I recently obtained my Taiwanese Passport (台灣護照) for the first time. Growing up in the US as a Taiwanese-American in a fairly Taiwanese area, I never really thought about my identity until adulthood, when I began to fully embrace my background. Obtaining my passport is milestone along that journey. Technically, I don’t have the full rights of a Taiwanese citizen just by holding a passport, the status is called a National Without Household Registration. It would require obtaining household registration and then staying in Taiwan for some period of time to gain those full rights. Also, technically due my parents being Taiwanese, I was always a national, and this is just officially establishing my identity. As the United States does not forbid dual-citizens, and claiming your Taiwanese passport is not the same as naturalizing, which would require giving up your original citizenship, this is possible.
What are the benefits? For me, mostly national pride. But you can also enter Taiwan when travel is otherwise blocked to foreign nationals (say due to COVID), as long as you have an entry/exit permit. And there are a number of countries you can travel to with looser requirements than your other passport, though some are restricted only if you are a full citizen with a National ID number (Wikipedia).
Your process may vary based on your specific situation and country, so check with your local TECO about the requirements. My situation was:
- Born the in US to Taiwanese parents after 1980 (see Note 1)
- Parents married in Taiwan
- Male
- Older than 20 (see Note 2)
If you live overseas, you must go through the process at your local TECO; it cannot be processed in Taiwan. My process was fairly similar to the experience of another blogger, but it seems like the requirements may have relaxed a bit.
In general the required documents are:
- A passport application form (PDF)
- This is fairly straightforward. Do not put the UI number (統一證號) if you have one in the 國民身分證編號 field. They are not the same thing. Use anyone’s contact info in Taiwan, a relative perhaps?
- Your original birth certificate or an official copy.
- If it isn’t from the region you are applying from, this may need to be authenticated by the TECO in that region. We had to send my birth certificate to the TECO in the region where I was born. I did not have to get it translated to Chinese.
- Your parents original marriage certificate or an official copy.
- My parents were married in Taiwan and had a Taiwanese marriage certificate. Thus it did not have to be authenticated or translated to Chinese. If your parents were not married in Taiwan, then it will likely have to be authenticated and translated.
- Document authentication form for any documents you need authenticated (PDF)
- Original or copies of the Taiwanese passport and Taiwanese IDs of whichever parents are Taiwanese. If copies, I had to get them notarized.
- (Potentially) A household registration certificate issued within the last 3 months. This seems to not be required for the US. However, when I tried to apply from Japan this was a hard requirement. Thus I applied from the US instead.
- I did NOT have to submit a Chinese name form. This also seems to be a requirement in certain other areas.
- You need to apply for an entry / exit permit to be able to enter Taiwan with your new passport. It’s a separate application but you can apply at the same time (PDF)
- Two Passport photos
- Application fee (check made out to TECO)
- A prepaid return envelope if applying by mail, as many TECOs are difficult to obtain appointments at currently due to COVID.
The process was actually fairly fast and the local TECO was very helpful. I managed to get my passport back within 3 weeks.
Now that I have my passport, what are the implications? Technically in the future, you are supposed to enter and exit Taiwan only on your Taiwanese passport. Also, if you actually want to live in Taiwan for an extended period of time, you need to obtain a Taiwan Area Resident Certificate (TARC or 台灣地區居留證). Only after living in Taiwan for 6 months or if you get a job, can you get health insurance. And only after a certain period of time living in Taiwan (1 year without leaving, or 2 years with 270+ days a year, or 5 years with 183+ days a year) (source) can you get household registration of your own.
For males, the age of conscription is until the December of the year you turn 36. But conscription isn’t applicable until 1 year after you initially get household registration, and only if you spend more than 6 months a year in Taiwan (there is some strike based system that I need to figure out more in detail). So you could just live in Taiwan on the TARC without getting household registration. For safety’s sake, it is better to first apply for an Overseas Compatriot Identity Endorsement stamp (華僑身分證明書 / 護照加簽僑居身分) in your passport (FAQs), and along with some procedures, allows you stay in Taiwan up to 2 years without serving in the military. I believe only with this stamp, can people with Taiwanese passports apply for the Taiwan Gold Card as well.
Note 1
If you were born in Taiwan, you likely have household registration and/or an old passport. If you have an old passport, you should be applying for a renewed passport, not the first time passport.
If you were born prior to February 10, 1980, then only if your father was a Taiwanese national can you obtain a passport. If on or after, then either parent is okay.
Note 2
If you are under age 20, then you can immediately register for household registration without the waiting period.