I’ll look into that, but probably it’s not an option. As I understand, you have to have good Chinese speaking ability to be naturalized, among other things.
you can take a written test, instead of an oral test. If renunciation of your current nationality is not a big issue, it is not such hard for you to do the naturalization.
I should have just said Chinese ability. Naturalization isn’t an option right now.
I have a question:
There’s a page on the Workforce Development Agency ^National Development Council* website that contains a mention of Article 16 of the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals, quoted below:
Google Translate translates the phrase 《放寬配偶及子女申請永久居留》, in boldface above, as “Relaxing spouse and children to apply for permanent residence.” Additionally, the title of the section of which the above quoted passage is a part is 《鬆綁父母配偶及子女停居留規定》, which Google Translate translates on the page as “loosening the parents’ spouse and children’s residence requirements.”
If the Chinese of the Instructions for Foreigners to Apply for Permanent Residency and the law that underpins those instructions, namely Article 16 of the Act for the Recruitment, etc., have the (b) meaning, that is, “Upon the elapse of five years, etc., the foreign professional can apply for permanent residency, but his dependents have to wait another five years,” then what was the situation before this loosening? In other words, if the (b) reading of Article 16 represents a relaxation of the rules, what was the earlier, strict version of the rules? Does anyone know?
*Corrections:
(1) I forgot to link to the Chinese text quoted above, and (2) I think the text comes from the National Development Council website, not the Workforce Development Agency website. Here’s the link:
I think the loosening is that they could apply at all, even 5 years later, and there are the possibilities of getting an APRC sooner if the spouse has $5 mil or a certain income.
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I just now remembered this; would the article linked below be an example of what it was like before?
Edited to add:
I made a mistake in my (a) and (b) statements, in that, as far as I can tell, neither the Instructions for Foreigners, etc., nor Article 16 of the Act for Recruitment, etc., mention a five-year requirement for the foreign professional (although I’m pretty sure that’s the usual process), but only for the dependents. As far as I know, that mistake doesn’t affect anything that we’ve discussed so far, but I thought I’d mention it, and I apologize for it.
Edited to add no. 2:
I was having a lot of trouble finding the Taipei Times article linked above until I stumbled on the link at the beginning of a thread here on Forumosa:
before, dependents are required to meet the financial requirement, no matter how long they are here as dependents of an APRC holder. Now, they are exempted from the financial requirement after they are here for 5 years as dependents of an APRC holder.
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No, that’s a different situation, although the laws for children of APRC reaching seniority have changed recently. I didn’t look at the regulation carefully when I scrolled by it, but I think it’s more flexible for them to stay and look for work.
Honestly, though, she graduated from college and spoke fluent Mandarin and Taiwanese. Get a job. You think I want to go to work in the morning?
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Thanks for the information!
I understand, but I’m an old bum who spent years avoiding and trying to avoid work, so I live in a glass house about that one. 
They had to clear the bar of 48k 37k salary, which is not very easy for new graduates from Taiwan and non English speaking countries, I think.
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Me too. At one time, I didn’t even need a job but kept one to stay here.
Wanting to work in dance doesn’t help much either.
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I summarised some here.
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Well, now I have my APRC (yea!) and what I hope is an open work permit. My card, which is titled “Work Permit for Foreigners” and not the open work permit I’ve always heard about, states “In accordance with Article 51 of the Employment Service Act.” I’ve found that act and it says this:
There are two things confusing me here. Am I a 2 or a 4, and what will my wife be when she gets and APRC in 5 years?
For newcomers to this topic, the foreign spousal dependent (my wife) of an APRC holder given after 5 years of continuous work/residency (me) can receive an APRC 5 years after the working spouse gets theirs. An exception is made for spouses of “skilled workers” which I think is the plum blossom card people, but not English teachers.
As for 2 or 4, I think I’m both. It seems important due to the paragraphs under the numbers. Specifically, “The foreign workers as referred to in subparagraphs 1, 3 and 4 of paragraph 1 of this article may, without their employers’ initiation, apply on their own initiatives to the Central Competent Authority for permits to engage in work in the Republic of China.”
Does that mean, despite holding this card, I still have to apply to “engage in work” and does that mean apply for a work permit? Is the only advantage that I don’t need the company to do it? Do I still have to have specific qualifications like a degree and experience? (This is assuming it’s not a job that otherwise needs permits like kindy work) And what if I want to start my own company without all the other restrictions ($300,000 in the bank and a certain amount of yearly revenue)? Do I have to apply for my own work permit?
My question really belongs in another thread, but I think I’m ok. My concern is with my wife She has never worked and isn’t qualified to work in anything a foreigner can do (I checked everything). The only possibility we hoped for is that she would get her APRC in 5 years and get an open work permit. If she gets her APRC in 5 years, she probably a 4. Does everything I asked about myself earlier then apply to her?
Our plan was to start a small business and she’d work for me She doesn’t have qualifications to get a work permit or we’d do that now.
This has been long and rambling, so let me make it short and quotable. I have an APRC and (I think) an open work permit. My wife can get an APRC in 5 years, not sure about an open work permit. If I start a restaurant in 5 years, could she legally work as a cook?
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yes, you and 5 years later your wife too are 4 in the article. And you should apply for your work permit by yourself, which is an open work permit, because with the permit you can do almost anything with the same qualifications with locals.
Iiuc, having an APRC is all the requirement to get an open work permit, at least for adults.
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Ok, so this card I got from MOL which it titled “Work Permit for Foreigners” (In accordance with Article 51 of the Employment Service Act) IS the “permits to engage in work” mentioned in the article? I’m confused by the plural. I just need one, right? I don’t need one for each job, assuming I have 2 jobs, or a new one if I change jobs. I thought I knew all this until I read the law, and now I feel like I’m a newbie.
Yes, that is the open work permit, and you just need the one.
Great, I can work at 7-11 like I always wanted.
So, what’s the deal with 2?
2 is just exempted from Paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 46, Article 47, Article 52, Paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 53, Subparagraph 5 of Article 57, Subparagraph 4 of Article 72 and Article 74, and the employment security fees.
In addition to the exemptions, 1,3,4 can get open work permit.
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I’ll have to look up what those exceptions are one by one, and probably get even more confused. It sounds like a 2 is qualified to get an APRC so I don’t know what the difference is. Maybe it’s for migrant workers.
the difference is just having APRC or not.
I’m 2, and exempted from those requirements, but haven’t got APRC so no open work permit.
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