The point of the gold card is that you can come here and get a feel for the place while still maybe receiving overseas income. They aren’t asking you to emigrate, especially if it doesn’t suit you.
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If you read closely the law and all the promotional material of the GC, that actually not the purpose.
They made it to encourage immigration for certain industries and professional areas lowering the fuss on companies for work permits and also on the immigrant who can keep working for foreign companies while here and start looking for TW employment.
Then didn’t really go as expected, since the salaries are quite low for “highly skilled” special foreign professionals.
In my instance I will keep working as long as possible for my HK employer, but we are actually going to expand here eventually. When the time to take separate ways will come, then is going to be challenging to find TW employers willing to provide the same pay I’m having now.
Well, I know a bit more about the history of it, so have to correct you. It might have bolted other things on to it afterwards or stuff got lost in translation, but the original purpose is what I said
You call yourself “nomadcapitalist” and think you have to spend this kind of $$$ in Taiwan? Unless you live in the middle of nowhere, you don’t need a car. Man oh man, this is funny.
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Do you know how forums work? If not why are you here?
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As someone else said, you’re giving misinformation.
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None of the places I have rented in America have ever asked for 3 months upfront. The most is 2 with 1 being the first months rent
I don’t expect people from the states to come here in droves for the GC. That’s ridiculous. But GC can help retain local international graduates and attract talent from east and south Europe. That’s enough. More than enough for now. If and when Taiwan is rich enough to be a real alternative to the US or Singapore then GC program should try to accommodate them. As is even if they come they will be disappointed.
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Yeah they should chill out a bit. Taiwan is just like this
That’s fine, but on your own dime only (Asking the government to give you a grant is laughable). Nobody owes you your standard of living, and it’s your decision to move to Taiwan. If you did not do your research and did not come with enough to cover your upfront cost, it’s on you.
Conservatively, you should have enough money before moving to another country. Also, if a landlord asks for 3 months’ rent up front in addition to two months deposit, it would better be a great deal or an extremely desirable place. Personally I’d just walk away.
Which countries would allow you to open a bank account and buy a car without an address? Certainly not the multiple states I have lived in the US.
Also, the people that complain about having to pay fees for ATM withdrawals using their foreign cards. Again, do your research before moving abroad. I have never paid ATM fees in any country.
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In what world is Taipei to Zuoying commuting? That’s a road trip. If you are worried about the cost, take a cheap long distance bus or train. Or just rent a car for the trip. If it’s business related, that should be a business expense.
Back on topic. The GC for me gave me the opportunity to live in Taiwan, a place I’ve loved since my first trip in 2011.
I don’t work for a Taiwan employer, so maybe not the original intended audience of the GC. But I pay higher taxes than most taiwanese I know and work requires visits to higher institutions on behalf of my employer overseas. But then again, I just deduct from US taxes so it evens out.
I came with $0 cash because going to an ATM with no fees is stupid easy to find. Taxis, Airbnb, many restaurants accept credit card or apple/google pay. Landlords that asked for more than 3 months I just said no and found other places. There’s tons of them on 591.
For address, one can put any address on original application if that worried… Or do what many do at first… use your Airbnb address once here for first weeks. Once you find a new place, it’s free and easy to change the address. Gold card also allows you to move freely, so even less bureaucracy if changing. When living in china I had to go to local police station and prove I lived there. In US I need to provide evidence of living at an address also.
Heck, I was even able to get a local license due to recriprocity. Goes back to doing research before arriving.and getting license authenticated when at TECO.
For me, GC is great. Taiwan has many areas it can improve on (online banks for foreigners for one). If having to work in a taiwanese company 9-5 I probably wouldn’t do it. Long term, Taiwan probably isn’t a permanent home. But I’m happy to support them while I am living happily here.
For those who are the high talent GC holders that the government is hoping to entice, one might imagine the carpet redder than it actually is. Especially if not knowing Chinese or has some connection/affinity to taiwan. There will be challenges, but many can either be overcome or look over them.
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The foreigners saying that the idea of the gold card was to get talented foreigners into Taiwan companies are wrong. If people come here and get money from overseas, the government really don’t care, I don’t know why people see that as a failure of the program.
It’s a narrative they have made themselves. Just like don’t take things so serious la .
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If people apply and get a GC they are not like most expats on a big company dime, paying for everything like housing, school, entertainment (yes, some include memberships to exclusive clubs), travel. Foreign kids should go to expensive international schools probably, that’s how government people think.
I have only ever paid 2 months safety deposit and then just pay the month bu month normal rent. It is weird to chard 3 months advance…maybe this is an apartment complex thing? Bonkers, but if you dont pay rent for 3 months then just continue on, so be it.
Nah, they clarified above - they actually asked to pay 3 months in advance for a discount on the rent, so it was kind of a silly assertion that this is standard practice. 
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Ahh, cheers. I missed that.
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You are doing the math wrong if you think driving costs about the same as taking public transport. Car ownership in Taiwan costs at minimum $10K per month, not counting the cost of the vehicle itself - you need to factor in costs for parking, taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc. beside the fuel cost. If you have a family with children, then it makes sense, but driving is definitely a luxury, not a necessity in Taipei.
And they think the government should pay for that just because they are a GC holder… 
I doubt that most GC holders are highly skilled. Most middle-class in the US would meet the NT$160K/month income threshold in the Economy category.
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Good post but not having cash always makes me nervous. I have had to bail out colleagues and friends when they dont have cash on them a few times.
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Granted I am way out of the loop on using foreign debit cards. but is it really that easy to find no fee atms here? Is this perhaps related to the country the foreign account.is in?
I remember getting dinged on both ends when.i first came here with my canadian accounts. RBC, TD and a few smaller credit unions in Canada. The fees coupled with Canadian limits on withdrawals was crippling when I first moved broke as shit. So much so I just flat out switched to opening a Bank of Taiwan account here and having someone transfer funds from the US (Canada was absurdly expensive to send funds compared to the US).
I am interested to know how it actually works here now, it would be nice to have 24/7 access to money from Canada without bothering friends or family to waste time in banks.
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might be easier with some American banks, otherwise not easy at all I guess. Banks are masters at adding hidden fees aswell e.g. currency exchange rates.
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It does seem for us going through the US is insanely easier (than canada at least).
Anyone here talking about fee free atm doing this with non US accounts?