Stopping employment while on gold card

There is some truth in that, but I don’t think have no income for X months and suddenly they deport you is a logical conclusion.

If you essentially fake your way into eligibility for the card by making a deal with someone to “employ” you on paper and transfer money into your account so that you look like you meet the income requirement, and then as soon as you have the gold card you transfer the money back, and the authorities somehow find out and somehow have a way to prove it, then okay, you might be in trouble. If it qualifies as fraud, they won’t even need to take administrative action against you because fraud is criminal.

Short of that type of scenario, it doesn’t really make sense. Um, hi, we noticed through unauthorized data sharing that you’re out of work now. So like, we wanna deport you, even though you’re not destitute and not committing any crimes. Cool? :cactus:

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I agree with Noel and yyy. Also, I think these are conditions of eligibiltiy for issuance of a gold card, not for keeping it. Nowhere do the guidelines say that after receiving a gold card you must contiune to meet the eligiblity requirements or you risk losing it if your circumstances change. It will be when it comes time to renew the card that they will recheck your eligiblity, not in the meantime.

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Folks, calm :slight_smile:

Here’s what we know from meetings with NIA:

  1. A gold card holder needs to do gold-card-like things during the term of their first card in order to qualify for a second card. (Source: NIA Gold Card Information Meeting, 2018)
  2. If qualifying under one of the the ‘salary’ criteria, the MoL will review your financial data (basically, your yearly tax return). If you do not pass the review, your work permit can be cancelled. (Source: Application Portal)

As @yyy mentioned, I believe (at least initially) the primary usage of this second clause will be to weed out people who have applied under false pretences. The warning’s appearance during the application process sends a clear message that one won’t get away with it for very long. Above all else, what governments want to avoid is embarrassment - an article that some group is rorting some aspect of a visa system would be particularly damaging to their current policy objectives.

So, what about the law-abiding people? Well, keep in mind that gold card holders may enter Taiwan without having a job at all. It’s entirely reasonable that a new immigrant would take some time to establish their network and find employment. Six-month job seeking visas are available, so that’s a tacit acknowledgement by the government that it does take some time. These people will still be subject to review.

The rules of administrative procedure in Taiwan require ‘fairness’ in their execution. Would it be ‘fair’ to cancel the work permit of a highly qualified individual who has taken six months to find a job, when others meeting lesser qualifications are given that time? Certainly not.

What about taking a break? Here, the length and circumstances of the break should probably be taken into account. Between jobs, or just feeling burned out and need a few months? Surely OK. However, if someone’s primary stated intention of gaining residence in Taiwan was employment (gold card), and they did not gain employment for, say, more than two years, does that stated intention still hold up? Maybe not. Or maybe the relevant authorities will consider point #1 from the beginning sufficient motivation for people (it was definitely seen in that light a couple years ago).

Keep in mind: there is some precedent for your visa going away if the underlying purpose for your residence in Taiwan no longer applies. Students who don’t turn up to class have sometimes found this out the hard way.

Though, don’t listen to the words of some random dude on the internet. If you are in a situation where you think your circumstances might put you in jeopardy, the gold card contacts list has a range of helpful people.

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I would like to live in Taiwan while keeping my current US-based job, which I can do remotely with just a couple of visits to the office each year. But if I am just doing work for the US company and am getting paid in the US, would I still be able to maintain the gold card? That is, does the income have to be from Taiwan, for work based in Taiwan?

Check with your accountant(s), but the likely situation here is that you’ll be paying tax in Taiwan on your US salary. Your tax filing should show your full salary, which is unrelated to where the money actually lives. You should then be fine for any financial assessment related to the gold card during its lifetime. Similarly when applying for another card after eg 3 years, you should be able to use that tax filing as evidence for your qualification.

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Thank you @fifieldt! That is very helpful. Will definitely find an accountant in Taiwan to figure out the tax situation before moving forward.

What about NHI? Can you pay the premium yourself and keep the insurance? I guess the premium will be much more than when you were employed, right ?

I pay 800/month. They didn’t even ask about my income, they assigned me this amount.

Well are you employed in Taiwan ?

No. US company. I pay the premiums myself

Good for you. Though do you still have to file a tax return in Taiwan ?

Yes. The money was earned here so I pay tax here on my full salary

So they do know about your income, though indirectly.

No. It’s all honor system.

Sure I guess. But if they wanted to check, I assume they could give a call to the tax office.

🤷
She seemed to be in a hurry and just using the amount from the table for foreign-employed workers seemed to be the path of least resistance.

From this table

https://www.nhi.gov.tw/english/Content_List.aspx?n=B9C9C690524F2543&topn=46FA76EB55BC2CB8

For a premium of 800 and no dependents, they assume your income is around 25000, since you’re contributing 100%. Seems like they assume your income is quite low.