I don’t think the amendment has even passed yet? Let alone with effective date.
This recent article states that it was passed, but not sure if I’m misinterpreting it.
Ah, give it a few months for the bureaucracy to do its thing.
I’d be wary of the news reports. They were originally calling the one year residency to apply for APRC the Global Elite Card Program, the government had a soft launch of the idea at the end of last year, presumably it is not part of the Gold Card Program, unless the program was changed by way of the legislation.
IIRC you don’t need to apply for open work permit after transitioning to APRC anymore is that correct? So you just get the card from NIA and that’s it?
After Gold Card to APRC the answer is you don’t need to apply. More details though on that as not all APRCs are the same:
It depends, foreigners professionals, specialist and senior professionals plus their spouse and dependants who obtain APRC don’t require a work-permit from the MOL therefore NIA will print red text on the APRC stating so. This is due to the Foreign Talent Act Article 7
A foreign professional, foreign specialist professional, or foreign senior professional, their spouse, minor children, or children having reached the age of majority or above who lack self-care ability due to physical or mental disability, having obtained permanent residency, is not required to apply to the Ministry of Labor or Ministry of Education for a permit to engage in work in the State.
Spouses of Taiwan nationals who obtain APRC technical don’t need a work-permit from MOL either due to the Employment Service Act Article 48
(Ⅰ)Employers must apply to the Central Competent Authority for an employment permit before employing a foreign worker, submitting all relevant documents. Exemptions from this requirement include:
…
2. Foreign workers married to nationals of the Republic of China with a registered residence in the country and permitted to stay.
But NIA won’t print the red text on the APRC due to if a divorse etc happens then that APRC holder would need a work-permit from MOL. Such APRC holders without the text sometimes decide to apply for the work-permit as it is the best way to prove to a prospective employer they are entitled to work in absence of the message on the APRC.
APRC holders can still work if they no longer fall into the exemptions in Article 48, as they would then have a path under Article 51 but need to apply independently.
…
4.Individuals permitted to stay permanently in the Republic of China.
…
(Ⅱ)Foreign workers specified in subparagraphs 1, 3, and 4 of Paragraph 1 may independently apply to the Central Competent Authority for work permits in the Republic of China without their employer’s initiation.
Hope that is clear of the situations when you do and do not need to apply to MOL for a work-permit.
Just got my APRC card today. Yay! It was a pretty long saga for me to get approved (took 2.5 months)
Anyway, just sharing to the thread 
I thot it only takes 2 weeks to process???
Congratulations!!!
From what I’ve been hearing, maybe plan on 3-4 weeks. That said, my situation was not straightforward (no taxed income) and of course from there, Taiwan bureaucracy made it way more complex than it needed to be.
Hey y’all
I am applying for the APRC at the moment using the agency that got me my GC and then my ARC for when the CG expired. I feel like every time I work with them they are doing things for the first time. Thing is, they tend to be fast. My ARC was approved in one day, so I bear with them and I have waay too much other life stuff happening.
I was relocated to Taiwan by my company, and continued to get paid out of the USA. Did my taxes, got my NHI. Met the salary requirements, still do, and have the time spent in Taiwan on lock. 2025 I never even left. I still work for the same USA employer, just running interference on the ground here on behalf of my USA team.
The agency is saying that today they spoke with the APRC office and they are asking for documentation because of new rules. From the Agency:
In the meantime, the APRC officer told us that a new rule applies for applicants holding “other” ARC:
Submit the following documents to demonstrate that you are able to support yourself in Taiwan and your potential contribution to Taiwan after obtaining permanent residency:
A statement specifying that you were granted the Gold Card in the Economy Field and have been working for a US company and is still being employed now. (Please correct me if I misunderstand.)
An employment agreement between you and the US company, or an Employment Verification Letter, if available. If not available, please let me know and we can discuss what alternative document can be provided.
Evidence of a work project or a work report, or other supporting documents
Has anyone else had to prove this?
Additionally, they are saying that I can’t be working in Taiwan while on the ARC. But How can I prove #1 if I can’t work here?!
