Go to the Workforce Development Agency
10F, No. 39號, Section 1, Zhonghua Rd, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan 100
Take your APRC, passport and 100NTD.
Fill in the simple form, wait a couple hours (or come back next day) then collect it.
Not sure about “once in a lifetime” because it states your passport number, so probably needs updating at some point
Finally got my APRC so sharing the experience here for those who might be interested. It was surprisingly smooth for KH and the officers seemed to know what they were doing (like the 3 years instead of 5, or the 183 days a year on average).
I applied for the 6-month job seeking visa two weeks before the expiration of the GC and collected it after exactly 10 days. Careful with terminology in the application form or when you speak to the officers. It’s “job seeking visa” not “extension”. I used the latter and they told me “use the GC platform to apply for extension”, then we clarified the misunderstanding. “Extension” to them means another 1~2~3 years of GC.
Don’t get bothered about the dates on the “job seeking visa” (someone mentioned it earlier). They have everything in their system and know the duration of your GC. Technically speaking, you can keep using your GC until the last day even if you already have the “job seeking visa” in your hands. You don’t have to surrender one to collect the other.
I applied for APRC the day after my GC expired. This a summary of the important documents.
PROOF OF FINANCIAL ASSETS
I am an employee of an overseas company and work remotely, so filing taxes is relatively straight-forward. Interestingly enough, they didn’t want the official tax certificate (a green paper with stamps and all) but the 4-page statement that is issued when you complete the filing.
One important note (@Andrew is the tax expert here so he might add more context). What qualifies as “income” for tax filing is the annual income pro-rated on the number of days spent in Taiwan. This is the figure on your tax statement that NIA will look at to check whether your salary is higher than 2x the minimum. If you like me spent several months overseas, this figure will be lower than your actual income. It wasn’t a problem for me but take it into consideration if your actual income is already borderline.
CRIMINAL RECORD (TAIWAN)
The online form didn’t accept my GC number (what’s new) so I had to go twice to apply and then collect it after 3 days. Any police station will do. The one I went to had a separate entrance to the office in charge of it.
CRIMINAL RECORD (HOME COUNTRY)
I spent more than 3 months away so I needed this document too. I won’t talk much about the procedure because every country works differently (Italians free to DM me to know more). Two general notes:
HEALTH CERTIFICATE
I spent more than 3 months away so I needed this document too. Same document required for regular ARCs. It’s done on the spot at most hospitals with collection after 10 days. Blood test for antibodies to check that you were vaccinated against a few diseases (like rubella, I forgot the others) and chest X-ray. No HIV test. This for EU and “Western” countries (pass me the term), others might have to do more tests.
I don’t know whether it’s true or they were just lazy before the long weekend, but I was told to leave the application documents at NIA for 1~2 weeks for a non-specified “assessment”. Only after that I was then called in to officially sign the application form and pay. They said (KH) that it’s a standard procedure before they send my file to Taipei NIA HQ. After that, I got my card in approx. 3 weeks so the total waiting time was slightly over one month, or one and a half months if we include the job seeking visa.
Free to DM me or comment for more info or questions.
One more thing. My card has a red note saying “no work permit needed”. Yours too? @ponlaihop
He definitely isn’t, unless you were thinking of somebody else! 
I kind of just know the things I needed to find out for my own situation (which isn’t too different from yours). I think you might be talking about the issue discussed in the thread below and first reported by @qwert_zuiop, which I’m not totally clear on and the Taipei tax office didn’t seem to be either…
Yeah, the point being that you should only pay taxes on that prorated income, too! If you paid taxes on the full income but stayed in Taiwan for less than 300 days, you should definitely try to correct that retroactively. Saying you only found out about this rule while applying for an APRC is probably a good reason to amend a previous returns. You might get some money back!
Thanks @boaz25. A quick question about the “3 months away”. Is it “3 months away in the past year” or is it “3 months away since you have your GC or ARC”?
Both home country criminal record and health certificate are required only if you spent more than 3 consecutive months out of Taiwan any time during the 3 years on GC.
From NIA:
(6) A foreigner who has legally and continuously resided in the R.O.C. (Taiwan), and who has not left the country for more than three months at a time, may be exempted from submitting a satisfactory health examination certificate and a police criminal record certificate issued by their country of origin.
