This one has already been confirmed as a no, unfortunately. @fifieldt also reiterated it in the video. The 3 years start rolling from the day that the Gold Card holder enters Taiwan, if the card was issued when the applicant was overseas. That’s why being able to apply for the APRC while on the extension would be great for most of us, I guess 
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Yes - keeping my hopes up that it might be that easy!
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So it looks like the 6 month extension will only be available as of October? What happens if your gold card expires in September?
Article 14 of the amended act says on the 3 years
The reason for his residency is to obtain a work permit for special professionals in accordance with Article 8, Paragraph 1, or obtain Employment Gold Card in accordance with Article 9
I bet the 6 month residency extension will not be counted for the 3 years, or you should reside as a foreign special professional when you apple for APRC.
Thanks for the info!
I hope you will get yours approved soon! In hindsight I shouldn’t have started with Architecture and that turnover duration took the longest, but I doubt I could have made it with Economy in April neither as it was the beginning when they started tightening the requirements.
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My experience tells me the key really is with the specialist authority, after WDA has vetted the first round of application (probably stating the obvious anyway). The WDA process is all administrative, so the proof of income, CV, etc. should get you through with WDA in no time. In an exam, it is almost like answering a true of false question, either you got it right or you got it wrong.
The tricky part is with the specialist authority, because each applicant has vastly different experience so they need to vet your material individually to see if it is applicable. Knowing how the Taiwanese government staff works, they just want to do their job by following the guidelines, and we simply need to help them to do their job by giving them the right material. Hence, give them everything you have, spend time to draft some documents if need be. In an exam, it will be like an “essay” kind of question, the more support and proof you provide, the easier it is for them to approve.
I think the border is open to people with some kind of residency, and to my knowledge the Gold Card is equivalent? And I think they weren’t accepting application for some time and were still processing the submitted application, hence this helped them to process quicker? I am not really sure, maybe others know better.
Super good point. That’s basically the answer that the whole Gold Card community is craving to receive 
Thanks yeah hopefully we did it right. My wife was born in China so they came back wanting all kinds of info (like pics of her 30 year old Chinese passport which she luckily still has) even though she’s been a US citizen for 25 years! But haven’t heard back since she submitted that a few weeks ago.
HR in her Taiwan office told her Taiwan immigration is not accepting new visa entrants right now. Haven’t been able to corroborate that.
HR in her Taiwan office told her Taiwan immigration is not accepting new visa entrants right now. Haven’t been able to corroborate that
This is also the reason why I couldn’t proceed with the passport verification part of my Gold Card application. Once it has been done, I believe I should count another week or two until the physical card is ready for pickup in Taiwan. I’ll have to make the travel arrangements by then.
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A little off topic, I read that Gold Card holders entering Taiwan from high-risk countries can go to group quarantine facilities at the government’s expense. Is this true?
Many people here are recommending applying through the Field of Economy instead of Science & Technology but Economy has the condition to include supporting documentation including “The employment contract of intended future employment in the ROC.”
Is this a new requirement or are the people suggesting this route continuing employment in Taiwan?
Not a new requirement, also not a requirement (see where it says “(Please provide ONE of the following).”). Proof of past salary is fine & no upcoming job in Taiwan is required.
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Ah, yes. 
Thanks!
My story so far. My background is in Science & Technology but none of the sub-categories fit me perfectly so I applied under the Economy salary sub-category (where people seemed to be having success).
Jan 26 – Submitted application under “Economy” w/ passport, CV and income proof
Feb 4 – Request for scan of current visa
Apr 5 – Received suggestion to reapply under another category as my employment was “not within the economy field” (fair enough)
[long delay for passport renewal]
Aug 18 – Reapplied under Science & Technology
Hoping for gold! Would move back to Taiwan in a heartbeat.
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Does anyone know how long you can hold off the Passport Inspection step?
Not sure how long specifically but it is something that is beyond our control. I am also waiting for the Passport Inspection part of my application. I’ve read that the Level 2 has been extended until the 6th of Sept though I have not seen any update on the News section of the Gold Card portal.
I’ve shared in this thread that I was informed twice by the gold card office that there is no time limit. I asked as an example if that meant I could wait 4 months (this was pre-level 3 and pre visa-issuance-suspension) and they said yes.
It is also important to note that there was some place in the gold card guidance written in Chinese that mentioned a limit of 30-days, and also as someone mentioned in this thread it is entirely possible they change the “rules”
Does this mean they did the passport inspection part? Cause that’s currently frozen. Maybe they did it before the freeze in your case?
Sorry maybe I need to clarify that I am from Hong Kong. I just checked the flowchart, passport inspection at the embassies or foreign offices is not required for Hong Kong and Macau permanent residents.
You know, the relationship between us, china and taiwan is a never-ending complicated relationship.
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