Unreasonable immigration regulations have exacted unnecessary pain on some foreign spouses by forcing them “underground,” according to a new book released by the Union of Excluded Immigrants and Unwanted Citizens.
The Distance of Boundary Lines (一線之遙) is a book of stories of foreign spouses who, for various reasons, were forced to overstay their visas and remain here illegally. The stories were complied based on interviews conducted by volunteers, which advocates a general amnesty for undocumented residents.
“If we had not participated in the movement [to normalize undocumented residents], there is no way we would have the opportunity to learn their stories, because the pressure they face is simply too great,” union spokesman Lorna Kung (龔尤倩) said, adding that undocumented immigrants are unwilling to disclose the “secret in their hearts” for fear of being reported and expelled.
Chian Hock-chong (詹福春), a Malaysian-Chinese, said that although his wife is Taiwanese, he became undocumented after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) refused to grant him a visa extendable domestically, requiring him to go abroad every two months to reapply.
After choosing to overstay his visa because of the prohibitive cost of regular overseas trips, he spent the next 23 years avoiding social events for fear of being reported, he said, adding that he also lived in constant fear of becoming ill because of his ineligibility for the National Health Insurance program.
“I have a lot of regret because we did not dare have children because of my status,” he said, adding that his status also prevented him from returning to see his father before he died.
Requirements for prohibitively frequent overseas visa runs were cited by undocumented residents, with advocates saying that such trips have even been required for holders of Taiwanese passports who do not possess household registration in Taiwan.
Other issues in the book cover passports being confiscated by employers, as well as foreign spouses’ losing legal status if they divorce and are not appointed the legal guardian of their children, even if they have renounced their native citizenship to become a Taiwanese national.
Although Chian and many other immigrants named in the book were eventually granted legal status by the NIA in response to union petitions, union advocates emphasized that there were many others who have not been so fortunate, reiterating their demands for a wider systematic amnesty.
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