Full Citizenship Process for Children of Taiwanese Citizens Born Overseas: Own Experiences and Explanation

Bessie Chu
12 min readJul 27, 2024

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Amendments to Immigration Act went into effect 1/1/2024

Document last updated: 5/3/24

TLDR: The previous time spent in Taiwan requirements (eg. full year, 270 days over two years, etc.) for children of Taiwanese born overseas to apply for Household Registration, aka full citizenship, have been removed along with other legislation easing residency rules. Children of Taiwanese Citizens are permitted dual citizenship by Taiwan and the United States*

Official Docs below:

Unofficial resources here:

I’ve detailed my process below for guidance. Your mileage may vary.

Steps: If you were born overseas to Taiwanese parents, you are a National Without Household Registration. Get Taiwanese NWOHR Passport first. This is the first part of the process as you must enter Taiwan on that passport or have one to do the rest. My parents largely did this for me a long time back, so I can’t speak to this experience, but this can be done overseas at a TECO office (Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office).

The application and needed documents and their authentication process are likely similar to the below and in many cases duplicative likely because you are dealing with different government agencies:

  • Passport is handled by 外交部/Bureau of Foreign Affairs
  • 定居證/Resident Certificate is handled by the National Immigration Agency/移民署 which is what you need to give to Household Registration Office to get a 身分證/National ID Card
  • 戶政事務所/Household Registration Office handles 戶籍/HHR and 身分證/National ID Card

Note: Expect some friction in the process is what I have been told, though I personally didn’t encounter problems.

  • I and some other NWOHR suspect there are time lengths and hoops built into this process below to favor NWOHR with strong ties to Taiwan and Chinese language ability as unofficial filters to only confer the privileges and responsibilities of full citizenship to those who have deeper ties and ability to contribute to Taiwanese society and economy.
  • It’s easy to infer they do not want “random ABCs” who do not speak Chinese and a potential drain on resources to just waltz in and claim full citizenship.
  • You will receive the right to apply for NHI, the right to vote, and be able to work.

Document Process for TARC and National ID Card

Below are the steps I took to get my 台灣地區居留證/TARC and then full citizenship. The required documents overlap so the process will be similar.

You can do most or all this process at a TECO or in Taiwan or a mix like I did. However, certain forms must be authenticated in the country of your birth and/or residency either in-person or by mail.

Official instructions: 移民署中文網-臺灣地區無戶籍國民申請在臺灣地區定居送件須知

Rap Sheet:

  1. You will need to have an official background check from the Federal Government of your country within six months of applying. Time this carefully as you will need to mail in for authentication.
  2. In my case as a US Citizen, I had to get an FBI Rap Sheet. I highly recommend doing the electronic fingerprint at a designated USPS because it will be nearly instant and the DIY fingerprints usually aren’t good enough.
  3. This service is only available at certain post offices on certain days of the week.
  4. I had my results e-mailed to me before I even walked out of the Post Office after I did my electronic fingerprints
  5. This needed to be authenticated by TECRO in Washington DC as it is a Federal document.
  6. I followed the instructions below from Taiwanese Naturalization Process for Taiwanese Nationals Born Overseas Who Are Over 20 Years of Age with additional link for TECRO authentication docs:

Email to consul.tecro@mofa.gov.tw:

1. PIN Number Letter (Forward the original FBI email w/ Pin)

2. FBI Background Check PDF.

3. In the message explain that this is the digital copy and the other documents will arrive at expected date _____.

4. Email Subject:「FBI — (Your English Name)」.

Then, mail the following via Priority Mail

1. Application Form for Authentication (Look up on TECRO website)

2. Copy of ROC Passport.

3. $15 Cash/Money Order/Cashier’s Check to TECRO

4. Prepaid Return Envelope (Priority for US address)

Medical Exam

  1. You will need to do a specific medical exam. I recommend going to Renai Hospital in Taipei as they have an entire procedure set-up.
  2. Enter through the double doors and go left. This is only available weekdays at certain hours. Say you’re there to do the exam for your 定居證/Resident Certificate as there are specific forms and procedures. There will be helpful staff to help with this, and you will be given a folder of all steps and stations (blood test, chest x-ray). This whole process won’t take more than 90 minutes.
  3. The catch is it will take ten days for results to come back without expedited service available.
  4. This can be done overseas, but requires more hoops.
  5. You will need a passport size photo for this exam and multiple forms below.
  6. The passport photo can be taken at machines at the hospital or in many government offices, or if you want to be vain like me, or taken at a place where they can touch up your face since the picture quality from the machines leaves a bit to be desired.

This exam needs to be within three months of applying for your application. Plan your FBI background check and medical exam timing accordingly.

