萬國法律事務所

Legislator Lin Shu-shan of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party is asking Taiwan’s government to revise the current Immigration Law so that foreign spouses having young children will be permitted to remain in Taiwan if they are widowed or divorced rather than face deportation per the current Law.
 
According to the present Immigration Law, foreign spouses who arrive in Taiwan to reside with their Taiwanese husbands or wives must leave Taiwan if they become divorced or widowed, because in both of these circumstances their resident permits are automatically invalidated.
 
In the event that such divorced or widowed foreign spouses have not departed Taiwan within fifteen days, they may be deported.  This forces their children to travel to their mothers’ or fathers’ home countries and possibly become “stateless”, or to remain in Taiwan without the care of their living or divorced parent.
 
According to statistics kept by Taiwan’s Immigration Bureau, there are presently 850 children of mixed marriages under the age of twelve who are living in Vietnam and Indonesia because their Taiwan household registration was revoked as a result that they have not returned to Taiwan for two years.  If such children who have not yet been away from Taiwan for two years are counted, the number thereof is reckoned to be as many as 4,000.
 
Except where extraordinary circumstances exist, the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Children prohibits young children from being separated from their mothers.  Additionally, Taiwan’s Child Welfare Law also stipulates that all government and private institutions are required to hold the well being of children in priority while issues involving children and adolescents are dealt with.
 
The current legal situation in Taiwan makes it especially difficult for divorced Vietnamese woman.  They are frequently forced to make one of two horrible choices.  If they depart Taiwan without their young children, they cannot be certain that anybody will be able to care for them; but if they take their children with them back to Vietnam, the children have difficulty obtaining Vietnamese citizenship and thus receiving an education.
 
The National Police Agency’s Alien Affairs Department Chief stated that the problems faced by such foreign spouses are partly the result of the foreign spouses’ failure to apply for an extension of the fifteen-day period before their residence permits expire.  If they fail to apply in time, they will have overstayed their visas and be forced to depart Taiwan and apply for re-entry at a Taiwanese overseas representative office.
 
It is reported that Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior, which is the supervising authority of the Immigration Law, is planning to extend the grace period to thirty days from the current fifteen days to assist foreign spouses.