congrats on it!
I’m still waiting for MOC’s response
gonna call them next week again. am calling them every week to check on answers
I’m still waiting to receive the “FedEx” mailer with my card in it…I mailed them the money order 10 days ago. That seems…a long time for an overnight service. In a place where mail delivery would have been a 1 day thing anyway.
Hehe… are you applying US efficiency norms to anything involving Taiwanese Government agencies ? 
it’s hit or miss , sometimes it’s great , sometimes not so great . Ease yourself in gently back to Taiwan 
Have no idea what this means. US is so inefficient, it takes months or years (yes, years) to do anything related to immigration. Is it a joke?
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Anyone else received an email like this today?
就業金卡頒發暨交流茶會
邀請函
敬啟者
「外國專業人才延攬及僱用法」已於107年正式施行，為我國延攬人才之重要里程碑，除放寬外國專業人才來臺簽證、工作、居留相關規定，並優化保險、租稅、退休等待遇，另為延攬我國所需之外國特定專業人才，推出結合工作、簽證、居留、重入國許可等四証合一之「就業金卡」，持卡者除不需透過雇主申請，可自由尋職及轉換工作外，亦享有首次來臺租稅減免等優惠措施。
為加強宣傳外國人才專法之施行成效，本會規劃於本年舉辦「就業金卡頒發暨交流茶會」(議程詳附件)，邀請各就業金卡持卡人及擬核發者共同出席，並請相關部會首長、駐華外國機構、外國商會及媒體記者等一同與會，以表達我國熱烈歡迎之意，期望透過本次茶會意見交流，瞭解持卡人取得就業金卡後對生活、工作、居留所增加之便利性，以及目前仍遭遇之問題或其他精進建議，俾利做為後續政策調整之參據。
由於您已獲准並取得「就業金卡」，為本茶會亟欲邀請之貴賓，竭誠邀請您撥冗蒞臨，共同分享我國留才攬才政策之實績。懇請於信件收悉後10日內回覆(本案承辦人：廖怡婷，TEL：02-23165401；EMAIL：rainiemily@ndc.gov.tw)是否出席。
順祝
吉祥如意！
國家發展委員會 敬邀
Employment Gold Card Issuance Ceremony and Reception
Invitation Letter
Dear Employment Gold Card Holder,
The Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals officially entered into effect on February 8, 2018, marking a milestone in Taiwan’s talent recruitment. In addition to relaxing visa, employment and residency regulations for foreign professionals, and enhancing their insurance, tax, and retirement treatment, the Foreign Professionals Act established a 4-in-1 “Employment Gold Card” that combines work permit, resident visa, ARC and re-entry permit, to attract foreign special professionals needed for Taiwan’s development. Employment Gold Card holders can freely seek or change employment without needing to apply through an employer, and enjoy other benefits such as paying less tax upon first-time approval to work in Taiwan.
To boost publicity of how the Act is being put into effect, the NDC will hold an Employment Gold Card Issuance Ceremony and Reception on October 4, 2018 (agenda as attached). We earnestly invite all Employment Gold Card holders to attend this gathering together with those who are to be issued with cards. We are also inviting attendance from foreign embassies, representative offices and chambers of commerce, as well as by the heads of related government departments and members of the media. By providing an opportunity for exchange of views among all concerned, we hope to gain a better understanding of the value of these cards to their holders as well as any problems that still need to be addressed, and to gather suggestions as to how we might be able to improve the effectiveness of our talent recruitment policy in the future.
Since you have already obtained the Employment Gold Card, we sincerely hope you can join this gathering to share your experience of this concrete result of Taiwan’s talent recruitment and retention policy. To facilitate the arrangements, please let us know whether or not you will be able to attend. We thank you to RSVP within 10 days of receiving this letter, to Ms. Liao by phone to 02-2316-5401 or email to rainiemily@ndc.gov.tw.
Yours sincerely,
National Development Council
Yep. Might stop by as I will actually be in Taiwan at that point.
I’d be interested too in knowing what people are doing with the gold card open work permit. Are people working in Taiwan for local companies? Freelance or self-employed? Working in Taiwan for companies located overseas?
