Newbie here, handed in my application about a week ago. Hope to get it approved by end of February, but we will see. On this thread, I will check on your process updates and might also sporadically update if there is anything of interest for the wider community and after receiving the approval.
As you all mentioned, CNY and other events might have affected the process a bit. Still hope for a 6-8 week application to approval time.
Itās possible, but probably pushing it unless you got all the paperwork in to their standards and thereās no questions about your qualifications
Iām wondering, has anyone had difficulty uploading additional documentation? On Friday I tried several times but got an error message saying that the process wasnāt complete. When I clicked āokā it bounced me back to the Upload Document page with no explanation why the upload wasnāt accepted. Today, I tried again and I donāt get any error message but it still bounces back to the Upload Document page. Iāve checked to make sure my photo fits the pixel requirement in the instructions and that the file sizes of all my documents are under the 1024k. But still thereās no information that the additional documents have been accepted.
Either the documents were not accepted or theyāve just received about a half dozen of the same files for each time I tried to make an adjustment.
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
It sounds about normal for the gold card website. There were definitely some technical issues whenever I needed to upload new/additional files, and it wasnāt really obvious what was going on or whether the files had been successfully uploaded. Maybe just do what you can then e-mail the helpdesk to make sure?
Seeing your message I only just realized there were dates under each step of the process. I donāt think the dates on mine have changed but I am finding that Iām having a hard time uploading the additional documents theyāre requesting. I keep submitting but I either get error messages or it just bounces back to the Upload Documents page. Not sure whatās going on.
Great suggestion. Iāve already started a letter to āMs Liuā. To see if she got the documents. But Iāll wait till tomorrow to send it. Maybe something will update between now and tomorrow morning.
I guess Iām glad Iām not the only one this has happened to. Iām not in any particular rush so I will work on my patience!
Could try going through the steps in the following FAQ:
What should I do if Iām having trouble submitting my Gold Card application?
- Please use either Google Chrome or Firefox as your browser (do not use Safari).
- Please do not use any symbols when making your account username.
- Make sure that each page of your application has been successfully saved.
- Ensure that you have answered every question with a red asterisk next to it.
- Check that your passport photo and supporting documents have been uploaded successfully. Your passport photo should be 413 pixels wide and 531 pixels high and supporting documents should be in PDF format.
- You can only upload one PDF file (max 1024K) that contains all of your documents. If you are not familiar with combining and compressing PDF files, there are several open-source PDF Editors on the Internet that can help (e.g. SnapFiles or ILovePDF).
- Please do not set the PDF filename too long. Shorten it and then you can upload it.
- Check to see if your application portal has popped up in a new window (please pay attention to your Logout Countdown; the NIA platform will redirect users who have spent more than 30 minutes on one page).
- If your session has timed out, please log in again and re-submit your application.
- Please do NOT encrypt your documents.
- Clear the Cache and Cookies in Your Web Browser.
If you continue to have issues, please contact the National Immigration Agency at a378liu@immigration.gov.tw
Hi all!
Iām trying to apply for the Gold Card under the tech sector making 160k+ method.
Iām wondering if itās okay to just work at a tech company and make the salary or do you actually have to be a software engineer? Iām a technical recruiter (who hires software engineers) at a large tech company and I make the required salary. Just want to confirm that this is fine before I submit my app.
Thanks! 
You should check with the Gold Card Office Help Desk about this. Try their online chat. Scroll down on right. See link below.
That said, Iām pretty sure you should NOT apply in technology. Technology is really for basic science, applied research, and things related to Taiwanās HARDWARE technology industry (semiconductors, IT manufacturing etc).
Digital is for software. So my sense is that you should be applying in digital but that you might get shifted to economics because HR/recruitin functions are a kind of consulting that would be under the purview of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Definitely check with the Gold Card Office about this. My knowledge is a couple of years out of date.
Despite my job duties and salary, I was told my company does not fall under the field of Economy, and I was told to change my application to the field of National Defenseā¦ lol. Does anyone have any experience in applying under this category? I only have 4 years of work experience.
