How to get a Teaching Visa to Enter Taiwan During Covid

With the world opening back up and some places still in lockdown, people are looking at all their options. Teaching in Taiwan is a great option as they have been relatively free from the virus and the quality of life here is great. I flew into Taiwan in February 2021, but rules are always changing and I have made this document to help you to get in as well. 

You will need a valid work permit, a special entry visa during a pandemic, a negative rapid test within 72 hours before your flight, and your quarantine accommodation booked at least 48hrs before arrival. These are the main documents to be able to check-in at the airport and get on the plane.

There are a bunch more documents that you will need and forms to fill out to even get the above-mentioned forms. There are also a few pathways to getting into Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic. I will outline them below but remember things are always changing and if Taiwan is in Level 3 they are not able to give visas at all. 

There are 4 Virus Alert levels in Taiwan, you can click here to see what level it is currently at and if the Embassies are issuing visas.   Entry restrictions for foreigners to Taiwan in response to COVID-19 outbreak

3 Main Options 

1. Employment seeking a visa is the easiest way. This is if you have a clear plan of teaching in Taiwan and you can show your detailed plans of finding that teaching in Taiwan. You then show your plan to the Taiwan Embassy, ask for a 90-day visitor visa (special entry visa) and if you are lucky, you may get the visa in 2 weeks. This option is not always available ad it depends on the Taiwanese virus level. You will need to meet one of the following conditions for this type of visa. These are directly from the government’s website. 
   • Employment experience, with an average monthly salary or remuneration over the past six months that is not lower than the amount published by the central competent authority according to the qualifications and criteria for foreigners undertaking jobs specified under Article 46.1.1 to 46.1.6 of the Employment Service Act, i.e., NT$47,971. 
   • Graduated within the past year from any of the world’s top 500 universities as listed by the ROC Ministry of Education, and not yet employed.
   • Deemed otherwise eligible by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs following consultations with the central competent authority.

2.  Fly to Taiwan on a work permit, you may have to do a medical in your home country first. Here is the link to the CDC website for the requirements for the medical form and the actual form. Items Required for Health Certificate for Residence in Taiwan If you are not in your home country, you can not do that medical and will have to do it upon arrival in Taiwan. 
3.  The other option that I did was that I showed a signed contract and my work permit, by a school in Taiwan and showed the Taiwan embassy I have a job lined up in Taiwan, will do a medical for my work permit, and get an alien resident certificate when I arrived in Taiwan. They will give you a visa if able to, I would ask for a 60-90 day visitor visa.

Getting a Job

There are a plethora of jobs here in Taiwan and not enough teachers to meet the demand. The borders have been closed off and on now for months and new teachers have not been coming in at the rate they have been leaving. 

The best way to find a job is by word of mouth, recruiters, school websites, and Facebook groups. One for public schools that is quite helpful is TeachTaiwan and ReachtoTeach are popular sites.  If you are worried about speaking Chinese you can read more here. Do you need to speak Chinese to work and live in Taiwan?

The issue is the company actually giving you a work permit and helping to get you here. A lot of these schools run on tight budgets and do not pay for flights, housing, and quarantine. If you want all of that covered you will have to find a really nice school or work for a University, Private School, or an International School. If you want to work at an International school I have written an article here about them. Where can Certified Teachers find jobs in Taiwan?

Get a Work Permit 

Usually, schools can help teachers fly to Taiwan on a work permit, and teachers come to Taiwan on a visitor or resident visa. But now you need the special entry visa under the pandemic. To get the work permit read my other article which lays out all the steps. The 9 Requirements to Get a Work Permit to Teach in Taiwan

Getting the Special Pandemic Visa to Enter Taiwan 

• 

You can try a few ways for the visa. Due to the pandemic, a 90-day visa-exempt is not available, which means you can not fly to Taiwan directly without getting a special entry visa to Taiwan. Before teachers could fly to Taiwan on a visa-exempt or a visitor visa. Now Taiwan’s borders are still closed but since Taiwan’s coronavirus cases are under control and have a fairly small number of cases affected. Taiwan embassies overseas have some certain right to issue the visa.

1. Before teachers could fly to Taiwan directly on a 90-day visa-exempt or a visitor visa and start to apply for a work permit, do a medical as they were already in Taiwan and things were easier to process. Due to the pandemic, a visa exemption is not available. Teachers can get a medical first, then get it notarized by the Taiwan Embassy and send it to the school in Taiwan to process the work permit. Then the school will send your work permit back to you to let you come on a work permit with a resident visa, (special entry under Covid 19. You will need to show your work permit to the Taiwan embassy for a special visa to enter Taiwan and do a 14-day quarantine as you arrive here. If you do your medical in your home country and send it to Taiwan, and they send your work permit back to you for your visa, it may take 2 months or longer.

