Legislator backs call for longer ARCs for missionaries

"It's not so much renewing the ARC each year that is annoying, but that many services only provide the service for the length of a foreigner's ARC."

The duration of Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) for foreign missionaries should be extended to up to three years, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Kuo-chung said yesterday.

"Missionaries come to Taiwan to do charitable work; it is not very respectful to not give them the same consideration as we do foreign businessmen," Cheng said, backing calls by the Taiwan Missionary Fellowship and the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan for longer residency certificates.

The church groups have asked the Ministry of the Interior to change regulations that grant foreign missionaries ARCs for just one year at a time.

According to immigration regulations, foreigners in upper management positions with foreign companies, those who are investors or the representatives of foreign legal investors, or who are researchers, advisers or teachers in approved schools and academic or research institutions can apply for an ARC for up to three years at a time, depending on the length of their contracts.

Foreigners studying or training, or other whom have other approved reasons for being in Taiwan can apply for maximum one-year ARC.

Missionaries fall into the second category.

"It's not so much renewing the ARC each year that is annoying, but that many services only provide the service for the length of a foreigner's ARC," explained Pastor Mark Harbur, an American missionary who has lived in Taiwan for almost 23 years and is administration committee member of the Taiwan Missionary Fellowship.

For example, Harbur said, many telecom providers insist that their service-contract lengths be equal to an ARC's duration, meaning that missionaries can only hold a cellphone, landline, or Internet contract for a year at a time, even if they have lived here for years.

Cheng called on the Immigration Office of the National Police Academy to research and enact changes into the law.

Immigration office representative Hsu Su-kun, however, said that such a change was highly unlikely.

"We are inclined to do a later, overall review of the alien residence regulations rather than make changes in just this one aspect now," Hsu said.

Hsu said that such changes may have to wait until the passage of an organic law on an immigration office and of amendments to the Immigration Law by the Legislative Yuan. He said that may not occur until next year or 2006.