They knew that I was still working and that I was going to apply for my APRC. Did they fuck up by doing this ARC and not a GC extension? I know I will get through it but would love to hear what others think.
Thanks in advance!
What kind of ARC did they get you that would allow you to legally work remotely for a U.S. company? I don’t know why they would have done that as opposed to you just getting another gold card.
You didn’t/don’t really need an agency for any of this stuff tbh. It sounds like it might have caused you more hassle than doing things yourself.
If you were working remotely on an ARC you weren’t supposed to be working on, I would be concerned about applying for an APRC at this point. It’s a grey area at best, but personally I wouldn’t want to test things out with how immigration decides to interpret things, especially if you had the much safer alternative of just getting another gold card.
Is the subsequent ARC a seeking employment ARC?
Did you go to the agent late in the day when your Gold Card was about to expire? That could be the reason they could have chosen the different ARC over another gold card.
If you are on the “other” ARC then it sounds like an employment seeking ARC. That ARC essentially gets approved straight away when it’s applied for. Though if planning to work then this wouldn’t be the ARC to apply for.
Job-Seeking ARC: You can apply for an extension through the “ Foreign Professionals Online Application Platform (Apply for an extension for other reasons)” within 3 months before your Gold Card expires. For guidance, refer to our job-seeking ARC application tutorial below. If you are from Hong Kong or Macao, you must apply at your local National Immigration Agency (NIA) Service Center. On the “Application for ARC and Extension of Stay” fill-out form, select “Other” under “Classification.” The maximum extension period is 6+6 months. Please note that after obtaining the Job-Seeking ARC, you are not permitted to work in Taiwan. For details on the application procedure, please refer to this LINK for the application procedure.
I had seen a post from another GC holder about this and it seems to just apply to those going from GC to ARC extension then to APRC. Not sure what caused them to introduce the new rule but it seems to have been from the later part of this year so experience sharing is abit limited.
Just confirming - you paid tax in Taiwan? Did you give the tax documents (usually a blue form) to your agency?
I don’t think NIA would have taken the application without a tax document or proof of NT$5 million assets.
It seems this is not just limited to Gold Card holders but also foreign professionals who are on the “other” ARC type and apply for APRC are being asked to submit employment proof.
The proof of employment they are asking for goes beyond proving monthly salary.
What projects they are working on, is almost trying to get evidence of either location of employment or genuiness of employment
That goes beyond what is normally asked for when assessing gold card to aprc.
There was another reported case where a Gold Card holder applied for the 6 months Employment Seeking ARC (“other”) but didn’t have the purpose to seek employment as it was just to tie over the time to apply for APRC. Reference was made to Article 7 of the The Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act to submit documents within 15 days regarding their employment. It seems to apply only to those that applied for the 6 months extension and not those who extend the Gold Card first, and also a new requirement since the end of the year.
If applicants submit insufficient or inconsistent documents for applications of residence, change the purpose of residence, residence extension, permanent residence and registered permanent residence, the required documents shall be supplemented within fifteen (15) days from the next day upon receiving the National Immigration Agency’s written notification. If the application is submitted from overseas, the Mainland area, Hong Kong, or Macau, or if the supplement documents must be generated from overseas, the Mainland area, Hong Kong, or Macau, the supplementation period is three (3) months.
Should the required documents fail to be supplemented within the periods prescribed in the preceding paragraph, the applications shall be rejected.
The Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act - Article Search/Content Search Result - Laws & Regulations Database of The Republic of China (Taiwan)
That is just their rule for requests to supply documents. Not a rule as to what documents should be supplied. I’d imagine they will quote that whenever they request documents in the future. You may not notice it on the online application for a gold card, but they probably will have it there somewhere, when they have to come back and request more documents.
Yep, I applied in September and encountered essentially the same questioning. Fortunately in my situation, working was not necessary so I could very conceivably live in Taiwan on the job-seeking ARC without local income. But it was indeed a tangled web and I feel on one hand annoyed that had to jump through so many hoops (spent at least 20 hours compiling evidence, replying to their questions and delivering documents to them a total of 5 times back and forth) and on the other hand fortunate to have finally gotten approved.