Ever since I got my first Taiwanese passport in 2022, fellow Taiwanese-Americans have been asking me how I got started with my dual-citizenship journey. Finally getting around to writing a 3-part blog post as a resource for friends, family, and strangers.

When I started this process, Taiwan required getting an alien resident card (ARC) and staying in Taiwan for at least 365 days. Ever since they lifted that requirement as of January 1, 2024 (I’ll talk more about that in Part 2), to my knowledge, the process of getting your passport still remains unchanged.

From my research, it looks like every embassy is slightly different with what they require, so I’d say try to email and/or call the embassy in advance to confirm their requirements. ALWAYS book an appointment so you don’t turn up at the embassy only to either wait forever or get turned away (I saw this happen to someone the day of my appointment). As a San Francisco Bay Area native, my local embassy is Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco (SF TECO), and their contact page is here. I’ve been doing LOTS of emailing back and forth with sfo@mofa.gov.tw

As for their phone, I was able to speak on the phone a few times back in 2021-2022, but as of 2024, if I try calling, nobody picks up. Either things have changed in 2024, or I just have bad luck.

SF TECO has an article here: How to apply for a Taiwan passport for the first time

For San Francisco TECO, I was required to bring:

1. 2 passport photos

2. Parents’ Original Taiwan passports

3. Original Parents’ marriage certificate—doesn’t matter if it’s in the US or Taiwan, I’ll get into this later.

4. My original birth certificate

5. My U.S. Passport

6. Passport application form filled out

7. $45 payment fee, either check or cash

Optional:

1. The exit-entry application form (this is only needed if I was intending and planning to travel to Taiwan in the near future).

2. Envelope to mail the new passport to me. However, for $13 in cash, they can prepare the priority envelope and postage for me, which I honestly preferred because it was just convenient to do everything onsite.

I ended up having a few hiccups:

1. My parents’ Taiwan marriage certificate was denied because it had become ineligible due to slight water damage and years of not the best care. Having to figure out how to get a copy from Taiwan would have been a hassle. BUT luckily for me, they had remarried in the US, so I tracked down my parents’ American marriage certificate through the website of the county they married in, and paid to have it delivered to me. (LOL at my mom, who asked when she and my dad got remarried for funsies, “When is this ever going to be useful?” Over 20 years later, LOOK MA, your own daughter found it useful!!!).

2. My passport application form needed BOTH of my parents’ signatures, despite being over the age 18. I was completely under the impression parents’ signatures were only needed if the applicant was under 18. I have no idea how other people with only 1 Taiwanese parent have done it, but SF TECO made me get them to sign it and re-mail it back to the embassy.

3. My first passport photos were rejected because my ears are so small, my photos with my hair down made them look like they were covered up. I am so thankful I answered my phone when SF TECO called me to let me know otherwise I might have ignored it and let it go to VM. So, I had to go pay some more moolah to get my photos done a second time, THIS TIME with my hair pulled up and wearing a black headband that blended with my hair to prove my ears really are super tiny. I mailed my photos back to them with my Chinese name and reference number written on a piece of notepad paper.

This process ended up taking about 3 months, from when I went to SF TECO for the first time in December 2021, to getting my passport in March 2022. Hooray for joining the dual-passport club!

Up until 2024, I was trying to figure out how to time my life to dedicate a full year of living in Taiwan. As of 01/01/2024, it’s no longer a requirement, so that made things way easier for me to move on to phase 2: get the temporary permanent resident card.

Fun fact: I learned is that the terms nationality and citizenship in Taiwan are not used interchangeably the way they are in the United States. One can be a national without being a citizen. Anyone born overseas to Taiwanese citizens are seen as overseas nationals, and are eligible for Taiwan passports, but gaining citizenship is a whole other process. They are also eligible for dual citizenship and do not need to give up citizenship of their birth country. In my case, I’m an overseas national, but am not (yet) a citizen.

Note that because I am not a citizen, my passport does not have a National ID number printed in it. National ID numbers are only given to citizens, and not to overseas nationals. So, if I need to enter Taiwan with this passport, I would need to fill out the exit-entry application form for SF TECO.

If anyone has questions, feel free to comment, ask, and email me. Here’s Part 2 for those of you wanting to learn about the next steps and my experience.