Working in Taiwan

I had finally settled down in Taiwan once again. After 4 months with the new company, True Music entertainment, I was receiving allowances, advances and training. I was making some money with my other projects to survive as well.

I found a cool apartment, set up my studio and had already started making music productively.

Visa & work permit were always an issue. I had to leave the country monthly as I could only stay 30 days on each entry.

The most memorable issue was when my work permit failed to be extended. My company sent me back home for a week to extend my visa. When I arrived at the Taiwan airport, I was told I had overstayed 59 days, and will not be allowed into Taiwan for a year. My clerk had informed me that I could stay till 15th December, but clearly that wasn’t the case. My visa has to be extended along with my work permit, but nobody knew about it!

[img_assist|nid=47|title=Banned Notice on my Passport|desc=I’ve never committed a crime. Is this it?|link=node|align=center|width=500|height=375] [img_assist|nid=50|title=Work Permit for 3 months|desc=I left the country before my Work Permit expired. I could legally work in a country I am illegally in.. tongue-twister.|link=node|align=center|width=500|height=309]

PS: If you haven’t already known, 97 means 2008, add 11 years. It’s Taiwan’s way of dating since its revolution.

I was devastated. It took me months to settle down, start working efficiently, and just 1 moment, to slow down to a crawl with a deportation for 1 year.

The thing about working overseas, visa will always be a major issue.