VISA/ARC

After you receive your letter of acceptance to CJCU, you should contact the embassy or overseas mission of Taiwan (R.O.C.) in your country (see link).  Visa regulations vary according to country and are subject to change.  Although the R.O.C. grants visa-free entry to citizens of some countries, international students should enter Taiwan with a visa.  Students who are planning to study at CJCU for six months or less should apply for a visitor visa; students who are planning to study at CJCU for more than six months should apply for a resident visa. 

Visas to enter Taiwan (the Republic of China) are issued by the Bureau of Consular Affairs (BOCA, a division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), but students living outside of Taiwan can apply for a visa at the overseas mission of Taiwan in their home country.

Visitor Visa
Visitor visas are issued only at mission offices outside of Taiwan.   International students who are planning to study at CJCU for six months or less are generally granted a 90-day visitor visa, which can be extended for an additional 90 days.  Students should be careful to extend the visa  before it expires (see Extension of Visitor Visa, below).

Extension of Visitor Visa
If you enter Taiwan on a visitor visa, it is important to ensure that you don't overstay. Check the entry date on your immigration stamp, add 90 days, and mark it on your calendar.  You should apply for the extension at the National Immigration Agency Service Center serving your area (see link) within the fifteen-day period prior to the expiration of the visa.  It is best not to wait until the last several days, just in case you discover you need additional documents.  If you are living on the CJCU campus or elsewhere in the Tainan metropolitan area, you should apply at the Immigration Agency Service Center on Fuqian Road near City Hall.

1. Immigration Agency First Tainan City Service Center
   No. 370, Sec. 2, Fuqian Rd., Tainan City
   TEL: 06-2937641
2. Immigration Agency Second Tainan City Service Center
   No.353, Zhongshan Rd., Shanhua Dist., Tainan City
   TEL: 06-5818924

To extend the visa, you will need the following documentation:

1. Passport: with  photocopies of the first page and the page with the most current visa
2. Student ID/ school enrollment certificate

Another way to extend a visitors visa is simply to leave the country. If you have a multiple entry visitor visa, you can leave the country for any amount of time and receive an automatic 60 day visa when you re-enter Taiwan.  Some international students like to take advantage of their time in Taiwan to visit other nearby Asian nations.

Resident Visa
International students who have been accepted into an academic program lasting more than six months should apply for a resident visa.  If they are living overseas, they should apply to the overseas representative office of the R.O.C. in their home country; if they are living in living in Taiwan, they can apply at one of the four BOCA offices (Taipei, Taichung, Kaohsiung, and Hualien).   After students enter Taiwan on a resident visa, they have 15 days to apply for an Alien Resident Certificate at the local office of the Immigration Service.

Non-degree and part-time students are not eligible to apply for resident visas.  (Students in full-time non-degree Chinese language study programs may switch from a visitor visa to a resident visa after 4 months of study.)

Alien Resident Certificate (ARC)
By law, persons who enter the R.O.C. with a resident visa must apply for an Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) within 15 days of arrival to Taiwan. If you are living on the CJCU campus or elsewhere in the Tainan metropolitan area, you should apply at any one of two Immigration Agency Service Centers in Tainan.

1. Immigration Agency First Tainan City Service Center
   No. 370, Sec. 2, Fuqian Rd., Tainan City
   TEL: 06-2937641
2. Immigration Agency Second Tainan City Service Center
   No.353, Zhongshan Rd., Shanhua Dist., Tainan City
   TEL: 06-5818924

When you apply for the ARC, you should bring the following documentation:

1.  Application Form
2.  Passport: with photocopies of the first page and the page with the most current visa
3.  Student ID or school enrollment certificate (original and one copy)
4.  1 photograph(2") with white background

The ARC processing fee is NT$1000 for a one-year term. For students, the ARC is generally renewed on a one-year basis and is renewable as long as full-time enrollment continues. ARC holders are required by law to carry the ARC with them at all times. If the ARC is lost or damaged, there is a NT$500 replacement fee.