Taiwan Citizenship for Taiwanese-Americans

All of the text below is verbatim of a Canva Presentation I made. I am thinking of making a YouTube video walking through the slides, too, but that may have to wait until I am official a citizen after the summer (link to full screen slide is here):

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1.) This presentation is for TAIWANESE-AMERICANS (Taiwanese born abroad in the US/territories, with at least 1 parent with Taiwanese nationality), as this is honestly the only experience I can share as a Taiwanese-American myself.

2.) There are TWO methods by which you can obtain your citizenship:

a. METHOD 1: Submit all documents to your local TECO (Taiwanese Economic & Cultural Office) and have them send you your TARPRC COPY (will explain later) and then enter Taiwan afterwards, OR
b. METHOD 2: Gather all necessary documents and then enter Taiwan and work with the National Immigration Agency there to obtain your Original TARPRC.

** This presentation can only speak on METHOD 1 as this was the process I chose. Consequently, it took me about 8 months from the beginning to the end of the process to obtain my citizenship simply because of my schedule. Your schedule may allow you to complete everything sooner or later.

3.)*** Everything I am sharing is the citizenship process as I know it as of July 2025, as someone who was born in the US and had Taiwanese parents marry in the US ***. Please acknowledge that other processes and requirements from the level of the Taiwanese government may change going forward, and people with different circumstances may have different tasks to do. If that is the case, please inquire with a TECO (Taiwanese Economic & Cultural Office) location

4.) At this point, I have only heard of the TECO offices in California using this process. I am not sure if the other TECO offices have a “Copy of TARPRC” (定居證正本) process in place, but it is worth asking as some have Immigration Divisions within their offices. It’s tedious, I know.

5.) As of December 2024, there have also been some health insurance law changes with regards to citizenship that may affect you if you would like to move forward with the citizenship process. Essentially, anyone with an active household registration, even if they are living abroad, will have to contribute a monthly health insurance fee. This mandatory fee is technically taken off if you do not return to Taiwan within 2 years. However, you would have to backpay those 2 years of monthly health insurance fees the next time you return. I have strong personal reasons of why I want to apply for Taiwanese citizenship, so I am willing to deal with the health insurance things later.

6.) This slideshow is not to provide reasons why to obtain Taiwanese citizenship – it is to let you know the process of how to do so. I assume at this point you know why you want to apply for citizenship and if not, there many great resources that are google-able! (:

7.) Please note also that if Taiwan recognizes you as male, there is a draft for men ages 18-36 years old

8.) All links will be BLUE and UNDERLINED.

I wanted to create this slideshow because there are few places on the internet where all the helpful and important information for those with limited Chinese knowledge is gathered neatly on how to obtain your Taiwan citizenship (there is like 1 really good reddit link that follows METHOD 2 that I will share at the end)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. What you actually need for citizenship:
1. NWOHR (National WithOUT Household Registration) Passport
2. Copy of TARPRC (Taiwan Area Permanent Resident Card) 定居證副本
a. English Translation of Application Form
b. Health Exam
c. FBI Identity Report
d. Parent’s Household Registration Transcript
3. Original TARPRC (定居證正本)
4. Household Registration (戶口名簿)
5. Taiwan ID card (身分證)
6. NWHR (National WITH Household Registration) Passport
B. Links to forms and TECO offices
C. List of states and their respective TECO offices
D. Links to other resources

A. WHAT DO YOU ACTUALLY NEED FOR CITIZENSHIP?

There are SIX main documents total needed to officially become a Taiwanese citizen. The 2nd one, TARPRC Copy, is the most time-consuming one in my opinion. For the last 4 items, you basically need to go to different Taiwan government agencies in Taiwan to obtain them – I will explain more in each item’s respective slides.

