I am surprised as well. I was planning on getting tested anyway, since my family will need to be, but I didn’t think it would be required without a Taiwan address.
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Perhaps call the Border Affairs Corp of the NIA (24 hours). They’re also the ones that you can have your airline call to straighten out any misunderstandings with the immigration requirements.
https://www.immigration.gov.tw/5475/5478/141386/127061/127078/
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FWIW I just used TIMATIC to look this up (what airlines use for visa requirements):
Entry and Transit restrictions apply:
Passengers are not allowed to enter.
This does not apply to passengers with an Alien Resident Certificate.
This does not apply to passengers with a “SPECIAL ENTRY PERMIT FOR COVID-19 OUTBREAK” visa.
Visitors must hold return/onward tickets.
Important:
Passengers must have a medical certificate in English with a negative Coronavirus (COVID-19) RT-PCR test result issued at most 3 working days before departure.
This does not apply to passengers with Alien Resident Certificate.
This does not apply to passengers with a resident visa.
This does not apply to passengers with a visa with remark “DC”, “FD”, “FO”, “O”, “FL”, “FC”, “FS” or “ER”.
This does not apply to passengers with a MOFA ID.
Passengers are subject to quarantine for 14 days.
A completed “Quarantine System for Entry Form” must be submitted before departure at https://hdhq.mohw.gov.tw/ .
Passengers arriving from the Philippines are subject to medical screening on arrival.
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Mhh, these all contradict to what the people at the embassy told me…
I mean the Gold Card definitely states on the front: “Type: ARC” and on the back “The holder of this card has obtained the R.O.C. Work Permit, Resident Visa, Alien Resident Certificate…”.
Only possibility would be that they somehow consider an ARC without an address not a valid one?
I’ll definitely try to verify this somehow if possible. But as my flight is booked for October, I will wait some time - quite possible that regulations change until then.
…but only for “Hong Kong / Macao Resident”.
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I signed up for the reception.
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Could you expand on the craziness of the local TECO part? My application is at that stage and emailing with TECO Atlanta has been confusing. The lady in charge of visas doesn’t seem to know much about the Gold Card and has been asking me questions that sounds like she thinks I am trying to begin a visa application.
Did you get the card yet? Wondering when the validation start date is. Is it based on the approval date or the date we get the card. Due to the current COVID-19, I may delay my plan for moving to Taiwan a bit, but the validity period will be wasted.
Basically when you get the approval email.
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@zacstewart, I recently went through the process at another TECO in the States and had a similar experience (“sounds like she thinks I am trying to begin a visa application”). I recommend calling rather than emailing if you can. On the phone, I explained that I had already applied online; I then read verbatim some of the passport submission email. (I think I did this in a mix of English and Chinese to increase the odds that I would be understood.) After that, the receptionist understood what I needed and booked me for an appointment. If you can’t call for some reason, maybe forward the automated email directly to your TECO?
@qwert_zuiop, my experience doesn’t match what you were told. I just flew a couple of days ago from SFO to TPE on EVA Air.
I did not have a test result. The lady at the check-in counter at SFO asked me whether I had a test result. I replied that I had an ARC and gave her a print-out of my 境外核准證明 (Resident Authorization certificate). She said that she needed to check with her supervisor. That only took a few seconds, as her supervisor was standing a few counters away. No one asked me about a residential address in Taiwan, and my print-out does not have one because I did not indicate one in my Gold Card application.
On the 境外核准證明, there is a box labeled “在臺居留地址(或飯店名稱) Residence Address in Taiwan(or Hotel Name).” The fact that it says “hotel name” suggests that if necessary, you could just put the address where you will do your quarantine. But again, I don’t think it’s necessary; as I mentioned, on my form this field was blank, and I did not have any issues flying here from the States.
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My timeline from applying under the economic category from the UK.
19th July - Initial application and payment
18th August - I contacted the Ministry of Labor as my application was in the state Professional Review by Workforce Development Agency. I was asked to provide a P45 and proof of my employment as a change in job meant the yearly tax statement would not accurately represent my current monthly salary.
19th August - I submitted the documents required via email
21st August - My application was progressed to the next stage and I got in contact with the Taipei Representative Office in the U.K to schedule an appointment.
26th August - Submission of passport at the Taipei Representative Office in the U.K in London.
27th August - Gold card officially approved
Everything progressed quite quickly once I contacted the Ministry of Labor, I was told my case had already been looked into but I was never contacted about requiring additional documents.
Thanks for sharing! How did you reach out to Ministry of Labor? Through email or phone?
Hello guys - I’ve got some questions re. application under Economy with minimum salary requirement.
Total income in in my tax record for year 2019 would not meet the monthly NT 160,000 requirement.
But my recent 2 months salaries will exceed NT 160,000. Do you know if paystub from the company will suffice as the proof of salary? Thanks! 
No, usually they won’t accept that. See my previous posts on why they declined my application which only contained payslips.
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I had a similar scenario.
I was required to submit my yearly tax report, but because of a change in job, you couldn’t actually derive my most recent salary from this.
A payslip is not sufficient to prove salary, but they were happy with a signed proof of employment which included start date and salary.
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I had two short painless phone calls, I was connected to the official handling my case quickly, and things progressed shortly after. The two queries I sent via email went unanswered.
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Ah cool, thanks for the response the datapoint @alex-2820 ! I will be able to get the proof of employment from my employer. Hopefully that will work!
thanks for the prompt response @qwert_zuiop - just re-read your previous posts. I will be able to submit tax returns but my previous tax returns would not meet the minimum salary requirement. Hopefully they will ask for and accept additional documents - my employer will be able to prepare the necessary paperworks
No need to wait for the application to be rejected. If you already have the confirmation by your employer, just attach it or email to Ms. Chien if you have already submitted.
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My application was delayed by several weeks but just moved to the passport verification stage. Unfortunately, I have a flight on 09/17 so there’s a serious time crunch. I’d really appreciate answers to the questions below:
Is it possible to travel to Taiwan without having the Gold Card in hand? I heard some people mention that they used the confirmation PDF to travel, but it says on the portal that the passport verification location and card pickup location must be the same. If this is the case, how were you able to pick up the card in Taiwan instead of your passport verification location? If this is indeed allowed, do you require a Covid-19 PCR test to board the flight with just the authorization PDF?
Also, seems like a few people here have applied from the SF TECO. Do you know how long it took for the Gold Card to arrive after passport verification?
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