A heads-up to those like me that received the Gold Card and are about to fly over. While COVID testing is not required by Taiwan for our category as of now, keep in mind that the airline that you choose and/or the airport that you are going to transit at might ask for it. I will be flying THY and was told today that I will need a negative COVID swab done max 72 hours earlier to be admitted to Istanbul airport for transit.
If she were your wife it should have been possible to bring her in as a dependant, but in your case she is just a tourist to NIA and this category is not allowed in yet.
@boaz25 I thought this might be an issue. Glad to learn that all the trouble I went through to avoid a third country was a good idea.
Is this only the case if you donāt have the ARC in hand and using the printed out paper? Iāve never had issues with the physical ARC card
Oh wow, thanks for the heads-up. My plan was also to fly via Istanbulā¦ Who told you about the PCR test requirement for transit?
I googled a bit, but on the Turkish Airlines site that I found it does not mention that requirement, neither does it on the airportās website.
Did the airline write you an email?
Safe trip!
Hello everyone, thanks for sharing information here, this is very helpful.
Here is the status of my application.
9/22 Submitted online application (salary over 130k)
9/24 Status changed to : Professional Review by Workforce Development Agency
As I was getting impatient I gave a phone call to Mr Huang this morning. He looked up my file and told me that I should get a feedback within one or two daysā¦
He gave this answer and then hung up on me. If you call him make sure to get straight to the point 
Iāve been hearing that the number of applications has increased and that things are getting slower, but Iām not sure to what extend this is true?
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Mr Huang probably gets a few hundred calls a week about this
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Does anyone have experience with getting their spouse and children in? My Gold Card just got approved (yay!) and is en route to the LA TECO office. My understanding is that I need to apply for a residency visa for my wife and our kids (our kids are all minors) ā is that correct?
If so, I tried filling out the General Visa Application online on the BOCA website, but Iām not sure what to select for āPurpose of Travelā. If I select āJoining Family (Foreign Spouses)ā, I get a popup saying that Iām required to have a āTaiwan Household Registration certificateā (which I understand to be different than the Gold Card/ARC?)
Has anyone gone thru this process before ā and if so, what did you select for āPurpose of Travelā?
Thanks in advance for any insight that anyone may have!
Iām wondering the same thing about the Quarantine System for Entry site.
Iām not sure which of these is appropriate. I am arriving with a 3-year Gold Card and planning to settle. I donāt have a job yet, but I will be seeking work soon after arrival. Does that mean back (new) home, employment, or other?
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I posted this on another topic earlier - if you want to check out the latest COVID restrictions on airports, transit and entry, I suggest using timatic:
timatic (delta): https://www.timaticweb2.com/integration/external.php?ref=b25123445626e872424db944237b61da
Hereās a UI to quickly scan restrictions: https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/world.php
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I just chose āOtherā. No one asked about any further details.
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Following the message I posted here yesterday, I received an email saying that I qualify for the gold card, but that they need a stamped version of the document I had provided.
My friend who got his gold card a few months ago told me that based on his experience, once I send the new document, Iām likely to wait for one month before getting to the next step.
Should I try to call Mr Huang again to try to speed up the process? (Iām kind of in a hurryā¦)
Good to know, thank you! In fact I was not aware that we need to fill out a form prior to arrival. I read the CDC FAQ and now found that requirement in the answer on question 5. But I guess nothing else required?
Thanks for the link! Iām not sure if for some reason Iām not properly using the website, but I canāt find Taiwan in the list and I also do not find the PCR test requirement for Istanbul Oo
I donāt know if you can speed up the process, but I applied for my Gold Card on 11th of September 2020, it was eventually approved around 1 month later, but Iām still waiting for it to arrive here in Germany (will post my complete timeline when itās done). So, I think the āwait for one monthā statement is very realistic at this moment.
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I started having the same doubt as you, actually. I was told about the requirement over the phone (my friend works at a travel agency so she called their dedicated call centre which should be more reliable), but as you say I was also not able to confirm it anywhere online. I will visit the airport tonight before the weekly flight leaves to check with the ground staff in person and update here 
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Itās supposed to be a requirement by Istanbul airport, so regardless of your destination, airline or visa type. But I need to double-check it tonight.
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Mine arrived just now at Rome TRO. Quite fast, actually, considering that it was allegedly shipped out of Taiwan on 6 October 
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Let me update. The information that I had received from THY was wrong. I insisted on an e-mail reply (God bless written proofs 
) from Istanbul airport, which confirmed that no test result needs to be produced upon departure. For general knowledge, Istanbul has created a COVID testing facility within the terminal where they might force you to get tested (they didnāt use that term but yea not a āsir, would you mindā kind of situation) if they detect suspicious symptoms. This facility can also be accessed by anyone who wishes to be tested, as long as you have a layover of at least 6 hours. The price is quite competitive (33 USD), actually, at least compared to Italy.
Apologies for the false alarm, but just keep this possibility in mind for your future flights and double-check with airline and airport. Better safe than sorry 
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Thanks a lot for checking and letting us now. Safe trip!
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Hi @Taiwanyear, congrats on getting your Gold Card! I am also looking to do something similar. Go to Taiwan using a visa, and then apply for the Gold Card while I am there.
One question, how do you apply for the ā60-day special entry visaā? Is that a business visa? I couldnāt seem to find more info about it.
If I go to the BOCA website, the closest I can find is the āGeneral Visa Applicationā:
https://visawebapp.boca.gov.tw/BOCA_EVISA/home.do
Is that the correct link to apply?
On a related note, once I get my Gold Card ā¦ do you know what I need to do to bring my spouse over? Can I apply for a visa for her while I am in Taiwan and she is outside of Taiwan?
Thanks in advance for any help you can give.