NWOHR Passport: “National Without Household Registration” (無戶籍國民) Passport
TARPRC Copy: “Taiwan Area Permanent Resident Card” Copy (定居證副本)
Original TARPRC (定居證正本): “Taiwan Area Permanent Resident Card” – to be exchanged with your TARPRC Copy
Household Registration: 戶口名簿
ROC ID Card 身分證
“National WITH Household Registration” (有戶藉國名) Passport. You MUST leave Taiwan using this upon your soonest departure out of the country

1.) NWOHR Passport: “National Without Household Registration” (無戶籍國民) Passport

I will be honest, my NWOHR passport application was handled a long time ago when my mother was still around with her help, so I don’t remember much on the process. However, TECOLA has a pretty good outline here of what to do:

https://www.roc-taiwan.org/uslax_en/post/6498.html

*** I can, however, help provide some helpful tips when interacting with the TECO offices on the next slide ->

For your birth certificate, you need to order a CERTIFIED COPY of your certificate from the county you were born in. You can Google how to do so for your birth county. Fees may vary.
You also need to order a certified copy of your parents’ marriage certificate if they were married in the U.S. (if they married in Taiwan, you’ll need to obtain one of your parent’s household registration transcripts- 戶籍謄本 – issued within the last 3 months)
You have to submit certified copies of your birth certificate & parents’ marriage certificate for authentication to the TECO of the area where you were born & your parents were married. (https://www.boca.gov.tw/sp-foof-countrylp-01-2.html)
FOR EXAMPLE, if you were born in South Dakota, you have to send your birth certificate to TECO Denver for that specific TECO office to authenticate it (They will attach a cover letter and put an official stamp on your document to “authenticate” it)
My slides 32 and 33 list in detail which state’s documents need to go to which TECO office for authentication.
Remember to fill out an authentication form any time you need a TECO office to authenticate anything, along with the fees and return envelope per their website.
Some TECO offices may require you send along a notarized copy of your Driver’s License/US passport when you send documents for authentication by mail.

Here’s a possible checklist you can bring to your NWOHR Passport in-person appointment (please look at the website of your closest TECO office for instructions on how to make an appointment) :

□ Passport Application Form (Traditional Chinese Only, but HERE is an English sample of the form).
□ Application Form for Entry & Exit Permit to Taiwan Area
□ Checklist for Applying for Entry Permit
□ Child’s Last Name Agreement (if applicant is under 18)
□ Certified Birth Certificate
□ Authentication of Certified Birth Certificate (authenticated by the TECO office serving the jurisdiction service area of where you were born)
□ Translation of Certified Birth Certificate
□ Certified copy of parents’ marriage certificate, if married in the U.S.
□ Authentication of certified copy of parents’ marriage certificate (authenticated by the TECO office serving the jurisdiction service area of where your parents were married), if married in the U.S.
□ One of your parent’s 戶籍謄本 (Household Registration Transcript), if married in Taiwan
□ Both parents’ ROC passports – also get photocopies of both of these just in case
□ $45 application fee if age 14 and older. $31 application fee for 13 and younger
□ 3 passport photos following Taiwan’s passport photograph standards
□ The applicant’s US Passport, plus a photocopy
□ Self-addressed, stamped USPS Express Mail with $32 postage or priority envelope with $15 postage

***Also, try to keep all documents you used to apply for your NWOHR passport ! After you receive this passport, you will need some of them again to apply for what is called the “Copy of TARPRC” (定居證副本) , which is what I will share next ->

2.) Copy of TARPRC – 定居證副本

TARPRC stands for “Taiwanese Area Permanent Resident Certificate”. Once This is received, you need to enter Taiwan with it within 6 months of the ISSUE date and exchange your COPY of it for an ORIGINAL. More on this later, but for now, you need to bring a crapton of items to your local TECO Office when applying for a Copy of TARPRC (you may need to contact your TECO office individually on how to make a ‘Copy of TARPRC’ appointment, and you can use this page as a checklist for your appointment as well !!):

