Moving Overseas?

Well here's a whopper of a topic for you: moving overseas.

What does it entail, and what does it look like? Coincidentally, I can tell you a bit about it since I am in that process right now. I have also applied in the past for a five year visa in Romania, but someone else handled all the paperwork for me at that time, so I can't really describe to you what's involved. I can tell you it cost about $500, if I remember correctly.

Actually, a friend of mine is also in a similar scenario, so I think it would be fun to collaborate with her sometime and maybe write our best tips and pointers for the process as we're learning and/or after we've learned about it.

My husband and I are moving to Taiwan for a year, and my friend, Amy, is moving to Thailand for a semester abroad. The basic things required include airfare, housing, visa, and plans for what to do while there. Since visa is the part most interesting to me right now, that is what I will share about at this time.

The reasons Amy and I are travelling are completely different, she is going for school and I am planning to teach English in order to take my turn as bread-winner for our little home while Rex serves his country (which is mandatory, he doesn't have an option). After that we intend to return to the US for him to finish his PhD in electrical engineering.

For me this one is pretty interesting since I am applying for a residence visa as the spouse of a citizen. This involves kind of a three step process, and it can at times be a bit confusing. It's really very long and complicated to explain it, but if you're interested you can look at the end of this blog and see what is involved.

First we have to get me registered into the family registry in Taiwan as a Chen, then we have to apply for the visa, and then once in Taiwan we have to complete a third step.

Here's the odd thing, if you thought that it was expensive to buy flight tickets, that really only came to about half of the actual cost of going to Taiwan and coming back again. You see, we had to pay $565 to assemble and submit the documents necessary to apply for Rex's residency when we return to the US which will take probably a year to process, and it cost about $327 to assemble documents and submit them to apply for my Taiwanese residency. In addition it cost $127 to update my name on my passport after getting married. The flight tickets cost us $1200 for two, but that was only one-way. That means we have to buy tickets again to come back to the US. Hopefully we'll be able to fly at a cheaper time of year than the month of December.


APPENDIX: What does Taiwan want us to provide in order for me to live there?

First: we have to put me into the registry in Taiwan showing that because of marriage I am now part of the Chen family and receive a document back stating this to be the case. For that we needed to submit:
- a power of attorney form for his mom to do some official tasks for us
- our marriage certificate
- a translated, notarized Chinese marriage certificate
- a document authorizing the authenticity of all the attached documents
- a declaration of my taken Chinese name (陳瑞秋)
- a notarized copy of my passport
- a notarized copy of Rex's passport
- $60 money order
- self addressed priority mail envelope (costs $7)
And all this has to be mailed for about $7 to Chicago and then they have to forward it to Rex's mom (another mailing which costs something)

Second: we have to use the document received from Taiwan in conjunction with a plethora of other documents to apply for the actual visa. These include:
- A document from local law enforcement stating that I have no criminal background (costs $5)
- 3 passport photos of me (costs $10.50)
- Physical examination verifying I don't have syphilis or tuberculosis and that I have gotten vaccinations for measles and rubella (Costs $25, perhaps more)
- My passport (not a copy, this time) (It cost $127 to update my last name on that, by the way)
- Notarized copy of Rex's passport
- Taipei Economic and Cultural Office approved English marriage certificate
- Stamped return priority mail envelope (Costs $7)
- $190 money order

Third: We have to follow up with something within fifteen days of arriving in Taiwan. I can't remember what that is exactly, but I don't feel I have to understand that now because I'm working on understanding and completing the second step. Therefore, I will not bother to explain that to you, yet.