by Jonny | Jan 3, 2020 | Tips & Advice, Travel
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.
by Jonny | Dec 8, 2013 | Tips & Advice
This weekend has been somewhat eventful. I have actually found a Chinese restaurant, which isn’t too expensive and that actually serves some great Chinese food. In fact, it’s inside Stratford’s Westfield Shopping Centre and they actually cook the food fresh – believe it or not. It’s made me rethink the whole idea of going to buffet restaurants, as the food just doesn’t stack up in terms of quality. I guess I expected too much out of those buffet restaurants in London’s Chinatown.
Lotus Leaf
Fresh Chinese Street Food
The restaurant is called “Lotus Leaf” and they actually cook all the food they make in front of you – similar to how it is in Taiwan and perhaps China, too. It was pretty cool seeing them make strands of dough, which eventually became my noodles! Unfortunately I didn’t take a picture of this, but you’ll be able to find videos on YouTube on how they make these noodles.
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Fried Noodles & Chicken with Dumplings
Update: Fresh Noodles .gif by Lotus Leaf
The food was great and I definitely recommend this as the place to go in Stratford, if you want fresh Chinese food that is affordable (£8 per dish) and of high quality.
You’ll be able to find this restaurant on the 2nd floor of the Westfield Shopping Centre.
Pretzels to finish it off
My colleague/friend recommended that I try these special Cinnamon Pretzels that is also in Westfield Shopping Centre. I think this is also on the 2nd floor near the escalators.
A selfie with my delicious Cinnamon Pretzel
Tasted just right. Why not give it a go?
Thanks for reading! Be sure to comment if you have any recommendations for Chinese restaurants anywhere in London. I’ll be more than happy to try it out and perhaps give it a review.
by Jonny | Nov 3, 2013 | Opinion, Tips & Advice
Review of China Buffet – Chinatown
On the 29th of October it was my birthday and I turned 22. In celebration of this I thought I’d go to a Chinese restaurant as it’s food that I love and it’s part of my heritage. What better place to go to than Chinatown in Leicester Square to experience the awesomeness that Chinese food generally is. I went with my sister to a restaurant in the heart of Chinatown called China Buffet – a mistake and one that I won’t be repeating. It looked great on the outside and it had most of the Chinese food that I enjoy eating. (Sweat & Sour chicken being one of my favourite Chinese dishes)
So what was actually wrong?
Just take a look at this picture of food that looks like had been sitting there for hours:
And of course, the food tasted bland, as it was quite obviously not fresh. Sure, one will argue it’s a buffet, but buffets still need to taste nice and this is a Chinese restaurant, so I expected something that tasted authentic and I definitely did not receive that. Perhaps my standards are a little high due to myself living in Taiwan for the past 2 and a half years, but this food was sub-standard and even my sister did not like the food. Bland is the perfect adjective to be using and it’s the last word you would associate with Chinese food.
How were the staff?
I can’t complain too much about the staff; however, the reason why I even have this sub header is because I experienced another customer receive the poorest customer service that I have experienced before.
A customer asked:
“Where are the bins?”
Worker responded by saying:
“We have no bins” and then simply walked off.
I was quite baffled by this and attributed this to the worker’s poor English skills. Either way, I was shocked, and so was the customer asking the question. I almost wanted to use my Chinese skills to tell the worker that it’s not acceptable to respond in such a way.
The decor
The decor was just dreadful. It looked like it hadn’t been updated in a decade. The lighting was also quite poor and it was as if they were trying to hide the poor decor by dimming the lights a bit. I also didn’t like the fact that tables were so close to each other, and this really stops any chat during eating a meal there. It just makes things so awkward.
Would I go there again?
No. It’s just sub standard food and I would not touch that place again. My recommendations to them is have someone review the food every 5 minutes to make sure it’s at least presentable, and to ensure that food is replaced after a certain time; not only if a certain tray has been finished, but if food has simply been sitting there for over an hour. They would also do better to clean up the place and re-do the entire decor. It looks rancid and should not be representative of the cheap Chinese restaurants you should be going to in London.
