Impossible visa processing
I love Taiwan. I was lucky to meet the criteria for a working holiday visa (WHV) so that I could move to the nation from France in the summer last year to create a life with my Canadian partner. During the past year, I have been so grateful for many things, including the government’s successful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the legalization of same-sex marriage that allowed us to get married here.
Unfortunately, the WHV is only a temporary solution to stay in Taiwan.
My visa expires next month, so I have been planning to switch to a dependent visa on my husband’s Alien Resident Certificate (ARC). Normally you must apply at a Taiwanese office abroad to switch from a WHV to any other type of visa.
Due to the pandemic, Taiwan recently changed the regulations so that it is possible to switch to a work visa while staying in the country. I was hoping the government would loosen restrictions for other types of visa, too.
However, after multiple visits and calls to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the answer has not changed: It is not possible to switch to a dependent visa while in Taiwan.
That means I will have to leave the country to apply for my visa in France, but since last month, Taiwan has suspended the issuance of all visas and the border is only open to Taiwanese and ARC holders.
Absurdly, despite the fact that I have been living in Taiwan for the past year and married my husband here, I will be forced to leave the country, and I do not know when I will be able to come back. What could justify telling me I need to leave the country during a pandemic to “switch visas” when the border is restricted and they are not even issuing visas abroad?
A recent surge in COVID-19 cases and the arrival of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 has understandably prompted policy responses from the government for everyone’s protection, but the lack of reasoning behind these decisions is only adding to my frustrations.
Even when I am eventually able to come back, I will need to quarantine at a hotel or government facility at my own expense, despite being fully vaccinated — I got two doses of the self-paid AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, knowing that I would need to travel.
I am almost tempted to fly through a “high-risk” country so that I can quarantine for free (I am only half joking).
That is because forbidding home quarantine is adding a huge extra expense on top of all the money I am already paying for flights, rent and paperwork.
All of these policies are creating the wrong incentives and discouraging foreigners (many of whom left because of the outbreak and to get vaccinated) from coming back to Taiwan. This will certainly have economic consequences in the near future.
I am still feeling grateful to be living in Taiwan. I know that these are challenging and complicated times, but I am just asking for a little understanding with a simple, reasonable request: to be able to switch visas in Taiwan so that I can continue living here with my husband, and avoid unnecessary travel, risk and expense.
Julien Da-jun Wang
Taipei
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