On another note, in case anyone else has issues with proving salary due to tax exemptions, you must do two things:
Iām not (currently) having this issue but the information is very useful and could help someone else. I spent all of last week trying to upload my CV, W2, pay stubs, employment contracts, a (very nicely written) letter of intentā¦ Finally I emailed Ms Liu, the reviewer. She was very responsive and helpful. Turns out that I just needed the W2 with the Employment Certificate. Also, what I didnāt know is, I assumed an employment certificate is just the contract. But itās not a contract at all. Just a professional business letter from the boss saying you work there, how much you earn, when you started, has the company logo/letterhead, company contact info, and signed by a boss (HR, Manager, CEO, etc).
Anyway, Iām now past the āsupply additional materialsā phase. Fingers crossed the next step will pass quickly!
Iāll second this sentiment. I do quality assurance for a tech company that contracts out to major government entities. The Taiwan Gold Card Office, is an outside organization there to help us figure out the process, suggested that I apply in either digital or economic. (Hereās their email address: help@taiwangoldcard.tw).
After reading and rereading the distinction between Digital and Economic, it seemed easier/more straight forward to go with Economic even if Digital totally applied. I went this route because the condition for Economic was simply āmake more than NT$ 160,000 per monthā. My boss told me that we are not an economic or economy related field but when I googled āWhat is an economic companyā, ChatGPT said simply āAn economic company, often referred to as a business entity, is an organization created by one or more individuals to carry out the functions of a business.ā So it seems that almost and business will fall into this category.
You should probably double check that - they started being more strict about this category maybe 3 years ago, because a lot of people used to apply just based on salary. Thereās probably more info somewhere up in the last 5000 posts.
Yes, Iām a web dev and applied under digital with over $160k salary. That was never questioned, but they did research me, saw some hits on LinkedIn 
I was also confused by that certificate of work, I also sent my contract first.
Noted. Maybe I didnāt look to closely since I do work for a company that satisfies the Digital field as well and I have appropriate supporting documents (I hope). Thanks for the clarification.
Iām lucky my sister owns a business. Sheās been asked many times by former employees for an Employment Certificate. Otherwise Iād still be trying to push my contract!
Thank you @irish91 ! Great suggestions. I ended up emailing Ms Liu. After a little back and forth I finally understood that maybe I was trying to supply too much information. I still donāt know why/what happened but I managed to upload my additional documents this morning.
I have no evidence to support this but Iām guessing that every time somebody in the office opens your case, the date updates. I talked/emailed the office three times since Friday and each time they responded, it seems the date updated.
This is not the way the Taiwanese government thinks about it.
Businesses in Taiwan register lines of business such as ātravel agencyā, āretail salesā or āsoftware developmentā. Every business has a regulator depending on the line of business.
Travel agencies are regulated by the Ministry of Transportation and Communication (because the Tourism Agency is under this Ministry). The Ministry of Digital Affairs now regulates software. The Ministry of Economic Affairs regulates retail sales. As a note, āEconomicsā here means the economy in general. So it is the catch-all for any business without a specialized regulator.
So as a first step, the people reviewing your Gold Card application try to decide how your foreign employer would be be regulated if it were a company in Taiwan. So if you worked for a department store, your company would be regulated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and you should apply for your Gold Card in Economics. If you worked for Google, you would apply in digital because they will think that Google is basically a software company.
Obviously itās not that simple. Would Stripe be financial services and regulated by the SFC or is it a software company that would be regulated by the Digital Ministry?
A second step that I understand is now often taken is to look at the actual function the applicant performed at the former employer and try to slot the applicant into the right field.
While this sounds confusing and application can be inconsistent, the Gold Card office generally has a pretty good idea of which field you should apply in because they see many applications and talk to the reviewers frequently. Follow their advice first. 98% of applicants do not need anything more than this free service.
Thank you! Sigh, I asked them and they said Iād have to apply under the NDC special case review and write a letter about how Iād contribute to society. 
Iām feeling quite worried now as I thought Iād be able to apply under digital given my experience is all working within engineering recruitment.
