I am an overseas chinese descendant (華僑) that has been living in Taiwan for 11 years, 6 years studying, 1 gap-year and working for 4 years this July.
I am recently thinking about leaving my company and applying for gold card in the visual arts sector, the reason is I am really burned out in my company right now and would like to get out and do projects that I like more.
For the projects that I’ve done in my company are a number of government-subsidized projects, primarily focused on VR art projects, virtual music festivals, and game-engine-related productions. In addition, last year we participated in the Venice Film Festival, as well as several other domestic and international festivals.
I can’t actually apply for APRC because the salary in my company doesn’t actually reach double the minimum wage of Taiwan, that has been the situation in our company since I started working.
My questions are :
Would I qualify for Gold Card？
I know that the route that I chose doesn’t need minimum salary based on the website, but would they still check my taxes ? If yes, then would I still need to provide it or they can check it by themselves ?
My other route is to leave my current company, open my own company in the same field, and then hire myself as the PIC. Is this route better ?
I am also open to other suggestions, thank you everyone!
POssibly. There’s the field of Culture & Arts - you’ll need to fulfill one of the requirements:
You’ll need a minimum of NT$ 500k (I think…) capital to issue yourself a work ARC through your company. Also, Gold Card can give you an APRC after 3 years vs. 5 years on “regular” ARC.
Yeah I’ve looked into it before, I should probably state that I am asking anyone with similar experience’s opinion about this
I did look up into it before, and I am able to put 500k capital into it if I were to open my company, the thing is this year is my fifth year in Taiwan (July), but I’m not able to go through the normal way for APRC since I don’t have double the min. wage amount of salary in my current company. So if I were to open my own company, I can at least try to do it by myself.
Sorry if I was not clear enough, I am an Indonesian citizen with Chinese descendant, I think my great-great grandfather migrated there way back then. Taiwan actually classify people like me as Overseas Chinese, at least that’s what they did in my uni.
Does the job-seeking period reset my whole time for APRC ? I did that before because it’s pretty rare for 3D studios to take foreigner as employee since it needs a lot of administration and cost.
Why I did it now is because even if I have my 4 years counted (they changed the rules to 4 years if you have a bachelor degree from Taiwan uni), my salary isn’t eligible to apply for APRC.
Even if I open my own company, I would at least need to make double the minimum wage per month for one year, right?
If you’re burnt out, I wouldn’t recommending running a company in Taiwan. It’s a fairly frustrating and time consuming process that restricts your ability to take a break.
Investigate the required minimums – as a foreign national, you can’t necessarily pay yourself less than 2x minimum wage. You’ll need an accountant anyway if doing this - find one and ask
Certainly worth exploring if you do have an avenue towards official recognition as a ROC national. If you do, you won’t be able to obtain an APRC … but you might also be able to have a much easier life in Taiwan (administratively).
Gold Card in Culture category is very tough, unless you have an EGOT, especially for non-traditional media. That you have worked on government projects is helpful – please consider asking your government contacts for a recommendation (or advice).