*TARPRC Application
*Health Exam (valid for 3 months)
- Make sure this has a HOSPITAL stamp. Otherwise, this needs to be notarized
*FBI Identity Summary Report (valid for a year)
Authenticated FBI report – This HAS to be authenticated by TECRO in D.C. only
Authenticated Traditional Chinese Translation of FBI report
- This translation needs to be notarized
Authenticated Certified copy of Birth Certificate
Authenticated Traditional Chinese Translation of Birth Certificate
- This translation needs to be notarized
Authenticated Parent’s Marriage License (if married in U.S.)
Authenticated Traditional Chinese Translation of Parent’s Marriage License
- This translation needs to notarized
*Parent’s (戶籍謄本) household registration transcript, issued within the past 3 months (I used my father’s)
Your NWOHR and US Passports
Mother’s NWHR and US Passports
Father’s NWHR and US Passports
Self-addressed, stamped priority envelope
$31 USD application fee

Separate slides about the items with *asterisks to follow, as well as translation info.

*TARPRC Application

This is a Traditional-Chinese only application. There is also a 2nd page, but you don’t need to worry about filling that out. Link to the form is here.

I will list on the next handful of slides the translations of this page/how to fill it out. If you already can read it/have help in filling this out, you can just skip to the next part of this presentation that helps you. You obviously may still need additional help – try to find someone in your familial/social circles, in your community, or even a translator if needed.

a.) TARPRC Application Translation **Not really sure how to show this next part via text only, so I will now redirect your attention to slides 12-16 on the presentation above, where I breakdown section by section what to do and what the Chinese on the form is asking for**

b. HEALTH EXAM (for Copy of TARPRC)

When you hand this over to TECO during your TARPRC appointment, this has to have been completed and signed within the past 3 months. There is no translation needed as the form is in both English and Chinese: https://www.cdc.gov.tw/En/File/Get/ON8BOtBMcGT1Yoe_uOVEMw

I found a day to go over this form with my primary doctor, and then she set up a bunch of appointments for me to get everything on this form checked/tested. I had to then send a blank copy of this to my hospital’s contracts and records department to have them route it for signatures. The main thing I want to note is to make sure the Hospital STAMPS this form somewhere, otherwise you need to obtain a notary jurat for your completed health exam form.

c. FBI Report (for Copy of TARPRC)

Thankfully, obtaining this document was pretty straightforward and quick. You just need to follow the steps here: https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/more-fbi-services-and-information/identity-history-summary-checks

It will have you select a location (typically USPS) to be fingerprinted, and you will obtain results online through a portal and/or by mail. You will need an UNOPENED envelope of your results sent to TECRO in Washington, D.C. SPECIFICALLY to authenticate. So what I did was I ordered the FBI Identity Summary Report to be mailed to me through the online portal after getting fingerprinted, and then I mailed that unopened envelope to TECRO in D.C. (along with the authentication form, fees, notarized driver’s license, and stamped return envelope) to be authenticated. This report is valid for up to 1 year.

**Please note, this is one of the items where you will have to translate into Traditional Chinese and also have the translation notarized and then authenticated (so yes, it will need to go to TECO again for that)

d. Parent’s household registration transcript (戶籍謄本) for COPY of TARPRC

One good way to obtain this is to catch a parent of yours heading to Taiwan for a trip. TECO needs to see that this was updated within the past 3 months from when you have your Copy of TARPRC appointment with them. My dad was renewing his household registration Nov 2024 and so I had my Copy of TARPRC appointment with TECO (with all the necessary documents) by February 2025. I have heard of people getting access to this transcript document online, but unfortunately I don’t know anything about that process… if you do, let me know and maybe I can link something to this page !

So you have your Copy of TARPRC (定居證副本)… now what?