2. The other way which I did is to have all my documents in order, FBI background check, Signed contract, Teaching Certificate, Degrees, and work permit from my school and send it to the embassy. This way was quicker and only took three weeks. I sent my document to the Embassy in Boston but called around first as the one in New York said up to three months, so do your research. 

There may be others ways to do this as well, speak to your school and calls the embassy. 

Visa Application 

Regarding your visa application, you can complete the application through TECO either in-person or via mail. They do not offer electronic applications for this purpose. To do that, you will need to first receive your approved work permit in the mail. The school will have applied for your permit and will get it sent out as soon as they receive it. It generally takes around 20 business days to process. It will take 3-5 days to get it to you from Taiwan.

Quarantine Hotel

You need to prepare money for your quarantine hotels and then later rent a place. The quarantine is usually 2000-2500NTD a day with 3 meals included and you will need to get a PCR test when you are done and go into self-management for a week. Your school may pay for it but many do not and offer a 50/50 split.  Here is the website for the Quarantine hotels in Taiwan and the prices. 

If are coming from  Brazil, India, the United Kingdom, Peru, Israel, Indonesia, and Bangladesh ) ( the past 14 days of travel history, including transit ). You will be admitted to a centralized quarantine center for 14 days after entering the airport or seaport and will be required to carry out PCR testing at the time of check-in and the expiration of the quarantine period.

The food is hit and miss at the hotels, I did not like mine but it was edible. I am also a vegan which they did cater to as there are a lot of vegans in Taiwan. You also have the option for people to bring food and order FoodPanda and Uber eats.

Here are some tips to get the most out of your Quarantine hotel.

1. Don’t procrastinate, go and look for one right away. The nicer ones sell out.
2. Two adults with kids under 18 area allowed to quarantine together (whether you need to get the goverments permission depends onthe hotel). Most of the places charge $500nt-1000nt extra per kid, per night. Meals vary
3. The booking site looks great, but doesn’t work all the time for booking. The Taiwan goverment site that shows excel sheets of availability is very useful (links here). There are a few other sites in Mandarin, but if you can read Mandarin you probably don’t need help
4. Kaohsiung hotels are the cheapest. By a lot. But they have almost nothing other than really small doubles anymore. All the larger rooms/suites.
5. Some hotels will give you a menu to choose from and others set meals, which gets out quick.
6. Ask first if you can get Uber/Carrefour/etc. deliveries, as some places don’t allow it, or only allow it at certain times.
7. Alcohol delivery is not allowed at all, anywhere. I got some a friend dropped off, not sure the legality.
8. Some windows open, but most don’t. Ask if important.
9. Some hotels charge an extra day for early check in, and some let you come in “for free.”

Background Check 

Our labor unit requires the latest national police check and any bad record is not allowed, or the work permit can not be issued. In America, it is very easy and you can go to many different places, here you can search.  FBI Criminal History Record Information and UPS FBI Check If you are from another country you will have to check that on your own.

Boarding the Flight

1. PCR test- You will need to get a PCR test 72 hours before you depart, even if you are vaccinated. I got the results of my test and then booked the plane ticket as if you fail the test you will not be able to board the flight. Make sure to choose a reputable testing site that can get your test back as quickly as possible. I only had the email to show at the airport and it was fine.  I used 10to8 there are a lot in the Northeast of the states and they got back the results quickly and cheaply. 
2. Quarantine System for Entry- You will need to go to this website and fill in all the data it is very easy and quick.  Quarantine System for Entry This is done In order to conduct electronic tracking upon arrival. 

Arrival in Taiwan

When you arrive you will be ushered to where you will get a Taiwanese sim card. I recommend Chuanghwas it is a little more expensive but 10 times better GT. Get the shortest plan and switch when it runs out. I use T-Star. They take your number and you will get daily texts and phone calls checking on your condition. They were quite nice. You must keep your phone on at all times.  

After this, there is a line outside that are government-sanctioned taxis that will take you where you need to go at a flat rate. I went to Kaohsiung for around $100 USD. 

Things are always changing so here is the government site to keep up to date. I hope this helps and reach out to me if you have any questions. My information is on the Contact Page.  

Bureau of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China(Taiwan) (boca.gov.tw) 

What do I do after I get out of quranatine?

You will need to get a place, your arc, health card, phone, etc. I have made a full guide to help you to acclimate when you are free, good luck. The Ulitmate Guide for Moving to Taiwan to Work or Live