Amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals Approved by the Legislative Yuan

The draft Amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals drawn up by National Development Council (NDC) was approved by the Legislative Yuan today. Minister Kung, Ming-Hsin appreciated the support from legislators of each political party to make the draft Amendments pass the examination in the Legislative Yuan. The Amendments aim to build a more complete legal framework for recruiting talents, so more international talents can “get in” and “stay”. NDC’s mission is to make Taiwan a talent hub of the Asia-Pacific region — a veritable “Asian Silicon Valley”.

To ensure that foreign professionals meet certain qualifications, the Amendments relax regulations on work, residence, dependency, while optimizing social protection without reducing the salary threshold. The main points of the amendments are as follows:

1. Expanding the scope of foreign professionals: Adding the field of national defense to the expertise of “foreign special professional”; building the consultation mechanism of the competent authority on examining the expertise of “foreign special professional”; allowing the “Special Classes for Children of Foreign Talents” approved by the Ministry of Education to hire foreign subject teachers; adding teachers of experimental education to the scope to foreign professionals; exempting graduates of the world’s top universities announced by the Ministry of Education from being required to have at least two years’ work experience as a prerequisite for taking up specialized or technical work.
2. Easing of provisions concerning independent and dependent residency: Allowing foreign professionals and foreign special professionals who enter the country with a visa exemption or visitor visa, and their dependent relatives, to apply for an Alien Residence Certificate without needing to apply for a resident visa; easing the conditions for foreign professionals to obtain permanent residency by shortening the requisite duration of residence from five years to three years for foreign special professionals, and allowing 1 to 2 years spent at school in Taiwan obtaining advanced degrees of master’s level and above to be counted toward fulfilling the requisite duration of continuous residence.
3. Optimizing social protection and tax concession: Extending from three years to five years the period in which foreign special professionals can utilize the tax concession bestowed on them by this Act; relaxing the law to provide for foreign special professionals and foreign senior professionals who meet the criteria for being insured as employers or self-employed business owners, together with their dependent relatives, to join the NHI system without having to wait for six months.

NDC will cooperate with related ministries to complete relevant regulations and measures as soon as possible, and report to the Executive Yuan for designating the implementation date, so the laws can apply to foreign professionals and their relatives.

In addition to amending the Act, NDC will continue to promote the global recruitment action targeting talents of the 5+2 and Six Core Strategic Industries, and establish policy coordination mechanisms to address issues related to Employment Gold Card applications, settling in Taiwan, job matching, starting a business, etc. The vision is to enrich the national talent pool and accelerate industrial transformation and upgrading by building a comprehensive legal framework and implement measures to attract more global talents and outstanding youths to come to Taiwan.