I’m a US citizen currently in Hong Kong. My HK wife got a job in Taiwan via transfer with a MNC
My wife and I want to know our options for a Taiwan APRC. However, after finally looking closely at the official guidelines, I’m still confused by the legalese, and have two questions:
Am I correct in understanding that job exclusions towards foreigners pretty much limit an APRC to the following professional categories?
• Teachers in the local school system (no buxibans or foreign/international schools)
• White collar workers from Non-Chinese Companies (excludes my HK wife)
• Gold Card Holders
Foreigners also need to prove their income is higher. Does freelance or other income from non-Taiwanese companies count towards these totals or is it excluded? The official language is vague, and I cannot find anything on these forums to clarify this point. I understand it’ll be taxed.
I suspect I will easily get a Gold Card, and will probably start freelancing once I move to TW. If I ever need to prove my income to TW immigration, it’d be good to know where I stand.
All my professional networks are outside TW. I expect to freelance for HK or US companies, certainly when starting. Based on what I’m hearing about local salaries, it might be a struggle to maintain the income requirements to stay.
The foresaid periods [5yrs for a PARC] shall not include the period of staying (residing)… i permitted due to… employment in Taiwan as approved … pursuant to Subparagraphs 8 to 10, Paragraph 1 of Article 46 of the Employment Service Act.
Ineligible Job Type 1: English teachers outside the local school system.
3.Teacher at the following schools:
(1)Teacher at a public or registered private college/university or school established especially for foreign residents.
(2)Approved teacher teaching course(s) on foreign language(s) at a public or registered private primary or high school.
(3)Teacher teaching course(s) at a public or registered private experimental high school’s bilingual department or at bilingual school(s).
4.Full-time teacher at a short-term class registered for supplementary schooling in accordance with the Supplementary Education Act.
Ineligible Job Type 2: Foreign white-collar workers transferred to TW by an Chinese Company.
2.Director/manager/executive of a business invested in or set up by overseas Chinese or foreigner(s) with the authorization of the Government of the Republic of China.
From Instructions for Foreigners to Apply for Permanent Residency
Proof of financial assets or special skills and talents:
1. Anyone applying for permanent residence as the spouse of an R.O.C. (Taiwan) national shall present any of the following documents acknowledged by the National Immigration Agency: (1) Statement of income, taxation, chattel or real estate in Taiwan; (2) Statement issued by the employer to certify employment, or the applicant’s own statement in writing detailing job descriptions and incomes; (3) Certificate issued by the R.O.C. (Taiwan) government certifying that its holder is a professional or technician or has passed a technical test;[GOLD CARD?] (4) Other document that is sufficient to prove that the applicant is capable of supporting himself or herself or making a living. 2. Anyone applying for permanent residence with circumstances other than the one stated in the preceding subparagraph shall meet one of the following conditions: (1) Having an average monthly income in Taiwan in the previous year that is more than twice of the Monthly Minimum Wage promulgated by the Council of Labor Affairs;
*(3) Having a certificate issued by the ROC government that certify people with specialized professionalism, techniques or have passed a technical test. * [GOLD CARD?] (4) Other condition(s) recognized by the National Immigration Agency.
The foresaid periods shall not include the period of staying (residing) in the State by any of those aliens whose residence in Taiwan is permitted due to studies or employment in Taiwan as approved by authorities in charge of labor affairs or the field of their employment pursuant to Subparagraphs 8 to 10, Paragraph 1 of Article 46 of the Employment Service Act.
Marine fishing/netting work.
9.Household assistant and nursing work.
10.Workers designated by the Central Competent Authority in response to national major construction project(s) or economic/social development needs.
So, if the purpose of your ARC is not study or blue collar job, your years are counted.
I think it means licences for professional jobs.
if you mean your HK spouse cannot get her APRC, it is not because her company is Chinese. It is because she is not a foreigner.
Ok, let’s go step by step. Verify if correct or not.
Your wife has been hired by a company in Taiwan.
You have not yet been hired by anyone in Taiwan.
Your wife will get an ARC based on her job. You will get an ARC as a dependent.
As a dependent, you are not allowed to work. Verify.
Hence, you must find a job by yourself and get a separate ARC. Otherwise…
After 5 years, foreigners apply for an APRC, a permanent residence with open work rights. Your wife, being from HK, is under a different law. Now, if you get a job, in 5 years, you can get the APRC.
You can apply for a Gold Card if you fulfill the past income requirements. It is quite easy. Then you have many more open possibilities.
I would say you should not concern yourself at this moment with an APRC, but rather focus on what you will do when you get here. Your right of abode as a dependent is OK, but for work and staying longer, it would be advisable to cover other areas
The Gold Card is just an ARC, and AFAIK, they still look for some or all of these qualifications upon renewal. They aren’t going to simply let people in so they can regress to working at 711.
The APRC is, in my opinion, the APRC, like most permanent residence schemes is, in many ways a form of semi-citizenship. The APRC is better and has extremely few requirements to continue with.
You don’t need to renew APRC. Pension if you work. Free admission to national palace museum after 4:30pm. Triple stimulus voucher. For citizenship, the only benefit of APRC may be that you might need less documents when you apply.
Great to hear about free museum admission, but could anybody explain more about Freelancing income from a non TW company?
GC renewal might be easy, but it doesn’t seem guaranteed. Especially if I have to rely on much lower local salaries for income qualification.
I will likely find remote work for US & HK companies using my Gold Card before I can find decent TW work options.
Yes, we are interested in citizenship and/or a long to permanent stay in Taiwan. Of course we can’t predict how much we’d like living here. But, certainly we’d like to keep the option open.
Thanks. I don’t care much about the free admissions. Neither pension since I definitely won’t apply for citizenship and stay here till
I’m 70. (Plus alternate pension is already offered by my company while on ARC, which we get to take with us if we leave. ).
So for short term GC residents, renewal seems to be the only drawback isn’t it. ?
I’m not totally sure about #4, but it seems I’d need an employer based work permit. Based on replies to other posts I’ve made, I can’t even freelance remotely or for TW companies, unless I qualify for a Gold Card.
Yes, I’m trying to cover other areas. I teach a fairly specialized area so freelancing seems like a better option. I just want to look at keeping the door to APRC open.
Hmmm. Maybe I’m not asking the question very well. Apologies.
Let me try again, just focusing on one point…
While I reside in Taiwan, does freelance income I earn from a US or HK company count as proof that I have made more than twice the TW monthly minimum wage? Or will they only recognize income from Taiwanese companies for the citizenship threshold. (As I understand it, 2X the minimum wage)?
Assume I can legally freelance via a Gold Card or Self-Created Company.
Assume that my documentation of the income is in proper official order.
So IIUC, I should follow the logic to get my answer:
SINCE A) Permanent Residency specifically asks for a "Statement of income, taxation, chattel or real estate in Taiwan;"
AND B) The link you provided, Article 8 of the Income Tax Law will detail all the “income from sources in the ROC.” The wording is focused on what types of income are subject to tax collection.
THEN C) If Article 8 stipulates that freelancing for US/HK companies is subject to ROC taxation, it will also count as income towards an APRC in the NIA’s eyes.
All I need to do is find what article 8 says about US/HK freelance incomes, correct?
Fortunately Google Translate is very clear, so I can read through the document. But the legalese is hard to understand sometimes.