After you have made an appointment with your local TECO Office and turned in all the items listed on slide 12 for your Copy of TARPRC appointment, it will take 6-8 weeks to receive your Copy of TARPRC document by mail. When you receive the document, you will see that its validity is for 6 months, so you have to enter Taiwan IN-PERSON with this document within 6 months and receive a stamp from Immigration upon entering the country (entering through the Taiwan Nationals Side of Passport Check upon entry into Taiwan). Your next step after this is to go to one of the National Immigration Agency Offices and exchange it for an ORIGINAL TARPRC (定居證正本) within your FIRST 30 DAYS of Entry

I would recommend planning a trip to Taiwan for at least 2-3 weeks to complete all of the next steps.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH ENTERING TAIWAN WITH MY COPY OF TARPRC:

When I arrived to Taiwan, because I have the NWOHR passport, I was able to go straight to the Citizens line at the Taoyuan airport, which had no one there while the foreign passports line snaked around for a long time (definitely a perk having the Taiwan passport in Taiwan). I handed over my passport and also my Copy of TARPRC, where I told the officer that I needed a stamp on the Copy of TARPRC.

She stamped the Copy of TARPRC but did not stamp my passport. I worried about this at first, but I later found out that that was what was supposed to happen – just letting you all know !

3.) Original TARPRC (定居證正本)

For this step, you have to show up IN PERSON at one of the National Immigration Agency offices with your TARPRC Copy (定居證副本) and exchange it for an Original TARPRC (定居證正本). The exchange should take up to 3 business days based on this page by the Immigration Agency Website.

And this page shows all the different location centers where you can exchange your TARPRC Copy. Be sure to check the address and hours of the service location you would like to. Make sure you also bring identification, ideally your Taiwan NWOHR passport. They will hand you a receipt to bring back after 3 business days to obtain your Original TARPRC.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH OBTAINING MY ORIGINAL TARPRC:

I went to the National Immigration Agency location at No. 15, Guangzhou St., Zhongzheng District, Taipei City 100-213, Taiwan, ROC on a Monday. TARPRC applications are on the basement floor, and you need to take a number. I went in around 11:00 am and finally had my number called around 12:00 pm. I only needed to show the worker my Copy of TARPRC that was stamped at the airport and my Taiwan NWOHR passport. She then gave me a receipt to pick up my Original TARPRC for that Thursday. The pick-up process was a lot quicker, as I only needed to go to a certain counter to show my receipt as well as my form of ID (my NWOHR passport). At this point, I had the green light to head to my father’s hometown where I was going to add myself to his household registration, which I handled the next day (Friday).

Once you have obtained your Original TARPRC, you need to obtain your OWN household registration (戶口名簿), household registration transcript (戶籍謄本), and ROC ID card within the next 30 days.

All three of those items can be obtained at the same place on the same day, which is what the next slide is on ->

4.) Household Registration(戶口名簿) & 5.) ROC ID Card

For this next step, you also have to show up IN PERSON at the Household Registration Office specifically in the township and county of the parent/relative whose address YOU are registering under. Be sure to bring your (1) Original TARPRC 定居證正本, (2) some passport photos following Taiwan’s passport photo standards, the (3) household registration (戶口名簿) of the parent/relative whose address YOU are registering under, and (4) some NTD money. Since I was registering under my dad’s address, I went to his hometown county registration office and so also brought along his household registration. You should bring all 4 of the above items in exchange for:

1.) A new Household registration (戶口名簿) with your name added on to the information already included about your family, and

2.) YOUR own ROC ID Card (身分證)

The turnaround time for this exchange is at most a couple of hours, if not quicker. Plan to wait at the office while you wait to receive the above 2 items. In short:

MY EXPERINCE OBTAINING MY HOUSEHOLD REGISTRATION & ROC ID CARD:

The township office where my father is registered under (I was adding myself to his household registration) is in Yilan – 宜蘭 – so I did a day trip there thanks to an aunt and uncle in Taipei.

The only documents they asked to see were my original TARPRC, 1 passport photo, and my father’s household registration. I can’t recall if they asked to see any of my passports, but I had both on hand just in case.

The whole process took about half an hour and they also asked me some demographic-related questions (e.g., where was I born, what degree do I have, etc…).

