Better Living
1. The English language environment
attitude. Unfortunately, implementation
of this policy has not always been ideal.
Often, English translations are not clear,
and sometimes the most important
information is never translated, or not
updated.
2. Equality of treatment for ARC holders
3. Traffic safety and public transportation
Introduction
The committee acknowledges
progress made since the publication
of its 2009-2010 Position Paper in the
following issues:
• The National Immigration
Administration (NIA) has implemented
a dedicated passport control lane at the
Taoyuan and Kaohsiung international
airports for all Alien Resident
Certificate (ARC) and Alien Permanent
Resident Certificate (APRC) holders.
• Foreign nationals are now allowed to
file income taxes online, an important
milestone for convenience and online
government services.
• The issue of Domestic Helpers was
removed from this year’s paper .While
further liberalization in this area
would help Taiwan’s competitiveness
in attracting young professionals, the
issue has been dropped in order to
focus on other more pressings issues.
dedicated English radio station, ICRT,
which also actively promotes the activities
of the international community. ICRT
is a non-profit foundation committed to
serving the public interest – a mission
it fulfils without government funding.
But, at the same time, ICRT relies on
the government for: a) the continued
use of its well-known frequency; b)
protection from illegal broadcasters; and
c) assistance in preserving transmission
towers to serve listeners island-wide.
ICRT is an active member of the
foreign community in Taiwan and the
ECCT encourages the government to
safeguard its continued operations.
R E C O M M E N D AT I O N
Guarantee the use of ICRT's
a s s i g n e d f r e q u e n c y, p r e v e n t
pirate
broadcasters
from
i n t e r f e r i n g w i t h i t s f re q u e n c y
and provide ICRT the assistance
1. The English language environment
it needs to continue broadcasts
throughout Taiwan.
1.1. English language radio station
This issue appeared in last year’s
p o s i t i o n p a p e r. T h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l
community in Taiwan is multifaceted,
but one language is an essential
communication tool: English. When
it comes to natural disasters and other
e m e rg e n c i e s , c o n v e n t i o n a l r a d i o
broadcasts are still the most effective
communication tool. Taiwan has only one
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1.2. English websites
This issue appeared in last year’s
position paper. Today, the Internet is an
essential communications medium for
gathering information and conducting
business. Taiwan has taken great strides
to provide public services online and also
translate them into English. For this, we
applaud the government’s progressive
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R E C O M M E N D AT I O N
Ensure translations make sense
to English speakers and that
important information is upto-date and included on all
government web sites.
2. Equality of treatment for ARC
holders
2.1. Residence status of adult children
wishing to live with their parents
in Taiwan
This issue appeared in last year’s
position paper. Children of foreign
nationals who wish to live with their
parents confront a difficult prospect when
they reach the age of 20 – they lose their
right to apply for an ARC as a dependent,
and must leave the country.
Moreover, adult children who are
studying or living abroad can only enter
Taiwan on a tourist visa for a maximum
visit of 30-60 days. Staying in Taiwan
for a longer period usually necessitates
leaving the country every 30 days, which
is costly and time consuming.
The ECCT is also concerned by plans
of the Executive Yuan to revise the
Immigration Act to allow "applications
by unmarried adult children of foreign
managers (working in) foreign-invested
enterprises who have obtained resident
status to come to Taiwan to live with
their parents". This provision falls short
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BETTER LIVING
in many respects. It excludes foreigners
who are not managers or who don’t work
in a foreign-invested company. Many
exceptional members of the international
community would be discriminated
against and excluded needlessly.
Authorities have been very helpful
with regards to specific immigration
issues; however, what is needed is a
change in regulations that will benefit all.
R E C O M M E N D AT I O N
T he de adline f or changing t he
residence status of adult children
of expatriates legally residing in
have lived in Taiwan for several decades,
paying taxes and building credit histories.
With no official credit history in Taiwan,
it is often impossible for foreign residents
to apply for credit cards or bank loans,
regardless their credit worthiness.
R E C O M M E N D AT I O N
The government should introduce
regulations that forbid financial
institutions from discriminating
2.4.Incompatibility between National
ID card numbers and ARC/APRC
numbers
This issue appeared in last year’s
p o s i t i o n p a p e r. M a n y b u s i n e s s
transactions and online services require
a National ID number. However, ARC/
APRC numbers are incompatible,
denying foreign residents access to these
services for which there is no logical
reason they should be excluded.
against applicants based solely
R E C O M M E N D AT I O N
on nationality.
Include ARC/APRC holders in
Make ARC numbers compatible
the JCIC. This will enable
with ID numbers. This could
financial institutions to more
be implemented easily and
protec tion should be e x tended
fairly and easily extend credit to
gradually as new cards are issued.
beyond the age of 27 as long as
foreign residents.
A l t e r n a t i v e l y, t h e g o v e r n m e n t
Taiwan should be raised from 20
to 27 years. Furthermore, this legal
the child is currently enrolled in
should
a hi gh e r e du c a t i o n in s t i t u t i o n
c h a n g e s that provide the same
i n s i d e o r o u t s i d e Ta i w a n . A n
international student ID or similar
should be sufficient evidence to
prove this status.
If the Immigration Act is changed
to allow children of foreign
residents to come to Taiwan to
stay with their parents, this should
apply to all parents holding a valid
ARC, without further conditions.
