For those who applied with the 160K criteria, did you have to have your documents checked, by who (the “embassy”, your ministry of economy, your ministry of foreign affairs ?) and how long did it take ?
Thanks
Hi,
I guess divide this into two categories:
- Qualification documents
- Identity documents
Qualification documents explain why your application should be approved, and vary depending on which category and field you applying under. These are submitted through the online portal, and are checked first by the Workforce Development Agency in addition to the relevant ministry. We’ve seen a best case of a few days, but normally this takes a few weeks, potentially longer if multiple rounds of vetting are required.
Identity documents are submitted to your local outpost of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Inside Taiwan, that’s the Bureau of Consular Affairs. Outside Taiwan, that’s your local embassy or trade office. This takes anywhere from an hour to 6 working days depending on your arrangements. This step comes after your qualifications have been approved.
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If I understand well, it means that, as I am already in TW, I don’t have to have anything done by the administration of my own country, no certification of the documents I will provide or anything like that.
That is a relief, because it would take forever…
That’s my understanding 
Haven’t come across anyone who needs that yet.
Thanks for amazing thread and tons of useful info.
Is there any updates on procedure for a spouse? As I understand spouse should get regular tourist visa to get into the country and change visa type at NIA locally, right?
I was informed that my spouse and kids ideally need to enter TW on a resident visa and then get the ARC within 15 days.
They can enter on another visa also but the paperwork is then similar to that required for a resident visa anyway so we’re doing it that way.
https://www.roc-taiwan.org/sg_en/post/34.html
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Foreign spouses with residency rights in Taiwan
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Foreign Minors under 20 years of age and dependents of foreign parents with residency rights in Taiwan
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Thanks for sharing this! Just curious if there is any update on this new law. Has it passed? Or is the 6 month waiting period still currently in place as before?
not yet. It shall pass during the current session.
Hi, I just submitted my application (economic, 160k+).
I have only submitted the required documents like:
- contract with an EU company which I work for
- one payslip from January
- passport, photo, exchange rate table (as the salary in foreign currency)
I am currently living in Taiwan and also employed by a local company who provides me an ARC at the moment. I also got salary from that company but lower than 160k, and I did not submitted my ARC copy neither financial statements of my Taiwanese income. Can it be a problem or they are just curious about the 160k+ part? Is it okay to apply with a foreign income while I have local income as well?
I did not submitted:
- CV
- any recommendation or application letter
What do you guys think? Are those beneficial? Actually the required documents are not much and the process seems pretty simple (almost too simple) so thats why I have doubts whether I should`ve attach additional supporting documents.
Don’t stress 
They’ll ask for more documents if the ones you provided were not sufficient. It’ll just extend the processing time by a couple of weeks to a month.
Just in case it will be useful to somebody:
I’ve submitted my application recently based on salary criteria. I had around NT$162,000 payslip, but because of the currency exchange rate fluctuations it was calculated as 156k Got request to send another payslip which qualifies the criteria.
Not sure if I’m wrong, but it sounds like you might be a tax resident here and thus should report the EU income in Taiwan as well. In this case you would definitely be above the $160k required, but your tax rate here might be higher.
Thank you for your reply. My question was more like whether during the application it is relevant or not. As the description mentions: Previously or currently holding a position in a foreign state or in the ROC with a most recent monthly salary of at least NT$160,000. In my interpretation it means that they would like to know whether you had a position with the mentioned income (or over that) or not. I am curious if anyone applied with similar background.
BTW, the part you mentioned about combining the amount is interesting but I think you should have the 160k+ from a single source, right?
In my experience, yes. The Ministry of Science and Technology suggested that even for salary-based applicants they still wanted to assess technical skill.
Last week (before applied to gold card) I have submitted my ARC extension. Just got a call from NIA and they asked me to pick either Gold Card or ARC which is okay but they also said that if you have the gold card your company still has to apply for a work permit for you. Does that mean that the same procedure has to performed (same documents to be submitted, same forms to be filled, etc…) by the hiring company? They said the open work permit means that between jobs you can still live in Taiwan. Sounds strange for me… Any similar experience?
Got request for ‘Further documents such as academic research, journal paper, patent certificate, technology transfer agreement, and certificate of merit.’ apart from payslips 
(We had a similar discussion in an other topic so I just copy here what I wrote there)
So today I have been consulting both with NIA - Employment Gold card representative (over the phone) and with my local representative (in person) and the conclusion is that actually the employment gold card is not so beneficial in all cases. If you already have a work ARC - that is the situation in my case - then in my opinion (also as suggested by NIA) you should not bother applying for the gold card since:
- you can anytime apply for 2 x 6 months extension if your contract is terminated or you decide to leave your company which means you basically have one year to find another job. The extension is free until the expiry date of your original ARC.
- the total difference between application fees could be over 10k NTD based on your nationality (For US citizens the gold card application fee is higher). You have to pay GC application fee to NIA, then VISA application fee also for NIA also for (MOL for the work permit - EDIT: NOT REQUIRED to pay for WP)
- if your gold card is expired then your employer anyways has to apply for the work permit and you have to obtain an ARC after that (if you are under 5 years of stay in total, if you are over that then you may transfer to APRC).
- the process of applying for the ARC is much more simple and quicker than in case of the GC.
- If your GC is revoked and you do not immediately switch to ARC your years of stay will be set to 0.
Of course the money considering the fact that its for 3 years in my opinion is not a big deal but the process is actually, as mentioned above - according to the explanation of NIA - more complicated in case of the ARC.
Off the record they also mentioned that after 5 years of residency (where each year you stayed in the country for more than 183 days) if you wish to apply for APRC the process might be more complicated and troublesome then in case of being on ARC for 5 years. Since the act is implemented a bit more than a year ago no GC holders ever applied for APRC so lawmakers haven`t provided any guidelines for such cases yet.
After knowing all these facts I think I am going to revoke my gold card application (its already passed 2 decision making departments) because after its accepted there is no way back they`re going to revoke your ARC.
Bottom line: If you are already in Taiwan + you hold an ARC (or you have a job offer before coming here with a work permit) you are suggested to to keep in that way and if you need to search for a new job you will have one year for it with the extensions.
If you`re outside of Taiwan and/or you are freelancer or self-employed or doing a research then Gold Card is a good choice (you will be however be enrolled to the NHI only after half year of continuous stay in the island so some kind of insurance is advisory).
Also I suggest to also consult with your local representative/NIA + NIA Head office first to make sure you will pick the most beneficial option for yourself. They`re very helpful.
I hope this helps, good luck everyone!
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Holy crap! Your research makes perfect sense! Thank you!
Good post. Just a couple of conflicting bits of information to address:
This doesn’t appear to be the case. The gold card includes a work permit and a visa - there’s no extra fee beyond what’s applied for in the portal in order to get to and work in Taiwan.
The NIA has previously provided on-record assurances that there’s no issue here.
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This doesn’t appear to be the case. The gold card includes a work permit and a visa - there’s no extra fee beyond what’s applied for in the portal in order to get to and work in Taiwan.
You are right, I actually misunderstood it (its a 500 NTD cost non-work APRC`s I think).
The NIA has previously provided on-record assurances that there’s no issue here.
Yes you can still obtain the APRC and it is confirmed that GC period counts only the process is not official yet.
Sorry if I misled anyone with the first one - bottom line is the same
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