At the end of it all, they voided the household registration I originally brought and handed me a new, updated household registration which now had my information on it in addition to my dad’s information already on there. They also took my Original TARPRC but gave me a photo copy of it, and they also gave me my official ROC ID card ! This process cost $80 NTD.

You’re almost there ! The last thing you need to obtain is your National WITH Household Registration Passport

6.) National WITH Household Registration Passport

Now that you have YOUR OWN household registration, household registration transcript, and ROC ID Card, take these 3 items along with your National WithOUT Household Registration (NWOHR) Passport and passport photo taken within the past 2 years to any Bureau of Consular Affairs (BOCA) location, where you will apply for a National WITH Household Registration (NWHR) passport. The fee for a passport application is $1,300 NTD and the processing duration is 10 business days. You can also have your passport process expedited to 1 day (you would pick it up the next day) for an additional $900 NTD. Full information on this process can be found here. In short:

MY EXPERIENCE OBTAINING MY NWHR PASSPORT:

Firstly, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND booking an online appointment ahead of time if you’re able. I didn’t because I was not sure which day I would obtain my ROC ID card to be able to apply for a NWHR passport in time. If you don’t make an appointment ahead of time, you can definitely do a walk-in, however, be warned that wait times can go from 2.5 to 4 hours!

This is where you book an online appointment: https://ppass.boca.gov.tw/sp-ia-login-2.html

IN ANY CASE, there were these stations I had to go up to to fill out a physical passport application form (this form is all in Chinese). They also had pens, as well as glue for you two glue down your 2 identical passport photos. On the application form, I had to fill out that I am renewing my passport, since I already have a NWOHR passport.

**THEY ARE VERY STRICT WITH THE PASSPORT PHOTOS – THE PHOTOS HAVE TO MATCH THE REQUIRMENTS BELOW PERFECTLY** (they have photo booths for use in the offices as well):

https://www.boca.gov.tw/dl-3986-cd14d6f81ef140bb91ae5d2795647d4c.html

Once I filled out the application and glued down my photos, I had to go in this really long line for the workers to verify that everything looks okay. Once they verified everything looked okay, I received another number to wait in line for. This was the line that took the longest. There is a website where you can see live what number is being called (there are QR codes everywhere to scan for this number). It took me about 2 hours for my number to be called..

Also, on the application form, only put down your English name in the ‘foreign name’ section if you have some identification on you for your English name. I thankfully brought along my US passport as well as proof.

Once my number was called, I went to the designated counter and I handed over (1) my ROC ID card, (2) my application form with 2 identical passport photos, and (3) my NWOHR passport. It was nice that they had on their desk 2 different dates, one being the next business day out with a +$900 NTD fee on it, and the other date being 10 business days out. They asked you which date you wanted to pick up your passport by, and since I did not plan my trip well, I opted to pick it up the next day. At this point, the worker gave me a stub to pay $2200 NTD for expedited processing at the cashier counter and she also took my NWOHR passport

After paying, they handed me a receipt to pick up my 有戶藉國名 passport along with my invalid (clipped) 無戶籍國民 for me to pick up the next day in the afternoon. There was basically no line for picking it up

That’s mostly it ! The last thing you need to do is leave Taiwan using your new National WITH Household Registration Passport (there is no timeline to do this last part).