Note: I know this is quite negative, so I’ll definitely review other restaurants in Chinatown, and hopefully give more positive reviews. Like most people would, I only went to China Buffet as it was cheap and it looked delicious from the outside. Unfortunately my taste buds disagreed.
More pictures:
by Jonny | Apr 21, 2013 | Updates
There has been a large earthquake in China. So far, there have been 207 deaths, 11,500 injuries and 960 serious injuries. A 6.6-7.0 magnitude quake struck Ya’an (雅安) on the western side of the Sichuan province (四川). While it’s not the biggest quake China has suffered, it’s definitely a very serious issue and the Chinese government seem to be taking the issue quite seriously. According to a few articles that I’ve read, I’ve come to conclusion that the Chinese government sent 8,000 PLA soldiers, 1,400 provincial rescue workers and 180 emergency response doctors to the affected areas.
I can fill nothing but sorrow for these people as very recently in Taiwan a minor 6.0 quake struck Taichung (The city I live in) and I felt the power of mother nature then. The shaking only lasted 10 seconds or so. However, reports are that the shaking in China in the Sichuan province lasted for a minute straight and the shaking was obviously at far greater magnitude. If I remember correctly, the death toll pales in comparison to the 2008 earthquake that killed 90,000 people in the Sichuan province. – Though I believe that was a 8.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the area in question back in 2008.
Here’s a great video that the BBC produced that explains what went on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3ySVHB4hEA
by Jonny | Sep 22, 2012 | Travel
Today, I went to Dounan/斗南 to get my teeth checked at a dentist there. It’s quite a distance away from Taichung, as apparently that dentist in Dounan/斗南 is one of the best in middle-Taiwan. Plus, I have a friend who works there and she recommends me to go there and it’s a great away to practice with my Chinese speaking abilities. Anyways, in Dounan/斗南 there is essentially nothing. The place is tiny and they literally only have one main road where they sell stuff, every other place is just people’s homes. So instead, I went to Douliu/斗六 which is close by and north of Dounan/斗南.
I bought some products for my skin in Douliu/斗六 as my skin is quite bad since the temperatures in Taichung/Taiwan has been and is still very high causing my skin to dry up, which is causing me to have a break-out of acne; a week before I go to South Korea to see my girlfriend. So, as an attempt to improve the health of my face’s skin I bought an expensive product which cost me $700NT, which is around $24USD or £14GBP. I don’t usually buy cosmetic products, so for me, that is expensive, also the day before I bought other cosmetics (COSTmetics) products which in total brings the cost of cosmetic product buying to $2000NT in two days.
Here are a few pics I took on my small trip to these places:
This a picture I took inside the train on the way to Dounan. Dounan and Douliu are considered countryside towns, and are quite small, however they do have the all Taiwanese night markets; even though they are small places.
A really long bridge which stretches across a dried out river, only the small river at the bottom of the pictures seems to be active. However the larger part kind of looks like a gauge, however all the water seems to have disappeared.
斗南火車站
Dounan Train Station / 斗南火車站. I took this picture outside Dounan Station.
Outside the station there was some sort of event where youngsters were dancing on a stage.
Outside 斗南火車站. The said dancers, dancing on said stage. The girls were … not bad. 😛
On my way to Douliu. Could this be Mars after it has been terraformed?
Arrived in Douliu/斗六! Then I went around shopping and looking at things! Not really an interesting place, and I only stayed there for an hour.
Taxis everywhere outside the station in Douliu/斗六!
Outside Douliu Train Station/斗六火車站. A somewhat long of shops, selling perfume, cosmetics, clothes, drinks, food and whatever. lol
This is the said “somewhat long road”!
I bought this moisturizer for my skin while conversing in Chinese. Luckily the girl I was speaking to could speak English so if she didn’t understand I was able to tell her what I actually meant. Hopefully this does something to improve my bad skin situation.