So I’m new to the forum, new to the Gold Card process but applied a little while ago as a US tech worker with years of experience in a field that Taiwan wants, but I’m looking to slow down in life when I get to Taiwan after killing myself at work the last 30 years.
I’m a little worried about how the whole tax and income situation is going to work. I’ll be going from a US 6-figures worker to probably just self-generating income from my US stuff, some of which is going to be 1099 income, not W2 income.
This has had me worried for quite some time now as I’ve read a lot of posts in the Gold Card thread which suggests that Taiwan will be scouring my tax returns to see how many dollars of W2 versus 1099 income I have, and if my employer (which would be myself, in my case) is truly in the tech industry that I listed on my application. Meanwhile I’m already in the midst of closing out all that I own and my whole live in the US, possibly with months before I even know if I have the GC or not. Impulsive, I know.
So when you say the APRC only looks at a 4-page statement, can you or anyone else provide guidance on what kind of a situation I might find myself if I do get my GC and move to Taiwan self-employed? I’m not trying to game the system, just to work fewer hours and with a lot less of my income being W2 income if at all possible. If this is going to screw me out of ever getting an APRC though, I suppose it would be good for me to know that before I’ve moved rather than after I’ve learned a new language and set up a life there.
I can answer the APRC part but not the rest, sorry. The statement that I was referring to in itself is the same for anyone who has declared an income the year before. There will be a “gross” amount followed by a list of items, deductions, etc. and with the tax to be paid listed at the end. NIA will look at that amount to ensure that it is higher than 2x the minimum salary for that year.
So in perspective, I would suggest you ensure that the money that you are planning to earn during the 3 years is comfortably over 2x the minimum salary (just Google “Taiwan 202* basic wage”). That should tick the “salary requirements” part of the APRC application.
Personal advice. Unless you already know Taiwan well (the ups and especially the downs) or have some sort of bond (family, partner, etc.) with it, I wouldn’t just close everything you have back home. Leave yourself something to go back to in case things don’t work out as you thought. It happens more than you would imagine.
I did. in 1988. Still crazy after all these years.
Any ideas if you didn’t enter Taiwan say for 4 months from the start of your GC issue date?
Eg, Gold Card issue date March, enter Taiwan in July. From date of issue, that would be out of Taiwan for 3 months already. Or is it from the 1st time
Good question.The regular ARC is issued once the person is already in Taiwan so this is a specific GC scenario. I would say worth a trip to NIA for clarifications.
For this situation you would need the police check from home country and health check at the end of the 3 year Gold Card term.
There was a member of the Gold Card community that had this situation though they extended the Gold Card and then waited another month and few days after the first Gold Card term ended to apply for APRC. The duration out of Taiwan rule is based on the date you apply for APRC minus 3 years.
I believe the police check from home country can be within the past 6 months so if plan ahead there is plenty of time to organize it also.
Went to NIA today, can confirm this.
Other updates to share with people:
My 3 year GC expires end of March 2024, current process is before expiry get the 6 month ARC extension or extend GC, then apply for APRC. Lady at NIA said next year they are working on allowing applications for APRC before GC expiry and will announce eventually (doesn’t know the date). At least a small glimmer of hope to improve this GC > APRC efficiency. Maybe @fifieldt will know more details?
Thanks, news to me, will ask 
1 year luckily
(4) The original of a police criminal record certificate for the most recent five years issued by the applicant’s country of origin (valid within one year of the date of issue, including the Chinese translation)
This is helpful. Thanks. Is it just the year before you apply for APRC that matters or all 3 years of GC? And a related question but slightly sideways - I’m assuming you can always open a company and pay yourself from it (and pay the income tax) to make sure that you will have enough pay for APRC application in case your job hunting didn’t go as planned. Is this considered a bad practice, acceptable, or a good thing for local economy?
Sorry about the duplicated replies above and messed up quotes. I’m new to the forum. I haven’t figured out how to edit my post yet (not seeing an edit button.) Moderator: please delete the dup (and fix the quote? I’d do it if I can find the edit button)
PS: I’m seeing the edit button now. Deleted the dup. Fixed the quote.
Only the last year actually or to say it better, the last tax declaration that you submitted. So, since taxes are filed in May, if your application falls let’s say in January 2024, you will only have the 2022 tax declaration available.
The owner of the company that I work for never came out, neither in my tax filing nor in my APRC application. That being said, I don’t know how legal this route would be.