For a lot of people, English is beyond their comprehension and they are afraid of using the language. I think by offering Chinese-English birth certificate forms, we help save a lot of time and trouble for the people,” she said.
Large hospitals, such as National Taiwan University Hospital, also offer English-language birth certificates, but they cost between NT$200 and NT$500, Tsai said.
Starting last month, the office has been providing English-language as well as bilingual forms for applicants to choose. Both types of forms are free for download at the office’s Web site at www.xyhr.taipei.gov.tw.
Applicants can also call the office at (02) 2723-3977 ext. 101 for assistance.
Tsai said 26 Taipei residents downloaded the newly designed forms last month.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS