Tricky Situation For A First Timer.

[TexMex]

Hello there folks, I'm planning on moving to Taiwan with my Taiwanese Wife and 3yo. American Born Child. But as easy as it sounds, is not.
I'll explain it in points I suppose it'll help.
1.- We are in US.
2.- I'm Mexican, umm... illegally in US.
3.- The wife overstayed in her student visa (visa haven't expired but she haven't been at school for 3 years).

So, we are planning on moving to Taiwan, you know, to look for a better stability and peaceful life.
I have been thinking over the options for us, and apparently the best and obvious thing to do is get a visa, visitor visa in this case.

But there's a few details I have been trying to figure out to make this transition easier.
Here are my options I think:
1.- Apply for a Taiwan visa here in Texas (It could imply to show legal papers of presence in US).
2.- Apply for a Taiwan visa in Mexico in person (More travel expenses, expose to dangers down there, not been able to transit US will double air tickets prices).
3.- Apply for a Taiwan visa in Mexico by mail (Possibility of losing documents, an denial for been perhaps out of jurisdiction?).
4.- Apply for a Taiwan visa in an Asian Country, visa free for Mexicans like Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea. (Need to buy extra return or onward tickets).

Well that all that come in mind right now.
I was thinking on perhaps buy non-stop tickets to Seoul Korea-Taiwan to travel next month one-way, stay for 7-10 days in Korea and then go to Taiwan. I would also get a ticket to Hong Kong as my "onward ticket" outta Taiwan (perhaps fully refundable or just go make some shopping).
Start with going to Houston Texas to apply for the visa with the tickets on hand, get all the required paperwork (the Houston site doesn't specify legal presence required, but the San Francisco one does). If rejected or denied, try to get the visa by mail in Mexico with prepaid return, and if it doesn't work just travel to Korea and try to get the Taiwan visa there, but I wonder if they would accept my ticket to Taiwan as my "Onward ticket" outta Korea since I would fly there without a Taiwan visa yet.
And also would the denial of a visa be a problem to try getting a visa somewhere else? I was thinking that perhaps I should just forget about it and fly straight to Korea and try to make everything there or Hong Kong perhaps (the wife apparently needs a visa to be with me there).
One of the original ideas was ship the family to Taiwan and me going Hong Kong by my self to get my visa.
Oh my decisions decisions. What do you think?

P.S. I will post this exactly same topic in forumosa trying to get more opinions.

[cranky laowai]

If I were you and living not too far from Houston, I'd go to the Taiwanese office there. But if possible take your wife and child with you -- and your marriage certificate, too, of course. I don't think you'd have trouble getting a visa with them there. (And does your child have a Taiwanese passport yet?)

But I don't speak from the standpoint of the law, just from encounters with lots of members of the bureaucracy.

[TexMex]

Explain following ...

How would you actually leave the US? Get on a plane, without being arrested?

BTW, how did you get married in the US if you don't have the papers?

Well, people don't get arrested trying to leave the country, but you are meant to carry a valid passport and have the necessary paperwork to show you can actually land in the place where you are heading, but that's all airline employees, no cops or law agents involved.

And you can get married with even a Costco card as long as you have your original Birth Certificate (from your home country), the county where we planned get married ask us to have them translated and notarized so we just went to the next county since it wasn't a requirement. I had my passport as ID and a consulate ID. Don't mean to encourage anybody but US is pretty laid back on immigrants. You can even fly domestic without a US government ID.

In my case I'm calling it a self deportation.

If you're married, you can get the visa anywhere. Just be sure to have all the necessary paperwork (I think you need a police check from your country of citizenship). Your problem is not how to get the visa for Taiwan, but how to get out of the US.

Thanks, well I think that immigration "services" work mostly one way, I had this friend trying to board a plane back to Mexico without a passport and they denied to him so he went straight to the bus station and left the country. He was never detained or questioned at the airport. I think that if I'm leaving for another country than my own, I just need to show I have the necessary travel documents including "return" or onward tickets. But that is mostly the airlines job, not US government. If you don't have a transit visa coming from another country, you are just not allowed to board in that country, you are not questioned when you get here or if you are already here, unless you look too suspicious.

FAIK, they do NOT detain people leaving the USA who have overstayed their visa, like many countries. You just will have trouble getting another visa back in with a record of an overstay. But you can leave, unlike Taiwan.

He should find out how long Mexican citizens can visit. And especially if they can come in to Taiwan visa free. If so? Best way is to come in visa free and then apply for ARC based on marriage.

There will be plenty of paperwork to sort out but it can be done.

Yeah, the plan is not coming back to US. Unfortunately for Mexicans we still need to get a Visitor visa to go Taiwan (but not for Japan, S. Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore or The Phillipines) that's why another option is to get my visa on HK or S. Korea.

Make sure you have your marriage certs, go to the TECO offices and ask them what they need, Taiwan visa should not be a problem as long as you do not have s criminal record in Mexico.

Thanks, I will try to get the most stuff I can to the TECO office, I don't have a criminal record in Mexico, in fact I can get a simple paper stating that online, perhaps get it translated and notarized just to show. But the get a real Certificate I need to apply in person for it down in Mexico, but I'm trying to avoid a trip down there for right now, we just had controversial elections and the fact that I can't transit US after I left, it doubles the tickets price.

and:

If I were you and living not too far from Houston, I'd go to the Taiwanese office there. But if possible take your wife and child with you -- and your marriage certificate, too, of course. I don't think you'd have trouble getting a visa with them there. (And does your child have a Taiwanese passport yet?)

But I don't speak from the standpoint of the law, just from encounters with lots of members of the bureaucracy.

I will definitively take the crew down there to the TECO office (even tho is 5 hour trip), I hope that would be points in my side, in the other hand, should I get my 3yo. kid a Taiwan Passport? The wife says is unnecessary but I'm in doubt.

And what other documents should I get Authenticated? (Birth Certificates, Marriages, Kid's Immunization record, etc.)

[ilyababy]

I will definitively take the crew down there to the TECO office (even tho is 5 hour trip), I hope that would be points in my side, in the other hand, should I get my 3yo. kid a Taiwan Passport? The wife says is unnecessary but I'm in doubt.

If you guys are staying for good in Taiwan, why not get a Taiwan passport for the kid before you leave US? You don't expect immigration to allow the kid to staty for good based on a US passport, do you?

[TexMex]

Hi! Well we are actually in Taiwan right now since last week, the wife said it would be better to get the child passport here after all the household registration here so her ID number could be included in her passport since there a few free entry visa countries were Taiwanese are only allowed if their passport includes that ID number.