AboutLotta Danielsson-Murphy Expertise I can answer questions about trading with and doing business with Taiwan. I can also answer questions about traveling to Taiwan, particularly about traveling to Taipei, as well as general questions about history, language, culture, etc.
Experience
Relevant Experience I am the Vice President of the US-Taiwan Business Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to US-Taiwan trade/business. I speak Mandarin Chinese, lived in Taipei for nine months, and worked in Beijing for almost a year.
Education/Credentials International MBA (a.k.a. MIBS)-Chinese Track
University of South Carolina
I am so glad I found you to help me answer soem questions I have. I overstayed my visa last year (June 07). I paid the fine and left. I really want to go back to visit in August, is it possible for me to re-enter Taiwan on a visitor visa. My husband is an English teacher which leads to the second question. Because I have overstayed a visa would I still qualify for a spousal visa? Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question.
Carrie
Answer Carrie,
While the authorities may be reluctant to issue you with a visa when they see you have overstayed once, I think that it will be OK for you to go back to Taiwan on a visitor's visa. But it really depends on how long you overstayed. Check your passport. Does it have any specific stamps about overstaying?
Normally, if you overstay, you will get a stamp in your passport that bans you from re-entering Taiwan on a landing visa or on a visa-free entry for a year. But if that is the only stamp you have, you should be fine to get a visitor visa - I take it that it's pretty common. (Make sure that you don't have a stamp that forbids you to re-enter Taiwan all together for a set amount of time. This is a stamp that you can get if you overstay excessively.)
As for the spousal visa, there is some chance that your overstaying will have some affect on that, but I don't know what the exact rules are. Your best bet will be to talk to the local TECO/representative office that handles visas, and ask them to help you figure out what to do. See the "information for foreigners" site at http://iff.immigration.gov.tw/enfront/index.php.
If you wanted to get some other opinions, try posting in the Visa & Residency section of Forumosa.com, see http://forumosa.com/taiwan/viewforum.php?f=67. There are lots of people there with some great advice on these issues.
I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help, but I really can't offer specific advice on such complicated legal issues.
