Help: I have two questions about Taiwan's APRC

Work Working in Taiwan
1

Found these two passages on the gov’s website::

Where a foreign professional, foreign special professional, or foreign senior professional, or their spouse, minor child, or child over the age of majority who is unable to live independently due to physical or mental disability, after having obtained approval for permanent residence from the NIA, leaves the State for more than five years without re-entering, the NIA may revoke their permanent residence permit and cancel their Alien Permanent Resident Certificate.

Q8. If I earn a degree in Taiwan, can that time be counted towards permanent residency?
A8. For Foreign Special Professional (including Gold Card holders), a Doctoral Degree Certificate issued by a Taiwanese institution can count towards 1 year of your residency. In other words, a Gold Card holder with a Doctorate Degree (Ph.D.) in Taiwan can apply for permanent residency earliest after residing in Taiwan for 2 years. In addition, for the Foreign Professional, a Doctorate Degree (Ph.D.) in Taiwan can count towards 2 years and a Master Degree can count towards 1 year of your residency.

Am I considered a (regular) foreign professional? I got my Master’s degree from a Taiwanese university (not from the top schools though) and now I’m working as a white-collared employee in Taiwan.

Does that mean that:

  1. I “only” need to work for 4 years to get an APRC (instead of 5 years)? And does it need to be in the same company? And if I can switch jobs, I assume any gaps between the jobs don’t count?
  2. I need to go back to Taiwan for one day every 5 years to maintain my APRC status?

Thanks guys!

2

Actual experience in New Taipei office back in 2015, No, you must provide 5 years of tax receipt showing you are working and paying tax as a professional.

I was told 6 months gap with ARC extension is OK.

Your mileage may vary if you apply in different office. Different officers may have different discretions and their own judgement of the written regulations.

You can apply for freezing the 5 years countdown if needed, after getting APRC. Not sure whether online or paper application though.

3

Yes
And
Yes

1 Like
4

that is because the rule including part of phd or ms years did not exist back in 2015.

1 Like