NDC Special Case Review

  1. These Directions are established by the National Development Council (hereafter “the Council”) for the purpose of conducting the recognition of special expertise in accordance with the provisions of the second part of Article 4 Subparagraph 2 of the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (hereafter “the Act”).
  2. Where a foreign professional applies for an Employment Gold Card, or in respect of some other matter, as being a foreign special professional who possesses special expertise in a field specified in the first part of Article 4 Subparagraph 2 of the Act, and is not recognized by the central competent authority of the industry concerned as belonging to said field, recognition of the applicant’s special expertise may be conducted by the Council as prescribed in the second part of the aforesaid subparagraph.
  3. In conducting recognition of special expertise as prescribed in the preceding Point, the Council shall consult with the central competent authority of the industry concerned. The method of consultation may be in writing or via the Internet or by convening a meeting.
  4. One who can be placed in a qualifying field as a result of consultation under the preceding Point shall be referred to the central authority in charge of that field to determine whether they qualify as a foreign special professional according to that authority’s announced determinants of special expertise.

One who cannot be placed in a qualifying field as a result of consultation under the preceding Point, and who meets any of the conditions listed below, shall be recognized by the Council as a foreign special professional:

  • The winner of a Nobel Prize, Tang Prize, Wolf Prize, Fields Medal, or other comparable international award.
  • A professional at the level of National Academician.
  • Has served or is currently serving as a researcher in a corporate enterprise or a non-profit organization, and has distinctive ability or outstanding performance in an area of expertise for which research talent is pressingly needed in our country.
  • Has obtained a doctoral degree from a public or private university in our country or from a foreign university that meets the academic qualification recognition requirements, and possesses key skills for the development of a domestic key industry, and has upward of four years of relevant work experience.
  • Is qualified as a foreign attorney or skilled in a foreign specialist field of medicine, and plans to invest their expert knowledge or skills in the development of a key industry in our country.
  • Has served or is currently serving as a senior executive of a world-renowned business enterprise with annual revenue upward of US$100 million, and has accumulated at least five years of leadership experience.
  • Has experience of the successful listing of a startup company in Taiwan or overseas, as a senior executive or as a core technical member of an R&D team.
  • Has served or is currently serving as a senior executive or as a core technical member of an R&D team in an overseas startup that has received investment upward of US$5 million or in a Taiwan startup that has received investment upward of US$1 million, and has accumulated at least five years of relevant work experience.
  • Has served as a senior executive or as a core technical member of an R&D team in an overseas startup that has been successfully merged or acquired by another company for upward of US$5 million, and has accumulated at least five years of relevant work experience.
  • The head, cofounder or important technical personnel of an internationally renowned online system platform, having developed a company that averages upward of 100,000 monthly active users and has annual revenue upward of US$100 million, and having upward of four years of relevant work experience.
  • Has held or currently holds an important position in an international organization, an NGO, a government organization, or a charitable institution, with above four years of relevant work experience.
  • Has other professional skills or transnational experience for which there is a pressing need in our country, and with a current or previous most recent monthly salary of at least NT$160,000 in this or another country.

NDC Direction for Conducting the Recognition of Foreign Special Professionals with Special Expertise

Flowchart