Becoming a Taiwanese national through descent…

Becoming a Taiwanese national through descent…

Originally posted Sep 6, 2011. Updated: Jan 3, 2020.

Once Taiwanese you will be required to serve 12 months as a conscript in the Taiwanese military. Anyways, this blog post is essentially just the process you’ll go through to get all my documents verified by two different authorities from two different countries.

Since I am British and my mother is Taiwanese, I can apply for Taiwanese nationality. Your age factors highly into you claiming for Taiwanese nationality through descent. According to an immigration officer who I was speaking to, he stated that I should apply for Taiwanese citizenship while I was still 19. This is because Taiwan recognises people under 19 as dependants. I did ask if I applied after I am 20 what difficulty I would face and the answer was that “it would be more difficult.” (Not the best answer in the world) Although I still believe it is possible to claim Taiwanese nationality through descent even if you are over the age of 19. However, this blog post is really to help those under 20, as these are my experiences and recommendations.

What documents do you need to apply?

Obviously to apply to become Taiwanese I required certain documents from the UK, they were:

  • Birth certificate (British)
  • Your parents marriage certificate (British)

Since I am from the UK, these documents are required to be certified by the Foreign Commonwealth Office. They have a special office in the UK setup for this called the “The Legalisation Office”. Per document it cost me £30’s each to get these certified. (Source) Essentially, I needed these documents to prove that I am indeed a child of these two people who are married, and more importantly that my mum is married to my dad. This is proof that my birth certificate is indeed correct and that I am the son of someone who’s Taiwanese. (i.e. my mother)

You also need to fill out their form which can be downloaded from here: (Applicable to those who are British Subjects)

Download (You need to fill in this document and send it off with the rest of your documents. – Your Birth certificate and your parents Marriage certificate)

These documents also need to be verified and stamped by the Taipei Representative Office (TRO) in London. (Sort of an unofficial embassy in the UK or just like a consulate)

Translation of the documents

At the original time of writing, it cost £10s each to get my birth certificate and marriage certificate verified and stamped by the TRO. However I was also required to have these documents translated. (Source)

TIP: It is a good idea to get them translated, just in-case if you need the documents. It costs a bit extra, but the extra effort and money is worth it for any certain amount of scenarios which may occur.

TIP: So, if you are unsure whether you have to get them translated or not, make sure you either concretely find out whether you need translated copies (Of your birth certificate and of your parents marriage certificate) or purely just get a translated copy and that will solve any issues which may arise.

Although, I have heard that English is accepted in some parts of Taiwan, thus a translation is not required, however in Taichung where I live, it was most definitely required. Though as stated, it is always a good idea to get a translated copy. It doesn’t too much to get one and it’s not that difficult to find a lawyer or someone who can do it for you. You can see how I got my documents translated below.

The translations need to be verified by the Taipei Representative Office in London

There is an additional cost of £10’s for each document to purely get them verified; the translated copies. (The TRO does not supply a translation service for your documents, they need to be translated first and sent with the original copy to their offices in London)

However, I managed to simply get these documents translated by an IT company who were competent enough to translate the documents into Chinese from English. I could have done this myself if I knew Chinese well enough to translate the documents. (Via creating a spreadsheet or using Microsoft Word to create a table and to fill it in Chinese, like the same design or aspect as the original English version) – As long as the information is correct, I believe the TRO in London will verify and stamp it. Once that it is done, the document can be used anywhere in Taiwan as an official document.

How can I pay the Foreign Commonwealth Office? (UK Foreign office)

You can pay them via their website; all online.

All you have to include is a print out with proof that you paid them for the documents.

You also need to pay for post and packaging. They also have an option online, whereby you can pay via Fedex to have it returned to you insured. However I will include another option or the option which I took which was much easier, since you still need the documents to be verified by the Taipei Representative Office in London; whom are also located in London. So there is no point them sending the document back to Taiwan, for you to just send it back to the UK to the TRO’s legislation office to get it verified. See what I did below under “How did I send it off via mail?”.

