Hi all. I think I can qualify for either of these, but I’m not 100% on the Gold Card. Can you help me decide which to apply for?
For the Entrepreneur Visa it seems like you basically just need to rent a coworking space… or another qualifier is forming a business entity with a set amount of capital, so I can do either of these.
For the Gold Card:
I own a company that I founded. It’s an online ad/video company, and I develop the tech, so I think I could apply under the “science or technology” regulation. The visafinder site though tells me to include proof of salary, and my salary is only $12k/yr (USD), even though my company revenue is ~$1M/yr. The company actually loses money atm so my income is only personal investments. I’ve read conflicting info on different sites on whether the income requirement is actually a requirement.
I do not have any degree or certification. The “Professional Stream” says to include: copies of patent certificates, technology licensing contracts or other proof of technical skill copies of major domestic or international awards you have received.
I’m not quite sure how I could prove I handle the tech/development. And the company has won awards, but I’m not sure what they consider good enough.
Visafinder says I may be eligible under Economics, if I select that I’m an Executive with experience in IT. This only requires proof of employment and a cover letter explaining my experience.
Should I just play it safe and apply for the Entrepreneur Visa? I’m not as worried about the 1 year vs 3 year stay or other benefits, as I’m not sure yet on living there beyond a few months.
For the Entrepreneur Visa, I had seen a recommendation to rent coworking at Futureward, but seems they have a backlog now.
And for the capital requirement option for qualifying, I see conflicting info – I have read it’s easy to start a new company and qualify in this way, but reading the official list of requirements I don’t see this. It looks like it has to be venture capital investment not your own money.
Why don’t you consider setting up a branch or representative office for your company here? The capital requirements for a branch office are minimal (with no requirement that the capital come from a particular type of investor) and a representative office has no capital requirements at all (although it’s much more limited in what it’s permitted to do). The process is straightforward and if you tick all of the boxes, you’re basically guaranteed to have a successful outcome.
With $12,000/year in salary income, you won’t qualify for an income-based Gold Card (Economics category) no matter how much revenue your company has.
The Entrepreneur Visa has a lot more strings attached and seems to be subject to more discretion on the part of the authorities. Therefore IMO it doesn’t make as much sense for someone who already has an operating company and could easily set up a branch or representative office.
Thanks RBE. This process seems a bit more involved? To set up the branch and then get a work visa etc. Would definitely need a CPA to help. I’m not sure how long I will stay in Taiwan – I’m giving myself three months to see how I like it.
Gold card seems like the best and easiest route if I qualify. The official website says for science & tech that a salary requirement is only one way. Anyone know how difficult it is to get approved based on merit?
It’s actually quite a straightforward process, which basically consists of 5 steps:
Set up the branch.
Complete the transactions required to meet the capital requirements.
Get a work permit to employ yourself as the branch manager.
Get your visa so you can enter the country.
Apply for your ARC after you arrive.
If you have a local friend, that might very well be enough. But you can certainly pay a firm to help you. They’re overpriced IMO (because you’ll see how straightforward the process is as you’re doing it) but if you don’t have a tolerance for any possible hassles, it’s not a big deal.
A merit-based Gold Card seems out of reach for most, which is why the salary-based Economy category is the one for which most Gold Cards have been issued.
The number of Entrepreneur Visas issued is shockingly low.
It’s not as easy as getting a co-working space. From what I’ve heard, you have to put together documentation (similar to a business plan) and they actually do review it carefully to assess whether they think the business proposed is viable. In other words, it’s not at all a rubber stamp.
If you go the Entrepreneur Visa by venture capital investment route, getting all the documents to prove that you received an investment and that the investors are legit sounds like it would be a lot more effort that simply proving that your company has paid-in capital of at least $500,000 NT (the requirement to get a work permit for a branch office as a foreigner).
In any case, good luck whichever route you choose!
If the guide to forming a branch, that I posted in my previous reply, is accurate, there’s no way I can handle that alone. I’d have to research every step and figure out how to file, get a bank account, an office address, tax registration, whatever a company chop is, etc. Is there another guide somewhere? One company that lists pricing for them to handle it is almost $5k US, which rules that out.
btw the guide I linked to says that the branch manager needs to go to Taiwan to open the bank account, before the branch setup is actually completed. Might be an issue.
I can’t go the vc investment route.
Do you recall any posts here on someone actually getting the Gold Card or Entrepreneur Visa based on merit? My company did reach the Inc 500 as one of the fastest growing in America, plus I received something called an empact100 award. Not sure if they would recognize these, and these are more economic in nature than related to the technology aspect.
Not likely. Immigration officers interpret the laws literally and the laws specify what the requirements are (income, qualifications, funding, etc.). If you don’t meet those requirements you’re out of luck, regardless of how innovative and fast-growing your business is.
No of course, but one of the ways to qualify for the Entrepreneur Visa is this vague bit:
“The applicant possesses such other innovation capability as may be specified or recommended by the central competent authority.”
Or for the gold card:
“Those with unique talents or outstanding R&D ability … in software”
“Those who have special expertise or perform science and technology research and development or management work at institutions of science and technology, and whose distinctive abilities are very uncommon both in Taiwan and abroad.”
Any time you see this it’s a red flag. That means you need either the MOST or MOEA to provide recommendation, and this is very difficult to get. They’re quite old-school in what they’re looking for: patents, international awards, and peer-reviewed publications.
I honestly think the rep office is the easiest way to get started. If you have a friend who can speak Chinese the counter staff at MOEA are very helpful and will explain exactly what needs to be done.
After reading through the looong gold card thread, I did see two people who got approved under Tech based on merit, and they didn’t have patents or anything crazy like that. But others got denied, so it does seem difficult.
The most interesting thing I read was that someone was approved under Economy by getting them to accept their business income (K-1) in place of salary (W2).
I wonder what the odds are of this happening again…
I think my best bet is to apply under Economy, with business income, and then as a backup hope they would approve me in that category under “Those recognized by the relevant central competent authority as outstanding professional talents”, based on running a successful business that has clients globally.
To be frank, I think you’d be wasting time with business income.
A K-1 is used by a partnership or S corp to report an owner’s share of the business earnings or losses. Since partnerships and S corps are pass-through entities, earnings are taxable income to their partners/shareholders. If you have a C corporation with earnings, the earnings aren’t your personal earnings, they’re the company’s. You have to be paid a salary or given dividend distributions before you have income as an individual.
I have a PhD in Economics (submitted diploma), with 30+ peer-reviewed papers (submitted CV), was visiting faculty at a university in Taiwan a few years back, and run an economic consultancy with offices in US, Taiwan, and Shanghai.
Sounds like this person easily could have been approved based on merit, not salary. Income isn’t the only qualifier for the Economics category.
I have an S-Corp and receive a K-1
But yeah his credentials are pretty good as well. I pm’d him to see if he applied based on salary or merit. But I assume they will consider both though you choose one
Ok but if you have an S corp and receive a K-1, but your W2 shows $12,000 in annual salary and K-1 shows a loss rather than income, I don’t see how that helps with the Gold Card on the income basis.
I suspect your situation is not very common and unfortunately, uncommon situations aren’t always easy for government office workers to deal with here (my impression). In theory, you could argue that you met the requirement since I believe you just need to show an income above the threshold amount within the past 3 years.
I’d strongly suggest you talk with a local CPA who can evaluate your situation and provide guidance about how to package/present your financials, otherwise you’ll just have to take your chances and hope for the best.
copies of patent certificates, technology licensing contracts or other proof of technical skill