In short, this is what the WHOLE process looks like:

B. ~ FORM LINKS ~

Authentication Form: https://www.roc-taiwan.org/uploads/sites/111/2015/09/2532152271.pdf

Used whenever you need a TECO office to authenticate a document. You can send in multiple documents to be authenticated at once, and just fill out 1 form listing all the documents (make sure you have the fee amount right though)

Copy of TARPRC Application form (Traditional Chinese Only): https://www.immigration.gov.tw/media/81846/%E4%B8%AD%E8%8F%AF%E6%B0%91%E5%9C%8B%E8%87%BA%E7%81%A3%E5%9C%B0%E5%8D%80%E5%85%A5%E5%A2%83%E5%B1%85%E7%95%99%E5%AE%9A%E5%B1%85%E7%94%B3%E8%AB%8B%E6%9B%B8-11181%E7%89%88.pdf

Health Exam Form: https://www.cdc.gov.tw/En/File/Get/ON8BOtBMcGT1Yoe_uOVEMw

~ TECO Office LINKS ~

Here is a PDF of all TECO offices from ROC-Taiwan.org along with their addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, service areas, websites, and hours:

Click to access taiwan_2012-2013_taipei_economic_and_cultural_offices_in_the_usa.pdf

**Please be checking each individual TECO website for their most recent hours, addresses, and contact information, as I noticed some of this information has not been updated as of March 2025.

C. List of USA states & territories and which TECO’s can authenticate documents

Alabama: TECO Atlanta
Alaska: TECO Seattle
Arizona: TECO Los Angeles
Arkansas: TECO Houston
California: TECO San Francisco or TECO Los Angeles, depending on your county
Colorado: TECO Denver
Connecticut: TECO New York
Delaware: TECRO in D.C.
Florida: TECO Miami
Georgia: TECO Atlanta
Hawaii: TECO Honolulu
Idaho: TECO Seattle
Illinois: TECO Chicago
Indiana: TECO Chicago
Iowa: TECO Chicago
Kansas: TECO Denver
Kentucky: TECO Atlanta
Louisiana: TECO Houston
Maine: TECO Boston
Maryland: TECRO in D.C.
Massachusetts: TECO Boston
Michigan: TECO Chicago
Minnesota: TECO Chicago
Mississippi: TECO Houston
Missouri: TECO Denver
Montana: TECO Seattle
Nebraska: TECO Denver
Nevada: TECO San Francisco
New Hampshire: TECO Boston
New Jersey: TECO New York
New Mexico: TECO Los Angeles
New York: TECO New York
North Carolina: TECO Atlanta
North Dakota: TECO Denver
Ohio: TECO Chicago
Oklahoma: TECO Houston
Oregon: TECO Seattle
Pennsylvania: TECO New York
Rhode Island: TECO Boston
South Carolina: TECO Atlanta
South Dakota: TECO Denver
Tennessee: TECO Atlanta
Texas: TECO Houston
Utah: TECO San Francisco
Vermont: TECO Boston
Virginia: TECRO in D.C.
Washington: TECO Seattle
West Virginia: TECRO in D.C.
Wisconsin: TECO Chicago
Wyoming: TECO Seattle
Washington D.C. : TECRO in D.C.
American Samoa: TECO Honolulu
Dominican Republic: TECO Miami
Guam: TECO Guam
Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands: TECO Guam
Federated States of Micronesia: TECO Guam
Puerto Rico: TECO Miami
US Virgin Islands: TECO Miami
Bahamas: TECO Miami
Bermuda: TECO Miami
Turks & Caicos Islands: TECO Miami

D. Links to other resources

This is the only other most helpful resource I have seen on this topic so far for those with more limited Chinese knowledge : https://www.reddit.com/r/taiwan/comments/1cqot8e/foreign_national_here_born_abroad_outside_taiwan/?rdt=39378. This person does Method 2 I mentioned on my second slide for obtaining citizenship (I ended up doing a different method from this person). However, the information was immensely helpful for my own process.
Taiwan National Immigration Agency: https://www.immigration.gov.tw/5475/
Taiwan Department of Household Registration: https://www.ris.gov.tw/app/en
Taiwan Bureau of Consular Affairs: https://www.boca.gov.tw/mp-2.html

If you know of any more, please let me know on my blog (www.theheartasitis.com) so I can add it here for everyone to see !!

THANK YOU !

This is all the information and I hope this was helpful! I wish I had something like this when going through the citizenship application process. If you have questions, feel free to leave a comment!