Taiwan and the US do not (yet) have a tax treaty, so you would likely be taxed twice after you establish residency in Taiwan by staying legally over 183 days. But you can qualify for FTE or FEIE (google it or consult a tax attorney). The issues are covered in a lot of other topics on Forumosa.
Yes
Tax complications like JohnTN mentioned, though mainly for your employer. Be sure your employer approves of this.
At the moment there is no renewal. Simply reapply under the same original conditions. We should start to see some people begin doing this soon, but as of yet I don’t believe anyone has reported about it. So if you no longer meet the original requirements of the application then you theoretically will not be eligible for a second gold card. OTOH, there is no reason to worry about “not actually working for a Taiwanese employer.”
There is no formal treaty, but as with all countries without a formal treaty the US still allows you to apply tax credits. So any tax amount you pay in another country will be deducted from what you owe the IRS. This is in addition to FEIE and FHE.
1 Like
Has anyone had this problem?
“Applicants who have had the nationality of Mainland China, please provide proof that they have lived in the U.S. for more than 4 years in the old U.S. passport, and also provide documents to prove that the applicant has not returned to Mainland China for more than 30 days each time within 4 years from the day after arrival in the U.S. For example, a certificate of entry and exit records from Mainland China or the date stamp of entry and exit from China stamped on the passport page can be provided. In addition, applicants are requested to clearly list the dates of entry and exit from mainland China, and sign to indicate that they have lived in the United States for more than four years, and each time they have lived in China for four years, they have not returned to mainland China for more than 30 days.”
I was born in Mainland China, and immigrated to the US with my family at a very young age in 1995. The first time my family went back to China to visit was 2004-ish, then again in 2016, and most recently I spent 2 months in 2018 in Shanghai taking Mandarin classes. From that translated quote, I think I still qualify – I have lived in the US for more than 4 years, and in the first 4 years after moving to America I have not spent any time in Mainland China.
I have no idea how to prove this though. My current US passport was issued in 2011, but of course one can have US citizenship without living in the US. I can also show the dates in 2018 and 2016 I entered and exited China, but have no recollection of 2004 and no way to prove it. I have an apartment lease signed in 2013, but not much else. In my experience utility bills don’t get archived online that far.
Has anyone encountered something like this? Do you have any advice for me?
Update:
I went back last Friday and they handed me a “document authenticated” receipt for the notarized copy that I originally brought in…so, I’m left wondering, what’s the point of a notary if they need to authenticate that too? SMH
Let this be a forewarning for those that encounter this situation while at your local TECO.
Yes I went through this same issue. If you’re using Google translate, there’s lots of mistakes. For example they want you to document all stays under 30 days in china not the other way around. I had to provide my previous expired passport. Maybe you can call their approver and ask about your situation.
I recently applied for the Gold Card and received a passport submission notice. The consulate office where I live is telling me that I have to go in for an interview as well. Did anyone have to do this? What kind of questions do they ask? I didn’t see others have to go through this process online.
I did not have an interview at the LA TECO, just had to bring them my passport along with the form.
1 Like
Oh awesome, thank you for the info. I thought that I don’t have my old US passport anymore – I thought they took it when you got a new one? – but I will check. How do I find the number of the approver so I can call them? Last night I called Mr. Huang and he transferred me to somewhere, and I ended up being transferred 4-5 times, ending up at a number that didn’t pick up.
You can call the number on the niasys email, it’s not at the Mr Huang stage yet, they can transfer you to the application reviewer:
請洽詢Contact Taiwan(https://www.contacttaiwan.tw)、撥打+886-2-2311-2031
If your passport was issued 9 years ago that seems enough proof and maybe you just need to document entries into china.
Looks like there are some interesting proposed changes to the gold card: https://foreigntalentact.ndc.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=88EDAE1D4C3C77D7&s=C788C1DD74906B8A (in Chinese)
- Maximum of 1 year extension for the gold card (currently it cannot be renewed)
- No more 6-month waiting period for healthcare
6 Likes
Thanks for posting @gaben!
To me it looks like they are pulling out some of the gold card specific changes that were proposed in the New Economic Immigration Act and updating the Foreign Talent Act instead. It’s an interesting move, but I think it may result in a higher chance of these benefits coming to Gold Card holders sooner.
4 Likes
Awesome! Any mention of changing APRC to 3 years?
放寬外國專業人才取得永久居留條件為合法連續居留五年、平
均每年居住一百八十三日以上，並縮短外國特定專業人才申請
永久居留之年限至三年，以及在我國就讀大學校院碩士以上學
位者，就學部分期間得計算納入連續居留期間。（修正條文第
十四條
Looks like it. In addition, your time studying at a master’s or doctorate program counts toward the 3 years.
2 Likes
EDIT: never mind, that seems to be a blip for a few minutes.
I’m on hold now, it seems.
請洽詢Contact Taiwan(https://www.contacttaiwan.tw )、撥打+886-2-2311-2031
Thank you so much for your help.
That number is not working for me – I get a recorded message saying “The number you are calling is being repaired”. Does anyone know of a more up-to-date number that’s not as serious as calling Mr. Huang?
Try +011 886223112031 if you’re calling from the US
It seems that every Rep Office is doing the process in its own way. When I contacted Rome TRO, I said that (based on the experiences that I read here from Singapore like @dtan) the process should just be a passport verification, but the officer kept repeating a mysterious “it’s much more than that”, “it will take as long as it takes”, etc. Looking forward to next Monday so I can update you guys as well.
They are using these three terms: “foreign professional” (外國專業人才), “special foreign professional” (外國特定專業人才), “excellent foreign professional” (外國高級專業人才), but I am not clear on the difference. Apparently, only second and third would be eligible for the 3 years instead of 5 and for joining NHI immediately. 
Gold Card = Foreign Special Professional, the second one.
3 Likes
How do you change your pickup location? My friend applied for the card overseas, but she entered the country with the temporary residence printout.
Okay, got through! I got transferred a couple of times, so if anyone’s also dealing with this problem, the number to call is +886 2 2388 9393 ext 2361.
jimbob132 was right; they wanted me to document entries into China. I didn’t 100% understand what they were saying, due to lack of fluency, so to be safe I took pictures of every visa page in my passport to show that the trips I mentioned were the only trips I took.
They didn’t tell me to dig up my expired passport to find previous trips; I think it’s because my passport is from 2011 the trips I took were in 2016 and 2018 (i.e., more than 4 years later), but again I can’t be certain.
2 Likes