Checklist before you send your documents off to the UK – Legalisation Office:  

  • Your parents marriage certificate.
  • Your birth certificate.
    • A translated copy of your parents marriage certificate.
    • A translated copy of your birth certificate.
  • Legalisation application form for the Legalisation Office (Foreign Commonwealth Office) – Filled in. Download here.
    • You need a bankers cheque addressed to the “Foreign Commonwealth Office” worth around £2 or £3. Personally I sent £3. This was so they could send the verified and stamped documents to the Taipei Representative’s Legalisation Office in London. You must also include an envelope addressed to the Taipei Representative Office in London or their legalisation office including a note directing them what you want them to do. (I.e. Please send this to the Taipei Representative Office in London. (Including their address))
  • Legalisation application form for the Legalisation Office (Taipei Representative Office) – Filled in. Download here.
    • You will need a bankers cheque for the amount £40 to get all 4 documents legalised/verified. (£10 for each document) They will also send the document back for a fee of £8 to Taiwan. So in total you need a bankers cheque worth £48.00 addressed to “The Taipei Representative Office”. You also need another envelope, addressed to your home address in Taiwan. They will stick all the documents inside that, once they place their verification stamp or seal of approval on the documents then send it off to the address on the envelope.
    • You are also required to have a form of identity sent to the Taipei Representative Office. I copied my passport and included it inside the envelope addressed to the TRO’s legalisation office.
I have included in more detail below under “How did I send it off via mail?” how I sent it to the UK via mail to have it also sent to TRO office then back to Taiwan. 
Please also note that you need to send the application form first to the Foreign Commonwealth’s Legalisation Office. It needs their stamp of approval first before the Taipei Representative Office in London can verify and authenticate the stamp as well as the document.

How did I send it off via mail?

Once I had gathered all the required documents, I made sure everything was in functional order. I then packed all the documents that the TRO required into an envelope addressed to them. This included:

  • A photo copy of my passport as proof of identity.
  • The application form the TRO requires you to fill in for their verification service.
  • The two translated copies of your birth certificate and your parents marriage certificate.
After the Foreign Commonwealth’s Legalisation Office verify your documents, they will then pack those verified documents into the addressed envelope to the Taipei Representatives’ Legalisation Office in London. (You need to give them instructions on what to do. Try explain clearly. I included a typed draft letter for instructions on what they should do…) With the £3 or so you send them via bankers cheque [With the rest of your documents], they will use this money to send the document first-class to the TRO’s legalisation office.

Sending the documents from Taiwan:

Once I had everything packed and ensured that I had absolutely everything, I sent it all off. I packed everything into an envelope, went to the local post office in Taichung where I live and sent it off to that address in the UK. (To the FCO’s legalisation office in Milton Keynes)
It is as simple as that when posting it. You just have to make sure you have everything, as you can’t go and check again, once you have already sent it off. Just wait for the documents to come back and once they do you have the documents you need to become Taiwanese. I will also write an article on how I applied to the Taiwanese immigration office to be Taiwanese, with the relevant documents I needed for that. Since there are extra documents you need to get to verify your parents marriage in Taiwan. Though this is very easy if you have your mum in Taiwan to help you. It purely involves going down to your local registration office.
If this is unclear and if you need help, feel free to contact me.
Journalists who don’t know the correct terminologies

Journalists who don’t know the correct terminologies

I have a gripe with journalists who do not know their military terminologies yet who write articles as if they are some sort of professional on the subject or who sensationalize articles by using more tabloid-type terminologies for the average viewer. These people in combination with their degrees that I assumed they earned in journalism also get their articles checked by others who also supposedly don’t know military terminologies.

So, you are asking yourself which article, from which journalist do I have a gripe with about. Well, it’s this article, here.

Firstly, it is the term “battleship” that bothers me the most. Battleships were invented a long time ago, they were called battleships considering they had very large guns on them, thus large and were equipped to take on most combat situations. They were soon phased out during WW2 as they were considered obsolete at the arrival of the aircraft carrier.

However, in this article, the author mentions battleship twice. I can assure you that no navy in the world now operates battleships, the US Navy was the last to use battleships in a combat role. That has now ceased.