Documents Proving Relationship to Parent

  1. I needed to authenticate documents proving birth and relationship to Taiwanese parents. Note: this needs to be done at the TECO covering the jurisdiction you were born in. Look on the TECO website you will visit or mail documents to for authentication instructions. I ended up needing to do this in California at the LA TECO in-person with my parents. This took five business days, and then I returned to submit documents for my TARC.
  2. I submitted my Birth Certificate from LA County to authenticate and then provided copies.
  3. My parents 戶籍謄本/Household Registration Transcript and copy of it.
  4. Note: 戶籍謄本s are valid for three months.
  5. Note: The website actually specifies the 戶籍名簿/The Household Register document
  6. Having the consular official see my parents’ 身分證/National ID cards and made copies
  7. Having the consular official see their Taiwanese marriage certificate and made copies
  8. I then submitted all this to TECO with application forms, copies, and photos. I received an entry document that looked like this that I showed upon entry to Taiwan on my passport and submitted at the National Immigration Agency (移民署) get my TARC three days later, which I then used to get a work permit at the WDA. *This is no longer needed if you are getting full citizenship, but including this as this may apply to men who still may fall under conscription (and want to avoid it, though tbh the Taiwanese army could use more soldiers) and want to go the 台灣地區居留證/TARC route.

Since 台灣地區居留證/TARCs are no longer technically needed, I assume you will need to authenticate the same documents since the requirements are the same, but instead exchange for a document, a 定居證/Resident Certificate that looks similar, which you can then take to your 戶政所/Household Registration office where you will be registered to get your 身分證/National ID Card。

Below is my process below in exchanging my TARC and showing documents to get my 定居證/Resident Certificate, but it’s likely duplicative of the above because the TARCs are technically no longer needed.

I’ve also heard different staff will ask for different documents or be more stringent, but nothing like that has happened to me. The whole process was straightforward and friendly.

Note: You cannot leave as this procedure is happening if you are in Taiwan because your NWOHR passport becomes invalid and you will need to apply for a new passport as a full citizen.

  1. I took my 台灣地區居留證/TARC, my parents’ latest 戶籍謄本/Household Registration Transcript, copies of their IDs and copy of my birth certificate, and medical exam, as listed on the website to 移民署/National Immigration Agency.
  2. I had copies of everything as specified on the website, but I only needed to submit my TARC (which they collect away) with a photocopy, my parents’ latest 戶籍謄本/Household Registration Transcript (which they collect away) with a photocopy, a copy of my US passport, a copy of Taiwan passport, and a copy of my mother’s 身分證/National ID card, medical exam certificate, and the application form.
  3. I did need to show both my passports to the staff there.
  4. Ten business days later, I received a text saying my 定居證/Resident Certificate was ready, which is a document you can take the 戶政所/Household Registration Office where you will register. This document is valid for ~30 days. You will need to take that and the 戶籍名簿/Household Register Document of where you can be registered as part of that household. I had to take some time to go to where my parents’ are registered and dig up my relatives’ 戶籍名簿/Household Register Document who own the home. The entire process only took about 20 minutes at the office.
  5. Make sure to ask for a copy of your 戶籍謄本/Household Registration Transcript (valid for three months) as it is an official verification document and if you had a previous ID like me. You will need it to transfer accounts as it lists your old ID # and links it to your new ID #.
  6. I highly recommend taking the time to get your Citizen Digital Certificate on the same day as it allows you to take care of a lot of government tasks online, eg. for example, I have a pension, manage NHI info, etc.
  7. Congrats, you are officially a full Taiwanese citizen and hold two powerful passports and the ability to work freely in two dynamic economies. Take your responsibility to both seriously.

Getting a New Taiwanese Passport

  1. I then took my brand new ID to the Bureau of Consular Affairs to then get a new passport. You can expedite it, but it normally takes ten days. I recommend getting an appointment or else show up early and wait.
  2. Register for eGate when you pick up your passport to use the electronic gates to enter Taiwan. It takes 20 seconds at a station in the waiting area.
  3. Because I had been working in Taiwan, I had already paid into the NHI through my employer so I could apply for the NHI with my new ID. I believe there are stipulations before you can get the NHI and need to pay into it. It takes about a week to get your 健保卡/NHI card after filling out some forms at my local NHI office.
  4. I had to transfer all my information using both my 戶籍謄本 and new ID for my: NHI, Bank accounts, Telecom services, and Labor Insurance and Pension
  5. I recommend applying for an APEC business card as well if you travel in Asia frequently for work. It is easier in terms of less forms using the US passport, and you can apply for it as you enter the US like with Global Entry. With that, Global Entry, and the eGate in Taiwan, you can make frequent travel a lot more pleasant.

