I think the point was that someone got a gold card then ended up working as an English teacher. They wouldn’t have qualified on the basis of being an English teacher, so must have met one of the requirements, like salary, PhD, etc.
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I think people in this thread might be interested in this followup. Gold Card Office is running a survey asking anyone who came to Taiwan in 2020/2021 to fill it out:
Looks like a very reasonable attempt to quantify the “covid refugee” issue. Let’s support by sharing if possible.
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Delete
Done.
The Gold Card program is still very recent. First batch from 2018 (pure GC holders) won’t be eligible for naturalization until 2022/2023.
As of now, I only know two GC holders who naturalized. Fifield was the first who got his citizenship, and I am probably the 2nd (still in progress). (we both were on regular ARCs before converting to Gold Card). Maybe there are others too, but likely only a handful cases.
Taiwan has an aging population with falling birth-rates. They will have serious shortage of young talent and skilled labor. I don’t think there’s enough immigration as it is.
In addition to Gold Program, Taiwan should give citizenship (without renunciation) to anyone who already holds an APRC to bring them in to the fold.
Going forward removing renunciation requirement would lead to more people making Taiwan their permanent home.
COVID has currently made Taiwan a destination of choice but these can’t be calculated as immigrants unless they choose to become permanent residents. Once COVID is gone/cleared, Taiwan will be back to competing with other developed nations for retaining/attracting young talent and/or skilled migrants.
So I think they should keep the Gold Card program, and in fact keep on improving it. We need more immigrants and more diversity in Taiwan.
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Hear, hear. This can’t be emphasized enough.
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Not unless it’s been abused.
Taipei should probably exploit this window of opportunity during the COVID crisis to attract highly talented individuals and to demonstrate her might, while other countries are freaking out.
I guess the window has closed now?
The value of an immigrant goes beyond just the tax dollars they contribute.
When you are being treated by a doctor in an ER are you so concerned about whether he pays taxes or that there is a warm body trying to keep yours alive?
As others have also mentioned, immigration is part of the solution to Taiwan’s demographic problem.
There are only so many highly skilled individuals who are willing to risk immigrating to a new country, one which probably has customs and a language different to their own. It is a zero sum game; if Taiwan attracts them then Taiwan gains the benefit and another country (e.g. China) loses the benefit.
In my home country, several colleagues from my company and alma mater decided to try going to the Mainland to work as postdocs or researchers. They don’t support the CCP or any of its philosophies or mode of governance, but go to the Mainland because they are pragmatic and most people want to join the bigger team. So, those highly skilled migrants who could probably choose to go to many countries, but instead choose to come to Taiwan, should be welcomed.
Also, as Taiwan becomes more cosmopolitan with many foreign nationalities represented in its population, how do you think their countries of origin will view any possible invasion or attack on Taiwan that may result in the deaths of their citizens? In effect having more foreign citizens in Taiwan is a soft deterrent, and any deterrent is welcome.
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You know I’ve heard this a lot, and I don’t discount that it may possibly be true. But really is Taiwan more “cosmopolitan” than HK? Answer: no it’s not, and I doubt it will be. And we’ve seen how much Beijing cares about “cosmopolitanism” as it does what it wants to do, whether in HK or Shanghai. They may even smash down harder to put an end to that!
Guy
Perhaps, but control was asserted over HK as a policing matter, with HK having no army of its own and the police were on board.
For Beijing to assert control over Taiwan? Unless the people choose to cede sovereignty, or some quick decapitation strike is performed and control is seized quickly without resistance, the risk of foreign nationals dying and other countries’ having skin in the game rises.