 Having
chosen to travel to Taiwan, live abroad and now work abroad, you
will definitely encounter some issues with your visa status.
Learning the ins-and-outs can definitely make your time overseas
a lot more pleasant, not to mention cost effective. Being an
expat really is fun, if you've got the info. The broadest
outline of the visa requirements are this:
1. Try to get some sort of visa from the local consulate in your
home country before arriving. If you get here without any kind
of visa, you'll be given a "landing visa". Meaning you will
definitely have to leave in fairly short order. This is silly,
because you just spent a ton of cash to get here. Get SOME kind
of visa before you come. See point two
2. You can apply for a six month visitor's before you arrive,
but unless you can show some compelling reason to stay for six
long months, they'll likely not issue you one. Settle for a
two-month visa, or you'll have to leave sooner than you may have
wanted to. See point one. Two-month visas are the norm.
3. Your two months is expiring...prepare to see Hong Kong for
the day. Leave Taiwan and get another one in HK. They have a
well-oiled machine for visas, but you will surely be nervous the
first time.
Points to remember if you need to Travel to Hong Kong
a. Get passport photos the day before...this little step will
save you a heap of anxiety.
b. Take a morning flight, the earliest possible one. The visa
office is about 45 minutes from the airport via a super-fast
airport train and a short & cheap taxi ride.
c. BE...polite. Look, who do you think you are? Shave, wear nice
clothes, be polite...even if they seem rude.
"Sure my visa is expiring, but yesterday I went to a 'Government
Approved' language school and paid for Chinese classes...I'll
just tell them that when I arrive today at the visa office in
Hong Kong this morning."
You'll need documentation. Be sure to get EVERYTHING your school
can give you, and be sure it has A STAMP, and - if you wait
until the last day, the paperwork probably wont be ready in
time. Studying Chinese is a GREAT way to stay in the country.
You still have to leave the country and get a new visa to
replace the old one. You'll still get a two month visa...but it
will be EXTENDABLE! No more flying out of the country every two
months for a new visa. You go to the Foreign Affairs Police
every two months, show them you study Chinese by your proof of
enrollment and they will stamp your passport for two more
months, up to six months.
more later...
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