2.2. Banking, credit cards and loans
This issue appeared in last year’s
position paper. A person’s nationality
should not be a determining factor
when deciding which banking services
he or she may enjoy. Unfortunately,
many banks have restrictions on ARC/
APRC holders from even opening a bank
account, which should be a basic right for
any individual wanting to safeguard his or
her savings. In addition, foreign residents
are not included in the government’s
Joint Credit Information Center (JCIC),
despite the fact that many APRC holders
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2.3. Mobile phones
This issue appeared in last year’s
position paper, with some progress to be
reported since then. Telecom operators
often require foreign residents to have a
guarantor or pay an exorbitant deposit
when applying for mobile services.
This is sometimes even true for existing
customers applying for new services. On
the positive side, two of Taiwan’s leading
telecoms, Chunghua and Far EasTone
have both agreed to lift these two
restrictions for ARC holders. However,
we still feel the government should make
this official policy for all telecoms, who
after all are government-licensed carriers.
R E C O M M E N D AT I O N
Contracts for mobile phone
services should be made available
to ARC/APRC holders in the same
manner they are available to
Taiwanese nationals.
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implement
legal
legal protections and rights to
ARC/APRC numbers enjoyed by
Ta i w a n I D s w h e n p ro c u r i n g o r
using services.
2.5. Permanent residence
This issue was updated from last
year’s position papers. Currently, an
APRC is not very permanent. Persons
holding an APRC must reside in
Taiwan for at least 183 days during any
calendar year, or risk their APRC being
revoked. However, with international
travel growing more common, many
business people must make frequent
and long visits overseas. In many
cases it would be possible for a busy
executive to violate this requirement and
l o s e h i s / h e r A P R C . I n t o d a y ’s
competitive business climate, and in
comparison to neighboring territories
such as Hong Kong where permanent
residents who are not Chinese citizens
lose their status if they are absent from
the territory for any continuous period
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of 3 years or more, this restriction is
counter-productive.
R E C O M M E N D AT I O N
Ease the limit, and allow APRC
holders to reside in Taiwan for a
3.2. Rear seat belts
This issue appeared in last year’s
position paper. Rear seat belts are still not
available in most taxis. The reason for
this is that taxi owners tuck them away
because they’re not a legal requirement.
This endangers the lives of all passengers.
minimum of only 365 days within
any three-year period.
3. Traffic safety
Foreigners often cite unruly and unsafe
traffic as a problem. The number of traffic
improvement during the first half of 2010,
but with approximately five per month it
is still too high. The ECCT applauds the
efforts of Taipei City and other authorities
to publish and improve accident rate
records, but more can be done.
Unsafe traffic conditions hurt
Taiwan’s image and increase the cost
of doing business. Traffic safety has
not increased in line with the overall
national development.
3.1. Bicycles
This issue appeared in last year’s
p o s i t i o n p a p e r. We w e l c o m e t h e
increasing network of dedicated bike
lanes. Taiwan is leading the way in
Asia. However, cycle lanes are still
too sporadic, not interconnected, and
are often blocked by parked vehicles.
Moreover, the number of accidents
involving cyclists remains high.
R E C O M M E N D AT I O N
Expand the cycling network to
include major roads, accident
black spots, and connecting links
between existing cycling lanes.
R E C O M M E N D AT I O N
Some bus stops have electronic displays.
Unfortunately, many bus stop signs are
still only in Chinese.
R E C O M M E N D AT I O N
Force bus drivers to follow
traffic regulations. The measures
pointed out in previous responses
to this position paper are clearly
Ta i w a n s h o u l d re q u i re t h e u s e
not working. Public bus drivers
of seat belts for front and back
should be held to high standards.
seat passengers. The driver, as
well as the passenger, should be
For the safety and convenience of
accountable when a passenger
passengers, buses should stop at
does not buckle up.
the designated bus stops.
3.3. Scooters
This issue appeared in last year’s
position paper. There has been some
progress in attempts to stop scooters from
parking and riding on the sidewalks.
However, the progress is slow. This issue
is the most frequently cited disturbance
by visitors to Taiwan.
Bus stops should have full and
R E C O M M E N D AT I O N
Police should better enforce
regulations.
Fines for traffic offences should
be increased as a deterrent.
3.4 Public buses
This issue appeared in last year’s
position paper. Foreigners often give up
taking public buses in Taiwan for reasons
of safety and lack of clear information.
Conditions for boarding public buses are
unsafe, with buses often stopping in the
middle of the road, or far from the bus
stop, forcing passengers to fight traffic.
Moreover, public bus drivers often drive
very fast and ignore traffic lights.
But, there has been progress. Nearly
all buses now display route numbers.
up-to-date information in English.
3.5 Traffic education
This issue appears for the first time.
Many of the traffic problems in Taiwan
are caused by poor driving behaviour.
Even pedestrians exhibit poor traffic
safety awareness. Enforcement is actually
high in Taiwan, with police at major
intersections every rush hour.
The ECCT recognizes that no matter
how much enforcement is provided,
traffic safety will not improve until
road users behave more safely. The root
cause for unsafe behavior is poor traffic
education.
R E C O M M E N D AT I O N
Introduce extensive traffic safety
curricula in schools. Require
student drivers to practice safe
driving on public roads with
certified driving coaches, before
g e t t i n g t h e i r d r i v e r ’s l i c e n s e s .
This may increase the cost of
obtaining a license, but it will
drastically reduce accidents and
enforcements costs. It will also
create employment opportunities.
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