Got mine approved! Had a few insufficient documentations, and moved to Korea in the meantime, but I got there in the end. Here’s my full timeline if anyone is interested:
27th November 2020: First Application Date 18th December 2020: Request for additional documents (I had a partial, 8 month tax document rather than the full 12 months) Around Christmas: Called the ministry of labour and they told me to get a letter from my company confirming starting dates 29th December 2020: Sent through all additional documents (some over e-mail) 30th December 2020: Called to check that all the documents were ready and get an estimate. ~2 weeks to hear back 17th January 2021: Called again to check, backlogged, will take another couple of weeks 17th February 2021: documentation is insufficient … company is financial, not economic (investment bank). advised to change to financial and provide proof of SEC registration of my company 17th February 2021: sent through extra documents. At this point, my tax documentation disappeared from the application, but it wasn’t an issue as they had apparently already verified my salary
— I moved to Korea (short-term) at the start of February, and used the online form to change my application to the mission in Korea. This seemed to work fine, Note that I did this before the passport submission notice was given. There was no additional cost for this. — 26th February 2021: passport submission notice !! Called mission in Seoul to confirm passport submission. They were a little confused at first since I’m not Korean, but they recognised the gold card process. They were also able to speak some english 2nd March 2021: Handed in passport submission notice and passport at Seoul Taipei Mission. They didn’t keep my passport, and gave it right back to me after making a copy. Quick and efficient! 4th March 2021: Received confirmation of official approval email. Moved into “Certification stage” 5th March 2021: Received final confirmation email that certification is complete. I can now download my resident authorisation form from the portal to enter Taiwan.
Took a bit longer than I expected, due to a few issues:
Incomplete tax form covering only 8 months instead of 12. This was resolved after providing a signed letter from my company confirming current salary and starting dates, along with an explanation of the tax form by me.
Incorrect application type. Like others, I fell into the trap of applying to Economic when I should have applied for Financial. It seems like they are starting to reinforce the difference between the card types lately, so be sure to choose the right one. It was approved quite quickly after changing the type.
General backlogs. This process got really popular lately so there were probably extra delays from this
All in all, it was around 3.5 months from application to confirmation.
It also seems like calling is no longer advised, and instead they prefer you to e-mail. I got a very quick response from e-mailing, so it looks like they are checking and responding to e-mails more quickly now. I couldn’t get through on any of the phone numbers I previously used.
Doubt it lol. Like most visa stuff, you’re paying for the application, not the result. It even states this on the website during application. Fortunately it’s pretty cheap.
Oh no, this is very very stressful to hear. I submitted my application and have gotten to the passport verification step–hopefully that means I’ve already jumped the hurdle and the passport verification is just the final check.
Does anyone know who to reach out to if their application has been stuck for a really long time? I’ve tried emailing the help desk, and they respond very quickly, but this is their response:
Thank you for contacting the Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office.
Your application is currently being reviewed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Unfortunately, we are not able to give you an estimate of how long the application process will take.
Due to the pandemic and influx of applications, all ministries have been trying their best to accommodate.
If there are any issues with your application or if you need to provide any additional documents, you will be contacted directly.
Given that you applied back on 1/14 (or 1/19 – not sure what date you going with cause your previous posts have both) that isn’t really long given that applications now range anywhere from 30-60 days.
I would wait until the middle or end of March before you start worrying.
I was told by the person I hired for assistance that she has a client or two who applied on the 15-17th still waiting. That’s for the qualification of economy / 8 years experience (same as me), which she says takes longer than salary qualification.
I believe you applied under salary, but maybe delays are just getting that bad.
1/8/21: Submitted application
2/9/21: Received Passport Notification
I called the TECO office and made an appointment for passport verification for later this week, and they said to expect confirmation the next day, so hopefully that means we’re all clear? Fingers crossed!!
That’s fair, it’s just a bit of a hassle since I’m already in Taiwan on a visitor visa and I’ve exceeded my original 180 day limit (the Immigration Agency is willing to do 30 day extensions at a time since I have immediate family residing in Taiwan, but I have to go into the office in person each time I want to extend).
I applied on 1/14, and it got moved to “Professional Review by Workforce Development Agency” on 1/19.
I’d be interested to hear on processing times for top 200 PhD under education - I would have thought it would be a straightforward matter of checking the ranking and thus faster but perhaps I am missing something?
Totally hear ya. Definitely troublesome but at least they are accommodating to some degree.
With that being said, I’m sure there are many others just like you that have been waiting since Jan. Give it some time, the Gold card office is probably working as fast as they can.
I applied under Education (though not in the top 200 PhP criterion but on the teaching experience bit). The requirement was also straightforward and not much subject to interpretation. Mine got approved in 52 days (42 days if I take out that period when they asked for clarification on how my document got authenticated by the local Taipei office).
Yup I think in my case it’ll probably get rejected under Economy and I’ll probably need to re-apply under Science and Technology. But I just want them to reject my application so I can change my category without paying the application fee again…
I think in my case it’ll probably get rejected under Economy and I’ll probably need to re-apply under Science and Technology. But I just want them to reject my application so I can change my category without paying the application fee again…