Can gold card holders actually be self-employed?
I mean, technically it is an open work permit for the duration of the card therefore it certainly is possible and legal, but as I have seen from various news releases and articles, the purpose of the gold card is to allow holders to work for local companies and/or startups that may not otherwise have qualified to hire foreign talent, thereby boosting Taiwan’s economy etc…
Taken in that context, if someone were to apply and get approved for the gold card and be self-employed for the entire duration of the card, would he qualify for reapplication or be able to apply for an APRC when the time comes?
Can we do a roll call to see who’s actually got the card? I gave up after being fed up with the constantly changing goal posts, unclear requirements, and poor UI
Regarding the question on who has the Gold Card:
Official numbers as of July 31:
Residence
Permanent residents: 14,448
Permanent residents under age 15: 21
Work permits
Foreign professionals: 30,018
Special foreign professionals: 44
Freelance artists: 11
Work permits issued to adult children: 19
The media reported in mid-August that 68 Employment Gold Cards had been issued. That means that there are now at least 68 special foreign professionals.
As for the question of receiving an APRC the New Economic Immigration Bill proposes lowering the residence requirement for permanent residence from five years to three for special foreign professionals.
Although i’m unsure of the requirements for this.
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Wait a second – no Senior FP’s?
I guess not… as of July 31st anyway.
Forward Taiwan provided these statistics. They promote immigration reform.
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For those who read chinese
The number comes from statistics page of ministry of labor.
https://statfy.mol.gov.tw/statistic_DB.aspx
Under 外籍工作者
外國專業人員有效聘僱許可人次
https://statdb.mol.gov.tw/evta/jspProxy.aspx?sys=100&kind=10&type=1&funid=wqrymenu2&cparm1=wq06&rdm=jjKrnap9
外國專業人才延攬及僱用
http://statdb.mol.gov.tw/evta/jspProxy.aspx?sys=100&kind=10&type=1&funid=wq19
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still a no go for mine
I dunno how am I going to go around it.
I dunno how can I going to go past the requirements
I just saw it today. It ended up in my SPAM folder somehow.
I would love to go but it will cost me a return HSR ticket and I doubt they will reimburse. Anyone else going ?
I’ll be there
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Anything people would like to talk about? I believe the end goal of that gold card is to help Taiwanese economy, but I guess someone new in that country could take months to figure out his/her next step?
- I was thinking to have easier access to some gov resources, that could help/encourage entrepreneurship, or understand better where is Taiwan at?
- Also, I didn’t see any decent job boards or networking opportunities (saw that one that do not look really convincing). Something like a newsletter you could opt-out/opt-in anytime could be great!
Got my gold card recently too! Overall I’d say it is a remarkably easy process if you fit in the stated criteria. The contacts on the websites mentioned above were responsive to questions and doubts. There are some rough edges but I’ve had much worse experience with residency processes in other countries. Looking forward to a new chapter of life here!
On the application form, be sure to put your TW address in Chinese. It’s not obvious, and you don’t have to fill anything else in Chinese, but they’ll send it back for modification if you try to input your address in English.
I applied via the Technology route. My application was in review for 24 days before they asked for my passport. Dropped it off then picked up my passport 7 days later, and the gold card was ready the following day.
Regarding my earlier questions about spouse eligibility for residency: spouses of foreign resident ARC holders (including Gold Card holders) can apply for residency on basis of marriage (this is not new). But take note of the requirements, which include having your marriage certificate legalized by the appropriate TW embassy, and also your spouse must enter the country on a visa (unlike the gold card, you may struggle to convert convert your spouse’s visa-free entry to ARC). It looks like they are going to improve this though, as the new draft immigration bill posted above addresses this point specifically, allowing spouse visa-free entry to be converted to Resident Visa without leaving the country, which then allows you to apply for an ARC.
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I’ve also received mine (three days before my departure date, but as long as it’s on this side of the line and not the other one…and it seems that it was the fault of the US Postal Service, not the TECO office, for the most part).
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The appeal was denied?