Taiwanese Citizenship for Overseas Born Children and Dual Citizenship Conceptual Basis

To apply for full citizenship, you must at the time of your birth have a parent who holds Household Registration. We have the privilege of attaining full nationality without giving up our other citizenships, unlike “true foreigners.” The children born of Taiwanese parents born abroad and some other circumstances are Nationals Without Household Registration.

Note: this seems to be not that heavily advertised in English language materials, though it seems like that’s changing, likely because it upsets people for reasons that should be obvious.

This can be argued as problematic. However, Taiwan also has some particular national security issues, to say the least. This arrangement is, shall we say, advantageous, as Taiwanese-Americans are valuable assets to both countries.

I do believe the notion behind this is that the Taiwanese diaspora, likely with family, friends, and assets in Taiwan, thus have a different and deeper and literal blood relationship with the people and the land, than say, a White expat. I’m not saying it’s right or the best way to build a national identity or a nation, but I’d say most Taiwanese share this opinion. People who might favor a North America style immigration and naturalization policy is likely a vanishingly small group in Taiwanese public opinion. This is a post on an online board, but it does also sum up the general Taiwanese mentality toward their diaspora:

“What a lot of ABCs don’t understand is that in the eyes of Taiwanese people, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve lived abroad or how little time you’ve spent in Taiwan. The fact of the matter is, you have Taiwanese blood coursing through your veins, and ancestry is everything in Asian culture, so you will always be Taiwanese and Taiwan will always be your motherland, and it’s a serious offense to not make the effort to understand where you come from. Now they’ll give you some leeway because they understand that you’re handicapped from not growing up here, but they’ll still expect you to understand a decent amount. And the only thing worse than not knowing is not making an effort to learn. We’ve all seen the ABCs who think they’re better than everyone else here and look down on everything. Granted, you have plenty of foreigners who do that too, and Taiwanese people cuss them out behind their backs, but in the end, they’re just foreigners. For someone with Taiwanese blood to diss their own country like that is simply inexcusable.

It’s not to say that you can’t complain about Taiwan. Lots of Taiwanese people complain left and right about this island because there’s just so much wrong with it. But before you can complain about Taiwan to Taiwanese people, you must first acknowledge it as your home, and yourself as one of them.”

I have noticed many Western people in Taiwan have the belief that other nations should be closer to a jus soli and a naturalization basis, which is the case in the US, vs a mostly jus sanguinis basis. Personally, I think they’re also unhappy at being denied privileges when they’re so used to and are often ignorant of the struggles immigrants have trying to naturalize in their home countries. For many long-time expats, they also went to Asia in a time where people had more of a colonial hangover and White visitors were treated with more deference. That’s faded faster in Taiwan and never been as strong compared to the former British colonies.

Despite how much the West is no longer the gold standard for development, the superiority and entitlement White Westerners feel they should have in Asia and beyond remain intact. Given that I was an Asian woman living in New York during the pandemic, I have the smallest violin for those who feel upset.

It also shows a lack of understanding of how deep blood and clan ties are, for the lack of a better phrasing, and how important that remains in the Asian mindset as per above.

That being said, the group I actually feel for are the long-term workers and spouses from Southeast Asia and South Asia of whom the country depends on versus White English teachers who think they’ve gone native. They can always leave in a way and go back to their wealthy home countries with a full acceptance and privileges that I cannot.

These legal changes appear to have been implemented explicitly for those born overseas who have strong ties to Taiwan and can contribute to Taiwan’s economy and society whose parents did not previously register us under the age of 20 to have household registration as there’s arguably a paperwork barrier given the requirements above for those who don’t.

For example, I was already in Taiwan on a TARC and working here in a function that brings in more capital investment. Today, there is a certain cohort of adults whose parents immigrated in a time where they didn’t imagine their progeny would continue such strong ties with Taiwan and when the legal system in this area was not as developed. In the past, it assumed the journey to the US would be a one-way ticket. Many of these people, our parents’ generation, have ended up retiring in Taiwan, which may not have been part of their plan, with their adult children who followed them to Taiwan to stay with them, which was probably not part of the plan, but now the legal system has figured out how to structure these arrangements.

I was told by a researcher at NTU on this subject that lawmakers at some point realized people who do have strong ties would have global business commitments and thus could not fulfill the original residency requirements due to business travel, etc to transition out of the TARC to full citizenship.

Also with a shrinking population and more Taiwanese Americans returning, this law improves many practical measures in life, eg. dealing with the banking system, gives more assurance about investment, etc. here. Taiwan also gets to increase the labor and marriage pool with its “own people.” This is a cynical take, and I’m not saying it’s right, but it’s an explanation of a specific cultural and legal vacuum.

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Bessie Chu

Taiwanese-American working as a Platform Product Director in Taipei, Taiwan. New Yorker. 626-raised. Optimist at heart in a realist’s clothing.