It looks like Taiwan will again be increasing the minimum wage next year, as in recent years:
The Ministry of Labor’s Minimum Wage Deliberation Committee on Wednesday reached an agreement to raise Taiwan’s minimum monthly wage to NT$28,590 (US$889.68) from NT$27,470, an increase of 4.08 percent.
So that means an income of NT$57,180 (monthly) or NT$686,160 (annual) to be eligible to apply for an APRC. Something I’ve been idly wondering about for a while now is for how much longer Taiwan can keep increasing the minimum wage before it starts making things difficult for potential APRC applicants?
I don’t work in Taiwan and I already have an APRC, but as I understand salaries in a few “foreigner fields” such as English teaching have been stagnant for ages (starting around NT$60–65k or thereabouts?). When you consider things like unpaid leave/vacations, time between yearly contracts, and monthly food allowances (do they count as salary?), it seems to me that, unless something changes, there will become a point over the next several years where the APRC will become out of reach for typical English teachers, let alone the vast majority of foreigners living here.
What do people think? I’m kind of curious whether the APRC requirement will eventually need to be relaxed (say, to 1.5 times minimum wage).
Obviously I’m mostly talking about “Western” and/or “professional” foreigners, where up to now getting permanent residency has been relatively easy as long as you put the time in. I’m aware that it’s not so easy (by design) for most of the foreigners living here, as vaguely alluded to in the final sentence of the article above:
Any minimum wage hike does not apply to live-in migrant caregivers and domestic helpers, who are not covered by Taiwan’s Labor Standards Act.
[I’m not sure whether this is really Legal because I wanted more of a discussion/opinions. @olm can feel free to move it if he doesn’t want it here. ]
Yup, i am one of such person. I was gonna apply for aprc next year because i will be eligible in february . But with new increase i wont be eligible
But i am not sure because when i was reading the requirements, it says that the income of previous year compared to when u r applying counts so i dont know
If you are applying based on earned income, there is an important exception for spouses of Taiwanese citizens that basically allows them to aggregate household income to met the standard.
One should also pay special attention to the part that says:
Certificate issued by the R.O.C. (Taiwan) government certifying that its holder is a professional or technician or has passed a technical test
The last part is about certification of vocational skills (技能檢定證明). My understanding is that there is a very wide range of skills that you can be certified for and sometimes job experience counts.
There is also an interesting catch-all:
Other document that is sufficient to prove that the applicant is capable of supporting himself/herself or making a living.
Yeah so it says (1) Having an average monthly income in R.O.C. (Taiwan) in the previous year that is more than twice of the monthly minimum wage promulgated by the Ministry of Labor;
Previous means this year minimum wage if i apply for next year?
It’s gonna be important to be relatively close with your boss in the future. You can always have them say they paid you however extra $ you need on your pay slip, pay the taxes on that larger amount and refund your boss the pretax “bonus”.
I was having these worries before when I was making a good hourly, but not really working “full time”. Glad I got mine sooner than later.
I am not really certain that Taiwan sees the number of APRCs issued per year or the rate of “APRC conversion” as some kind of metric or goal. So the most probable outcome, I’d guess, is that they won’t really care and just fewer people will become eligible
IIUC, it’s the minimum wage for the same year as the income being reported, i.e., the above change to the minimum wage on Jan. 1 isn’t relevant until January 2025.
Really? They’ve been increasing it recently. Also if you’re here 5 years working then … chances are you aren’t on starting salary…
Also, if you’re only earning about that amount and you’re not married to a local then, how are you gonna support yourself if you’ve got an APRC.
If it reached about 80,000 or 90,000 a month then I would see the problem.
Also, it’s total income as well and many teachers will work a job in the morning and then a job in the afternoon which is now allowed as long as they get permission from the main job. Those teachers are earning well over 100,000 a month.
Also need to say there is no specific income requirement for those married to a local so it won’t affect those who are married to a local. It won’t affect professionals and professionals should earn double the minimum wage at the least.
Then my suggestion would be to ask for a pay rise next year. The point of the requirement is to make sure that you can support yourself and frankly there’s no way to support yourself if you’re earning below that amount of money. They want to make sure that you’re not going to take rent assistance, etc.
There was another foreign posting in a legal page about needing to take rental assistance on an APRC that same foreigner posted up a year ago about how his boss lied out his income in order for him to get an APRC
Then find a new job. Simple as that. Tell them the reason that you’re leaving is because you’re not eligible for an APRC on their salary and they will likely want to keep you and assist with that. (If you’re a good worker)
It’s why I put a question mark. I don’t work in the field and don’t know the exact current value, the range I gave was just an estimate based on job ads I’ve seen and stuff.
Well, you’ve heard from someone in this thread who agrees it’s an issue for them. I also have a Vietnamese friend who’s been struggling with this for years. She’s now earning about that amount, but it’s borderline, even after studying here and doing a professional job.
I don’t know if most teachers are doing multiple jobs — again, I don’t work in the sector. I believe that it’s become more difficult to use (illegal) tutoring income in recent years though.
The APRC is not an entitlement. It is something that if you make the requirements for you can get. If you don’t make the income then you don’t meet the requirements and therefore you are not entitled to it. The requirement is not only five years.
The reason for this is because they want to make sure that you have the means to reasonably support yourself. That’s why they want to make sure that you earn a good income and don’t have some low paying job.
If you don’t meet the requirements, then you can just get another work permit. Also, Taiwan allows you six months to look for a new job if you lose your last one.
Also, if you’re only earning about that amount (starting around NT$60–65k or thereabouts?) and you’re not married to a local then, how are you gonna support yourself if you’ve got an APRC.
Are you implying that a single person can’t support themselves on 60k per month in Taiwan? What are you smoking?
]