What the author of this article wrongly labels as “battleships” are mere destroyers, missile cruisers, mine sweepers, aircraft carriers etc, which he does mention and I’ll give him credit on that. But this sensationalist type of journalism where they mention the word “battleship”, let’s just say it makes the article seem more prominent and seems as if something is going to happen. The key word “battle” is that sensationalist word. It makes his article seem so ridiculous when he mentions the word, and to someone who enjoys the history of the military it just seems stupid that he would be using that terminology altogether.

There has even been the same reaction on Reddit by some users who also believe this is sensationalist writing on the authors part. But, perhaps it’s due to the authors ineptitude.

And perhaps I’m overreacting, but these people are supposed to be professionals.

EDIT:

It seems that the Telegraph has changed the title of their article. It no longer features “battleship”.

Photoshop skills

Photoshop skills

Just playing around with Photoshop. I know they aren’t very good, except of course for the “Obama Underground” picture, however I managed to add my girlfriend to these pictures. If I had a full body shot of my girlfriend, then I would have probably spent more time in editing the photos to make them look more realistic. As I only spent 5 to 10 minutes on each photo, I think I did a half-decent job!

Next time, I think I’ll try to find a high resolution photo of someone I know and try to add a different background. I have a few high resolution pictures of myself, so I’m thinking of doing one of myself just to practice with my Photoshop skills!

Delicious food in Taichung

Delicious food in Taichung

Taichung.... eating food

Delicious.

Nuggets, fries/chips, and noodles!

Nuggets, fries/chips, and noodles! What a great combination. lol

Most days I have just been eating Chinese/Asian food, however I was with my mother and we came across this nice cafe-type of restaurant thingy and the food there was superb.  It is at this place called YiZhongJie (一中街), and the style of food was a mix between Mexican and what I’ve eaten in England before.

The best swimming centre in Taichung!

The best swimming centre in Taichung!

Dong Feng Swimming Pool

Finding a swimming pool, or at least a decent swimming pool, in Taichung is quite a feat if you don’t know where to look. I found this great place where it’s pretty decent and cheap. A good combination if you don’t have all the money in the world and you perhaps want to swim or relax on a frequent basis. Swimming is the epitome to travelling and you need to at least have an experience of some sort swimming wherever you are in the world.

This swimming centre includes a pretty decent spa along with other swimming options. Although, when I went to Dong Feng Swimming pool, it seemed as if it focused mainly on the relaxing side of things. So perhaps after work or on the weekends you can go to this place for the sole purpose of relaxing. Or if you need to exercise then swimming is the perfect exercise as it practically exercises all of the muscles in your body.

I recommend this place 100%! If you have kids then this place is perfectly adequate to accommodate them. In fact, they have safety gear for kids who want to swim and they have shallow pools where they can swim safely without the worst occurring.

However, the kids can be sometimes quite annoying when they splash water on your face without the consideration of others who are trying to actually relax after a hard day at work or something. I’ve had this on a few occasions where kids were trying to swim in the spa section; the two don’t fit together.

If they want to swim, splash around and whatnot, well then, they have a huge swimming area specifically for them to do that. Who could blame them though, as they designed the swimming areas poorly in that respect, as they built a small playground area for kids too nearby to the resting and relaxation area. – However, the two are connected, making it hard for kids not to disturb and generally be kids. That’s a huge flaw.

I digress that it isn’t much of an issue. On the odd day, you do get a large amount of kids in the swimming centre, although I believe that most days the swimming centre generally doesn’t have that many kids and most are people of the older generation.

The price

The price is probably the biggest factor when it comes to deciding whether or not this type of relaxation/exercise is too expensive or not.

For me, one ticket to gain entry into this place only cost me $100NT. (Although, for this deal you have to pay $500 and also have a student ID upfront and you get 5 tickets) There are other membership options, which I’ll find out about. However, for this specific deal, I used my student ID when I was studying some Mandarin at Feng Chia University.  If you have a friend who’s studying at a university or who is a student and can prove it, then bring him along and you’ll also pay the same price as me. Otherwise, I believe the cost for a single ticket for those who are not students is around $200NT. – While not being much different in price, it can soon add up, so I would try to find a student to come with you and you can purchase as many tickets as you want, or even a one month membership deal based upon the same pricing a student would pay if you brought along someone who is a student.

You check on this swimming centre’s website for more information:

http://www.dongfeng.com.tw/about_us/index.php